The challenge for many agents of social change
today is to show that what they do is not just tell a feel good story about
what they do and what they want to achieve. They need to show that what they do
actually works, and generates meaningful change. The fancier way of saying this
is that it is "evidence based."
The next thing you need to show is that your solution is scalable. Solutions
that work in only one place or situation won't do. As Mayor Mike Rawlings said
recently, "A great idea, if it's not scalable, it's nothing..."
Now, let's say you have shown that what you do is evidence based and that it is
scalable. Now someone has to pay for it. Let's dwell on that point for a
moment. There are many ideas for which the money is just not there. Let's be
honest too, this usually means there is a lack of will, not really a lack of
money. And when I am talking about money, I mean A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY! Because,
if it is a real problem, for which there is a real solution, you need
"real money".
Happily, as mentioned in our last blog post, MDHA's cause, ending homelessness
by putting people into homes, is evidence based and scalable. On top of that,
Uncle Sam (the only player, who never really runs out of money) gives Dallas (through MDHA)
almost $17,000,000 a year to pay for it! Uncle Sam has all the programs raise
match and leverage funds of $20,500,000 in non-federal annual funding.
Furthermore, MDHA has also facilitated the Dallas Housing Authority’s housing
of 3400 formerly homeless individuals and families at an ongoing annual value
of over $28,000,000. That's A WHOLE LOT OF
REAL MONEY!
All we in Dallas
have to do is invest a few hundred thousand dollars a year to sustain MDHA, and
those tens of millions of dollars are ours. Can there be a better return on
your charitable investment?
Paul Quinn College:
Thursday I attended Big Bang, a day that celebrates social innovation in Dallas, at Paul Quinn
College (PCQ). Before it started I was privileged to see the tail end of the
men's basketball team practice, and visit with the men's basketball coach, my
good friend, Chad Baruch, who is also a civil rights lawyer. (We both used to
be assistant principals at Yavneh
Academy.)
Dallas Mayor, Mike Rawlings, gave a wonderful opening speech. Here is a bold
quote: "A great idea, if it's not scalable, it's nothing... We need
capital to create more capital." Wow, that reminds me of a certain
organization. It's on the tip of my tongue... Oh, yeah - MDHA! Why do I say
that? Well, read on, and you'll see.
MDHA in a Nutshell:
The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) is an association of organizations
devoted to ending homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties,
by putting people into homes. In order to end homelessness, it facilitates over
$16,750,000 of annual federal funding, coordinates services, and drives
improvement in more than 45 different transitional housing (TH), rapid
rehousing (RRH), and permanent supportive housing (PSH) programs.
Fulfilling Dallas’
Responsibilities:
Under U.S. Law, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) does
not directly fund service providers, rather mandates that they be funded
through local Continuum of Care (CoC) organizations, led by lead agencies,
which coordinate all facets of the grant application process. U.S. Law also
requires all federally funded service providers to report on their performance
through a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), which tracks, grades
and drives improvement across the CoC, and in each individual organization.
MDHA is the federally designated CoC organization lead agency and HMIS operator
for Dallas and Collin Counties.
Value for Money – MDHA’s ROI:
We forecast the cost of MDHA at about $1.1 million next year. This relatively
small amount of money “propels” the more than $16,750,000 of annual federal
funding. As each program must and does raise match and leverage funds, MDHA in
effect “propels” another approximately $20,500,000 in non-federal annual
funding. Furthermore, MDHA has also facilitated the Dallas Housing Authority’s
housing of 3400 formerly homeless individuals and families at an ongoing annual
value of over $28,000,000. In essence every $1 spent by MDHA, “propels” an
additional $59! Not a bad return on investment…
Sustaining MDHA:
The federal government expects local communities to provide most of the funding
for the operations of CoCs and HMIS. MDHA hopes to realize about $450,000 in
earned income. The remaining costs must be raised through other means. MDHA is
in the process of signing agreements with local governments that will result in
$200,000-$300,000 of steady annual funding that will enable MDHA to improve
services, as well as decrease its reliance on philanthropy. That said, for the
foreseeable future, philanthropy will remain an essential source of income for
MDHA.
