Systematizing the Model

Several development projects systematize their development model as a strategy to increase their self-sustainability.

Systematizing a development model simply means organizing the initiative’s information. What this entails is being able to state what the project’s goals and objectives are, what each person has to do, what the ways of working are, what local or external resources (material, human, knowledge, financial, etc.) are available, how these resources are obtained and distributed, what the project’s role and institutional profile are, why their ideas are different or innovative, who is benefiting from the work, what the obstacles are, how these will be tackled, what results have been achieved and what remains to be done, and so on. In other words, systematizing is creating and arranging information in order to have a very well defined, neatly mapped out project –which includes laying out its self-sustainability strategies. 

Some initiatives have found that when the plans, processes and objectives of their work are well defined, it is easier to assess what is missing and what needs to be done, to identify obstacles that can be prevented and opportunities that can be leveraged, to set priorities for managing time, effort and resources, and to choose the right role and institutional profile to make their project more self-sustainable. In addition, this clarity of purpose and methods helps them better leverage their resources to reduce dependence on external funding, as well as identifying how comprehensive and contextually relevant the intervention is, and how equitable the participation in the project is turning out to be.

At the same time, having a clear project operation has helped different initiatives get more resources from diverse sources, because a systematized model can communicate and demonstrate their processes, results and expectations with greater clarity and transparency, dispelling doubts about their capacity, originality, honesty or relevance.

In addition, the experience of several projects is that a systematized model helps explain to potential donors or collaborators –or to the beneficiaries themselves– the concrete ways in which they can participate and the potential impact of their engagement. This, in addition to helping diversify its sources of support, also makes the initiative more effective because its members are more aware of what their efforts are about and what each of them has to do, which helps people communicate better and coordinate their work to achieve more comprehensive interventions. 

Some initiatives take advantage of their annual reports to systematize the year’s work; others organize meetings or evaluation and feedback dynamics with their different participants to gather information, and others form work teams to carry out similar exercises. 

Some initiatives can better scale their model when it is systematized because having their processes neatly laid out is key in communicating clear guidelines on how they can be replicated so that the project can grow and be implemented in new communities (with consultancies, conferences, advice for the implementation of pilot projects, etc.). In some cases, these practices allow some initiatives to earn profits that can be invested in their development objectives.  

For other initiatives, having a systematized project allows them to disseminate it more easily (through the media, their websites, social media, etc.) so that more people support it or participate in it.