The Sustainable Sun tool for infrastructure

To be well-equipped to support frontline organisations in becoming more sustainable, infrastructure agencies need skills, resources and expertise in a number of areas.

You can use the Sustainable Sun tool to identify your current capacity and areas for development.

The 'sustainable sun' needs analysis tool for infrastructure organisations

This tool enables those supporting frontline organisations to identify where they are now in 6 different areas integral to providing effective support on sustainable funding:

promoting sustainable funding reactively
proactively offering sustainable funding advice
providing one-on-one sessions
having information and intelligence
having tools and resources
'practicing what you preach'.

These are represented on the tool as six rays of the sun.

Download: Infrastructure Agency Sun Tool (PDF 351 kb)

Once you have printed out the six pages of the Sustainable Sun Needs-Analysis Tool view the full document (PDF 620kb) to see how all the pages fit together.

Hardcopies of the sun tool are available by emailing sfp@ncvo-vol.org.uk

How to use the tool

Plot on a scale of 1 to 5 (lowest to highest) how you feel your organisation is currently performing on each of the 6 areas.

This diagnostic sun tool relates most closely to the work of funding advisors, and/or development workers. However, it is best completed by the organisation as whole, or a team of people, rather than just one person. Ideally, sit down with your organisation, perhaps at a team meeting, to complete this.

When you have completed all 6 rays, join the points you have marked to create a shape.

Look at the shape created and discuss with colleagues:

Where are we already well equipped and supporting VCOs?
What can we learn from what we do well?
Which areas hold us back?
What steps can we take to move forward in those areas?

Revisiting the Infrastructure Agency Sun Tool

After about 6 months or a year, complete the Infrastructure Agency Sun tool again, going through the same process. You will see from this where you are developing
greater capacity to support VCOs towards sustainability and it will help identify areas to work on next.

Related Tool

Frontline organisations can work together with a funding advisor to plot their current organisational health and consider future development towards sustainable funding in the Sustainable Sun Needs Analysis Tool for Frontline Organisations