Program replication and expansion

This arrangement applies when there is demand, interest, or readiness to replicate or expand a successful pilot project or small-scale program. The partnership usually involves a plan to replicate a project or expand program coverage to more people, more institutions, or a wider geographic area. The donor who initiated the program may not have the means or will to replicate or expand the effort alone. The lead partner(s) must enlist partners. The proposal to replicate or expand can be driven by the initiator, by interested partners, or by stakeholders in the project.

Before moving ahead or committing resources to such an arrangement, there should be careful thinking and planning about the expansion process, resource requirements, and the ultimate outcome. Partners need to ask themselves and each other: Does the initial program design need to be adapted to go to a larger scale? Does the necessary implementation capacity exist, or does it need to be mobilized or developed? How will new participants or sites be selected? What is the feasible timing for replication or expansion? How does the replication or expansion involve the institutions or individuals who are stakeholders in the program? How will the replication or expansion be sustained over time?

Opportunities to form such partnerships are growing in the Soros foundations network. For example, there may be local demand to expand coverage of the network's Step-by-Step program to more kindergartens and primary schools. The introduction of Internet connectivity through the network's programs may generate the appetite for wider access. Ministries of education may want to spread textbooks developed by a national foundation of the network to all schools in the country. Other donors with successful programs may approach the Soros foundations for grants to expand.