March 4, 2020

Final Business Acumen Toolkit Module Now Available The HCBS Business Acumen Center has released the fifth and final module of the HCBS Business Acumen Center Toolkit: “Disability Network Business Strategies: A Roadmap to Financial and Programmatic Sustainability for Community-Based Organizations.” This resource is a ‘how-to’ guide designed to help community-based organizations (CBOs) evaluate, plan, develop, implement, and monitor strategies to help build and sustain their organizations in various business climates. ​ The first module, "Step 1: Prepare" provides guidance to CBOs serving people with disabilities on the information, data and people needed to inform the development of their strategic plan. The second module, "Step 2: Plan" provides guidance on how to analyze, prioritize, and organize the information and data collected in Step 1. The third module, "Step 3: Stabilize" and the fourth module, "Step 4: Grow and Develop" work in tandem to help CBOs execute the strategic plans they develop for their organizations. "Step 5: Monitor, Evaluate, and Respond" discusses the activities that CBOs need to do in order to ensure that their strategic plans stay on track. This includes monitoring their finances, compliance requirements, and quality measures, as well as implementing ongoing continuous quality improvement efforts. These user-friendly resources include a collection of templates that CBOs and their teams can use to conduct their environmental scan, identify and develop strategic priorities and potential strategies, develop and implement strategic and operational plans, and monitor the effectiveness and progress of those plans. Access all five of the toolkit modules. Learn more about the HCBS Business Acumen Center. This effort is led by ADvancing States in partnership with national organizations and funded through a grant from the Administration for Community Living. Learn more about ACL's Business Acumen Initiative to help states and community-based organizations build networks and respond to delivery system changes, including technical assistance, building business capacity for successful contracting with integrated care entities, and developing pathways to sustainability.