Running a Zero Budget Program

Virginia da Graça and Nuno Delicado interviewed by Torrey Peace, in the Aid for Aid Workers podcast, about the zero-dollar mindset in Sport for Life.

In today’s episode Virginia da Graca and her colleague Nuno Delicado share a tremendous challenge they faced which we all fear— that is, having less funding for programming. But in this case, their funding wasn’t just slashed a few thousand dollars— it actually went from an annual budget of $77,000 to zero— yes, ZERO.

Being in this situation made them challenge assumptions about what operating costs are absolutely necessary. It also forced them to come up with creative solutions to meet their zero budget. The result? A more committed team, more committed community participants and a motivation to succeed which is contagious.

Of course I don’t expect you to dump all your funding tomorrow to be in a similar situation, but I think this episode will make you challenge your assumptions around what is possible in working with communities as well as how much can be done with a team committed to your mission.

Click here or the image to access the podcast.