How can you ensure your organization's resilience plan is adequately funded?

2 Align your resilience plan with your business strategy

The second step to ensure your resilience plan is adequately funded is to align your resilience plan with your business strategy and objectives. You need to demonstrate how your resilience plan supports your organization's vision, mission, values, and competitive edge, and how it contributes to your long-term growth and sustainability. You also need to communicate the benefits and value of your resilience plan to your internal and external stakeholders, such as senior management, board members, employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, and investors. By aligning and communicating your resilience plan with your business strategy, you can gain buy-in and commitment from your key decision-makers and influencers, and secure their support and endorsement for your resilience budget.

3 Estimate your resilience costs and benefits

The third step to ensure your resilience plan is adequately funded is to estimate your resilience costs and benefits, and calculate your return on investment (ROI). You need to quantify the costs of implementing your resilience plan, such as the expenses for training, equipment, software, consulting, testing, and maintenance. You also need to quantify the benefits of implementing your resilience plan, such as the savings from avoiding or reducing downtime, losses, damages, fines, lawsuits, and reputational harm. You can use various methods and tools, such as cost-benefit analysis, risk analysis, scenario planning, or business impact analysis, to estimate your resilience costs and benefits, and compare them with different alternatives and options. By estimating your resilience costs and benefits, you can justify your resilience budget and show how it will pay off in the short and long term.

4 Explore your resilience funding sources

The fourth step to ensure your resilience plan is adequately funded is to explore your resilience funding sources and options. You need to research and evaluate the different sources and options that are available and suitable for your organization, such as internal funds, external funds, grants, loans, insurance, partnerships, or collaborations. You also need to understand the requirements, criteria, terms, and conditions of each source and option, and how they align with your resilience needs and goals. You can use various tools and techniques, such as SWOT analysis, feasibility analysis, or stakeholder analysis, to explore your resilience funding sources and options, and select the best ones for your organization.

5 Monitor and review your resilience plan and budget

The fifth step to ensure your resilience plan is adequately funded is to monitor and review your resilience plan and budget on a regular basis. You need to track and measure the progress and performance of your resilience plan and budget, and compare them with your expected outcomes and targets. You also need to identify and report any issues, challenges, or changes that may affect your resilience plan and budget, and adjust them accordingly. You can use various tools and methods, such as dashboards, scorecards, audits, or feedback surveys, to monitor and review your resilience plan and budget, and ensure they are aligned and effective.

6 Learn and improve your resilience plan and funding

The sixth step to ensure your resilience plan is adequately funded is to learn and improve your resilience plan and funding based on your experience and feedback. You need to collect and analyze the data and information from your resilience plan and budget monitoring and review, and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in your resilience plan and funding. You also need to implement the lessons learned and best practices from your resilience plan and funding, and apply them to your future planning and decision-making. You can use various tools and frameworks, such as the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, the After Action Review, or the Learning Loop, to learn and improve your resilience plan and funding, and enhance your resilience capabilities and performance.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?