How to plan an exit strategy from day one

What is an exit strategy?

Every project ends. The question is what remains. A USAID-funded study of exit strategies by Tufts University defines sustainability as outcomes and impacts being maintained or even expanded after a project withdraws its resources. An exit strategy is the part of the sustainability plan that deals with phase-out, meaning withdrawal of external support, and phase-over, meaning transfer of responsibility to another organisation, group or institution.

In short, sustainability is the goal and the exit strategy is the route.

Why plan the exit from day one?

If you wait until the last months, you can only hand over what already exists. The study recommends that explicit sustainability plans and exit strategies be built into project plans from the beginning. Its Honduras findings are useful for any NGO:

• Resources, capacity and motivation are all essential for activities to continue, and links to other institutions must be considered in design.
• Sustainability was greater when support was withdrawn gradually, so individuals and organisations could develop independence before the project left.
• Impact at the time of exit does not guarantee impact later. Impact and sustainability are different achievements.
• Free resources, such as food or agricultural inputs, can raise short-term impact but threaten sustainability if nobody can replace them after exit.

CRS's emergency operations manual makes a related point for crisis response: plan close-out and transition early, and for a short project, plan it from the start.

How do you build an exit strategy step by step?

1. Define what must last. List the services, skills, structures or behaviours that should continue after the project.
2. Name the future owner of each. A community committee, a local authority, a partner, a business or households. If no owner exists, the activity may not last.
3. Test the three conditions. Will the owner have the resources, the capacity and the motivation? Write what is missing.
4. Build links early. The study advises establishing links with other institutions early, so they have time to build relationships and test procedures before you leave.
5. Plan gradual withdrawal. Reduce your role in steps, for example from doing, to supporting, to watching. Keep a period when the owner works alone while you can still help.
6. Replace free inputs. If you provide free resources, identify local replacements and plan a shift towards cost sharing where appropriate.
7. Set milestones and responsibilities. Give each handover step a date and an owner.
8. Communicate. Tell communities, partners and authorities the end date and the plan.
9. Check after exit. Where possible, visit or collect simple data some months later. The study recommends monitoring progress toward sustainability throughout the project and keeping archives of baseline, midterm and endline data.

What can a simple exit plan look like?

Adapt the columns to your project. The point is to make each handover visible.

How do you handle exit in an unstable setting?

CRS notes that a transition for an evolving crisis must be flexible, because uncertainties are high at the start. It suggests ongoing monitoring and needs assessments, attention to communities' priorities and discussions with donors. It also advises including local stakeholders in planning, and handing over to a recognised and legitimate group where possible.

In Myanmar, funding, access and local conditions can change quickly. Keep your exit plan as a living document, review it each quarter and be ready to speed up or slow down. If funding ends early, hold a short emergency review: what must continue, who can take it, what can stop safely.

How does exit connect to other project tasks?

Exit planning links to closure, learning and partner work. Use our project closure guide for contracts, finance and assets, and our guide on ending a partnership responsibly when partners are involved. Record what worked in your lessons learned review.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Treating exit as a closing ceremony. It is a process.
• Assuming a committee will continue because it was formed. Test its resources and motivation.
• Handing over to an owner without capacity or money. Hand over what can be sustained.
• Surprising communities. Announce the end date early and explain what happens next.
• Not measuring afterwards. Without follow-up, you cannot tell if the exit worked.

How EMPO can help

EMPO is a reliable, trusted training and consultancy provider and one of Myanmar's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. We are Yangon-based and work in English and Burmese, online and in person across Myanmar. Our project management and community development training covers sustainability and exit planning. See our training services or contact us.

Sources

• Sustaining Development: Results from a Study of Sustainability and Exit Strategies among Development Food Assistance Projects, Honduras Country Study — FANTA / FHI 360 and Tufts University, 2016
• Close Out and Transition to Early Recovery — Catholic Relief Services, Emergency Field Operations Manual