Pay for Performance

Conservation projects often lack meaningful incentives that are tied to project success. Further, rigid procurement processes can hamper the ability to reward cost-efficient, effective projects. As a result, donors and funders are at risk of directing resources to projects that are inefficient or ineffective, and they lack assurance that their investments will generate meaningful outcomes. With limited funding available, successful programs must create accountability and leverage procurement approaches that creatively target resources toward the most meaningful actions.

Insights

Flexibility enables innovation and efficiency

Focusing project stakeholders on the end goal of habitat, water quality, or community sustainability—rather than prescribing project designs and implementation practices—motivates them to create and implement cost-effective solutions that achieve desired results.

Empower and engage local partners

Tapping into working landowners’ and partners’ unique understanding of their local landscape enables innovation and projects that creatively achieve conservation goals and create partnerships, rather than conflicts.

Building Trust Through Clear Return on Investment

Structuring procurement and payment terms around outcomes allows funders to clearly demonstrate a return on investment, building confidence in their constituencies that programs are achieving intended results and the political will to continue conservation efforts.

Explore sample contract terms and guidance

Solutions

Performance-Based Funding Strategies and Contracts

We help programs identify the appropriate pay for performance strategy that suits their local context and needs. Then we work with managers and procurement staff to create contract terms that align the incentives between funded entities and overall program goals.

Through a Natural Resources Conservation Service grant, we developed a Pay for Performance Toolkit to help conservation, water quality, and community sustainability programs achieve better outcomes. The Toolkit provides a central hub of resources with information on when to use and how to select different pay for performance strategies, along with customizable contract templates and real examples of how pay for performance is addressing a spectrum of environmental issues.