Community Health Worker Program Business Plan

What a good one includes

• A detailed community needs assessment that uses local health data to pinpoint the specific barriers to care your program will address.
• A clear definition of the community health workers' scope of practice, outlining their specific roles in advocacy, health education, and care coordination.
• A structured training and supervision curriculum that details how CHWs will be recruited, certified, and integrated into existing clinical or social service workflows.
• A robust evaluation framework featuring clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as reduced emergency room visits or increased preventative screenings, to prove your program's impact.
• A multi-year financial model that projects start-up costs, operational expenses, and diverse revenue streams like Medicaid reimbursement, hospital partnerships, or private grants.
• A sustainability strategy demonstrating how the program will transition from short-term seed funding to long-term financial independence.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Focusing too heavily on high-level advocacy goals without detailing the day-to-day operational mechanics of how CHWs will actually reach and engage clients.
• Failing to include a clear reimbursement or billing strategy, which leaves potential donors worried about the program's long-term financial viability once initial grants expire.
• Overlooking the integration process, assuming clinic staff or local doctors will automatically know how to collaborate with and trust incoming community health workers.
• Neglecting to define concrete, measurable health outcome metrics, making it difficult to prove the program’s financial and clinical return on investment to healthcare partners.

Frequently asked questions