Some state-local information system projects are funded by a dedicated single budget appropriation, but more often you will need to finance a systems initiative with a more complex mixture of resources. Anyone who has been a recent college student (or parent) is familiar with the "financial aid package".For most people this means assembling the financial re- sources to pay for a college education out of some combination of savings, current earnings, grants, loans, and work-study assignments. In the context of state-local information system projects, the "package" may comprise: direct appropriations from either state or local legislatures or both, federal grants or formula matching funds, foundation grants, in-kind efforts, re- deployed existing resources, and private sector partnerships.

The problem for you, as for the college student, is each resource comes with its own rules and requirements. Some can only be used for certain expenses, some can be used for any expense, some require a re-application every year, and others are guaranteed for longer periods of time. This situation demands a high degree of managerial expertise and creativity. Your project goals and milestones need to be linked to the resources that will be available in varying amounts, at various points in time, with different kinds of strings attached.

While a more traditional project budget might look like this on a spread- sheet . . . .
.

Three-year Project Budget
Total State Appropriation: $2.125 million
	Local Personnel	State Personnel	Equipment	Software	Training	Travel	Consulting	Total by Year
Year 1	50	50	35	75	100	5	40	355
Year 2	200	50	0	50	500	25	100	925
Year 3	200	50	0	50	500	25	20	845
Total by Purpose	450	150	35	175	1100	55	160	2125

. . .your project may look more like this:

Three-year Project
Total Available: $2.125 million
Year & Source	Local Personnel	State Personal	Equipment	Software	Training	Travel	Consulting	Total by Year & funding source
Year 1	50	50	35	75	100	5	40	355
State		50	25	50	50		20	195
XYZ grant	30		10	25	50	5		120
Local	20						20	40
Year 2	200	50	0	50	500	25	100	925
State		50		50	250		80	430
XYZ Grant	60				200	25		285
Local	50						20	70
ABC Grant	90				50			140
Year 3	200	50	0	50	500	25	20	845
State					200	25	20	245
Local	100				100			200
ABC Grant	100	50		50	200			400
Total by Purpose	450	150	35	175	1100	55	160	2125

The picture may be even more complicated since the "local" line may actually be made up of many separate local entities, each with its own funding rules and cycles. Some sources of funding (like the XYZ grant) may expire before the project is complete. Others need to be sought before your needs are fully known. As a result, you need people on your project team with the skills to manage this mixed package of resources. They will need to allocate them to various purposes, spend and account for expenses according to the sponsors’ various rules, and accumulate integrated cost information to support any reasonably complete program evaluation.