Identifying resources is the process of evaluating which funding streams and resources are accessible to support the goals and objectives of the system, project, or initiative. A fiscal analysis study can help find and evaluate the usefulness of current and potential resources.

A fiscal analysis study or map can provide a report on how funding sources and financing strategies could be used or are used to support key goals and objectives. These studies often offer information on what is being spent now and can show the possibility for new sources of funding. A fiscal analysis is a research approach to systematically identify and analyze expenditures. A fiscal analysis or mapping study does the following:

• Identifies gaps in current funding and how resources can be more effectively coordinated, maximized, or secured.
• Develops better-coordinated systems of supports and services, including programs and revenue streams that align with key goals and indicators.
• Discovers new funding sources that could be leveraged to support programs and services and fund new policy initiatives.
• Maximizes funding opportunities through improved coordination and matching and blending of funds.[57]

The key reason a state, agency, or community coalition completes a fiscal map is “not to find huge pots of money that are being missed, but to look at the funding picture overall to see where there are gaps and redundancies.”[58] A state example follows:

• Hawaii commissioned a study that summarized how funds align with the state’s framework for an early childhood system; which agencies control key funding sources; and to what extent funding comes from federal, state, or private sources. In addition, the report analyzed how funding sources and financing strategies are and can be used to support Hawaii’s goals for young children.[59]

[57] Statewide Afterschool Networks. (n.d.). Fiscal mapping [Web page]. Retrieved from http://www.statewideafterschoolnetworks.net/content/fiscal-mapping.

[58] Simonton, S. (2015, April 7). Get the big picture when seeking funding: Create a fiscal map. YOUTH today. Retrieved from http://youthtoday.org/2015/04/get-the-big-picture-when-seeking-funding-create-a-fiscal-map/.

Flynn-Khan, M., Ferber, T., Gaines, E., & Pittman, K. (2006). Adding it up: A guide for mapping public resources for children, youth and families. Washington, DC: Forum for Youth Investment and the Finance Project. Retrieved http://www.readyby21.org/resources/adding-it-guide-mapping-public-resources-children-youth-and-families.

[59] Connors-Tadros, L., Silloway, T., Mayman, J. and Dahlin, M. (2012). Moving toward a comprehensive early childhood system in Hawaii: An analysis of the fiscal resources supporting young children, prenatal to age five and their families, in fiscal 2011. Washington, DC: The Finance Project. Retrieved from https://earlylearning.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/HIECFISCALMAP-EX-SUMM.FINAL_.03.019.12.pdf.