On Sustainability
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CREATING VALUE
Atlas Service Corps creates value by leveraging the experienced, volunteer efforts of rising citizen sector leaders from overseas. By recruiting and placing these Fellows at U.S. nonprofit organizations, Atlas Corps seizes the opportunity created by a market failure - the inability for individuals from overseas to volunteer in the United States due to visa restrictions and limited resources. Simply put, there are thousands of experienced, talented international citizen leaders who would be happy to volunteer a year of their time in the U.S., but they don't have the money or the opportunity to give of their time and talent.

LEVERAGING VALUE
Rather than just place these Fellows at U.S. nonprofit organizations as an expensive international exchange program, Atlas Corps charges a cost-share to U.S. nonprofit "host" organizations based on the AmeriCorps VISTA model. Typically, with AmeriCorps VISTA, host nonprofit organizations pay the federal government approximately $12,500 to cost-share an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer. These VISTA Members are full-time, yearlong volunteers usually right out of college. Atlas Corps will charge host organizations $16,000 in the pilot year, but this cost-share will increase to $27,000 over ten years as the Fellows prove their value to host organizations.

OPPORTUNITY COST
What are the alternatives? U.S. nonprofit organizations who address anti-poverty issues have the option to apply to take AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteers, but there is a waiting list for AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteers all across the United States. Host organizations could try to find another volunteer placement organization, such as Jesuit Volunteer Corps or Teach for America, but these organizations are either limited in scope and/or limited in size. Many host organizations seek out graduate school interns, often paying them $10 an hour or approximately $20,000 a year to be full-time volunteers and often only for one semester, after which they are replaced by another student. Host organizations could decide to expand their capacity by hiring additional staff, however an entry level employee costs organizations well over $30,000 a year when you add up salary, benefits (health care), and recruiting costs. Of course, none of these options are true comparisons, because the Atlas Corps Fellow arrives with over four years of experience and is pre-identified as one of the best in their country. The true value of these Fellows is difficult to estimate, just as it would be difficult for a university to assign a monetary value to having a Rhodes or Fulbright Scholar.

POSSIBLE UNIVERSE
In the pilot year, Atlas Service Corps Fellows will be placed at host organizations in Washington, DC and Wilmington, DE. However, they can eventually be placed at any 501(c)3 nonprofit organization anywhere in the United States. While larger internationally-focused organizations will be the most interested in taking a Fellow, thousands of domestic organizations will also be interested. For example, an organization addressing HIV/AIDS in Chicago could benefit by taking an Atlas Fellow from India who is an innovative leader in educating urban populations about AIDS, or a literacy organization in Atlanta could benefit by hosting an education specialist from Mexico who is skilled in bilingual education. Fellows will bring to U.S. host organizations their own unique perspectives and best practices, such as resource management, empathetic development, and innovative solutions. Fellows will learn important professional skills, such as program management, project evaluation, and best practice documentation. There are thousands of opportunities for collaboration with U.S. nonprofit organizations addressing global social issues such as education, the environment, human rights, gender equity, health, hunger, and poverty.

INCOME VS. EXPENSES
In the pilot year, the per-Fellow expenses are approximately $36,000 and the host organization cost share is $16,000. The expenses are high in the beginning because of the high cost of start up and the fact that there are only ten Fellows to divide the administrative expenses. In addition, the cost share is low because the unproven nature of the program makes it a bigger risk for host organizations. However, over ten years the host organization cost share will increase by approximately $1,000 a year to $27,000 in the tenth year. Further, with economies of scale, the per-Fellow expenses will decrease to $27,000 per year over the same time period. In one decade, Atlas Corps can become a completely sustainable organization involving hundreds of Fellows from around the world serving in communities all across the U.S.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING SOURCES
In addition to the income-generating cost-share, there are many sources of funding available to Atlas Corps. Initially foundations and individuals will provide much of the start-up support for Atlas Corps above the cost-share. Corporations are also being approached to sponsor Fellows at $20,000 each. Corporations have expressed an interest in working with Atlas Corps because the Fellow program provides them access to stakeholders in the developing world. Finally, the government has the potential to be a significant donor to Atlas Corps after the program is piloted. The State Department runs a program called the "International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)" that takes rising political, business and nonprofit leaders from around the world to come to the U.S. for three weeks to learn about America. This prestigious program costs about $35,000 per IVLP for only three weeks! The Education and Cultural Affairs Bureau regularly has RFPs (Requests for Proposals) from U.S. organizations to host IVLP and similar programs.

SUSTAINABILITY AND SCALE
As the cost share approaches the per-fellow expenses, Atlas Corps will quickly scale to involve hundreds of Fellows from countries around the world volunteering in communities all across the U.S. It will establish itself as the first and the best U.S. Fellowship for overseas CSO leaders, and the prestige of the program will reinforce its value and potential for expansion.