The study focuses on the risks of making a social contract by its recipients – poor citizens and representatives of regional authorities, and the problems of unsustainable funding of such contracts. The study is based on the assumption that identifying the causes for poverty both of the regions and their neighbors will reveal sustainability of implementing a social contract technology in the field of healthcare and education of the poor, or in terms of infrastructure of a particular locality and the availability of jobs. The analysis of regional experience in making a social contract between 2015 and 2018 revealed significant differences in the costs of a social contract in various Russian regions. In order to mitigate risks and search for new approaches to providing a social contract and redistributing the financial resources of the regions for these purposes, an assessment of the investment potential of the regions was made in the context of its implementation for fulfilling social obligations. In addition, the share of expenditure on a social contract in the total regional expenses on social policy for all 85 Russian regions was estimated. The evaluation displayed a mismatch between the amount of expenditure of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on a social contract and the available potential of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. It also allowed the authors to rank the most and least balanced regions in terms of obligations to provide state social assistance. Based on this, a number of practical methods for allocating regional funds for the implementation of social obligations, including the development of a social contract mechanism, were suggested. Moreover, accounting treatment of social risks and their coverage according to the insurance principle was developed.