What Is Capacity-Building Support for Nonprofits?
Capacity refers to the resources and capabilities an organization needs to conduct its work effectively. Capacity-building support is given to help a nonprofit become more sustainable or expand its capacity to be more effective.
- This kind of support promotes a nonprofit’s long-term sustainability and effectiveness. It can come in the form of grants, donations, or in-kind support.
- Capacity-building support addresses nonprofits’ needs such as infrastructure, tech, leadership development, communications, and strategic planning.
Why do nonprofits need capacity-building grants?
Staff burnout. A program that could greatly benefit a community – if only the community knew about it. Outdated technology that’s slowing down service delivery. Too-small facilities. These are just a few of the challenges that can plague under-resourced nonprofits.
If a nonprofit is constantly fundraising and executing projects, it’s hard to take a step back and assess what is needed to be most effective and to sustain operations over the long term—and harder still to actually address those needs, unless there is support to do so. Capacity-building support is aimed at filling this gap, giving nonprofits the resources to learn, strategize, update their infrastructure, and grow so that they can fulfill their mission for years to come.
What does capacity-building support cover?
Capacity-building support covers things like:
- Strategic assessments to determine what the organization needs to be sustainable or to grow.
- A strategic planning process to guide the organization’s next chapter or long-term growth.
- Investments in technology or facilities – such as up-to-date fundraising software or expanding the kitchen at a food bank.
- Leadership development and training.
- Organizational development.
- Board development.
- Hiring coaches, facilitators, or trainers for staff professional development or to assess and improve organizational culture.
- Developing a strategic communications plan to spread the word about the nonprofit’s good work.
- Networking and building relationships with other nonprofits.
What is the difference between capacity-building support and general-operating support or project support?
Program or project grants rarely cover the fundamentals needed to sustain and grow an organization. General-operating support can be used to build a nonprofit’s capacity. In fact, Community Wealth Partners’ report on making capacity building more equitable argues that “multiyear, unrestricted grants are capacity-building grants.” Their contention is, “When you give organizations full power to decide how to spend the funds, they can invest in areas they know are priorities.”
That said, when funds are already stretched thin, it’s all too easy for long-term concerns to get back-burnered in the face of immediate needs. Dedicated capacity-building support can make a huge difference in enabling a nonprofit to invest in the equipment, training and planning that will allow it to effectively fulfill its mission now and in the future.
What types of capacity-building support can nonprofits receive?
Capacity-building support can come in several forms:
- As a grant or cash donation.
- In the form of a funder-organized convening or training for their grantee partners, such as a networking or professional development event for multiple grantees working in the same field.
- Support can also come in the form of in-kind support, such as an accountant offering pro-bono training to a nonprofit’s finance team, or a donor who owns an office building sharing office space with the nonprofit.
Where can I find grants for capacity building?
Sources of capacity-building support include:
- Existing funders. Longtime or especially dedicated funders of your organization are good prospects to approach for capacity-building grants. They know and value your organization’s work, and chances are they would like to see the organization continue for the long haul and increase its impact over time. Communicate with dedicated funders about what your organization needs to survive and grow.
- Funders that have nonprofit capacity-building programs. Some funders have dedicated initiatives to help nonprofits grow their capacity. These types of funders regularly fund nonprofits’ strategic assessments, staff retreats, nonprofit convenings, and the like. For example, the Archstone Foundation, which has a mission to improve the health and well-being of adults 65 and older and their caregivers, makes capacity-building grants to help organizations work more efficiently and effectively.
- Some community foundations offer capacity-building support in the form of educational events and trainings for staff at community nonprofits.
How does a nonprofit determine what it needs to build capacity?
It takes time and effort to determine what an organization really needs to become sustainable or to scale up. Organizations can do this through internal evaluations or self-assessment, or can work with an outside consultant on a strategic evaluation or assessment. The Ford Foundation has created an Organizational Mapping Tool that can help nonprofits with self-assessment.
Nonprofit staff usually have a good idea of what the organization needs to sustain itself or to grow. Thoughtfully assessing this, and communicating about it to funders, requires some resources that an initial capacity-building grant can provide.
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