Nonprofit capacity building in the US has grown out of its initial forays into training and technical assistance by management support organizations in the late 1970s and early 1980s into a rich combination of resources. The current national map includes more diversity with (1) a wide range of generalized and specific services, (2) covering multiple fields and organizational issues, (3) with multiple delivery methods, (4) by a diverse group of types of providers .
Opinion leaders in the field have been writing materials since the year 2000 that describe this changing landscape of capacity development. Some of the works more central to the discussion include Strengthening the capacity of non-profit organizations: basic concepts in capacity development by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, the Urban Institute Capacity building in non-profit organizationsthe National Council of Nonprofits’ capacity-building action research work with Elizabeth Boris of the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics, the Foundation Center’s interview with Barbara Kibbe of the Packard Foundation, the Library online by Carter McNamara et al.
In the West, capacity building has developed in several states with a somewhat different approach than that found in more urban areas of the US. This approach stems from non-profit organizations working in more rural communities and with limited resources. In many states, there is a rich cultural base of diverse cultures, races, and traditions of people who have lived in the region for centuries. Our culturally rich and diverse communities place great emphasis on this history, relationships, and the importance of respect. Many of the nonprofit organizations in Western communities tend to be underfunded, but are committed to building services for communities. They work in regions that have nonprofit and environmental ecosystems that are beautiful, useful, and environmentally fragile, like the industry itself.
Learned lessons
Capacity development should be guided by the unique needs of our nonprofit organizations, the nonprofit landscape of our region, and effective models and practices in the field. Of greatest interest to both researchers and practitioners should be hybrid approaches from different states that address rural needs and provide partnerships between types of resources both associative and management support. This allows the sector to address both the “big frameworks” of policy and funding, as well as more specific focus issues by organization type, size, and focus area.
Nonprofit Infrastructure Mapping: A Comparison of Capacity Building and Related Resources in Texas and Beyondstudies many elements of nonprofit sector capacity and capacity development, and rates some Western states as very weak with respect to both nonprofit sector capacity and capacity development resources.
This nonprofit work is provided at the local, regional, state, and national levels by a diverse group of organizations. It is offered to a mix of organization types and sizes, working in different fields, and should be context driven. Current models reflect a greater variety of delivery systems, providing new options for rural nonprofits.
With many states and their nonprofits facing limited resources and increasing stressors on many nonprofits, it is important to develop hybrid approaches that adapt some of the best practices in the field so that they work. Profitable strategies must leverage and leverage existing assets, in ways that are culturally relevant and a good fit for our unique nonprofit environment. Mixed-methods approaches and leveraged funding initiatives that include state and local governments are important because our state’s nonprofit and capacity-building organizations rely heavily on both government and foundation funding. .
Models
Capacity development organizations are varied and new models continue to emerge. Model capacity building organizations include: management support organizations, state associations, universities and research institutes, funders, consultants, field and issue-specific capacity builders, national non-profit umbrella organizations, national associations, institutes policy, libraries and more. Capacity development services form a diverse and ever-changing landscape. They include: widespread capacity development resources; support in specific fields (arts, health, education); and services directed to areas of organizational work (development of meetings, evaluation, fundraising).
Delivery systems include classics in the field (training, helpdesk, mentoring, and consulting) as well as new formats (such as webcasts, e-training, file sharing, video conferencing, web-based resources, blogs, and peer-to-peer conferencing). ). peer connection). The field has also developed more diverse and competitive funding, from issue-specific grants and capacity building to program-related investments, leveraged funding, community economic development funding, incubators and co-spaces, field-specific crowdfunding, and scaling models. successful. Today’s capacity development is increasingly driven by a combination of non-profit needs, context, capacity builder priorities, known models, funding, and the capacity builder’s leadership profile in the community.
Capacity building initiatives in the US have become more layered, nuanced and sophisticated in the last twenty years. Larger states with a sizable critical mass of nonprofits, foundations, and capacity builders can often create the kind of hybrid and mixed-methods approach that the mix of nonprofits needs. However, this is difficult to achieve in the more rural and resource-constrained states such as New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Maine, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Mapping needs against current resources and against models from other states provides the kind of overlap that can identify both gaps and opportunities for nonprofits in all of these states.