Most grant makers would agree, at least in principle, that helping nonprofits build organizational capacity is an important role for philanthropy. Some foundations offer grants specifically for this purpose, providing dedicated resources to enable grantees to add staff, hire consultants, and strengthen internal systems.
At the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, we recognize the value of these programs, but we also believe every foundation — whether or not it has a formal program offering technical assistance or grant dollars for capacity building or organizational effectiveness — has a variety of options to help grantees strengthen their infrastructure.
As one of the largest grant makers supporting local organizations in the Washington, D.C., area, our foundation relies on strong and effective nonprofits to fulfill our commitment to improving the quality of life for everyone in the region. Each year, we support more than 400 groups that respond to needs and opportunities in five program areas — arts and humanities, community services, education, the environment, and health.
Throughout the foundation’s 75-year history, its support for capacity building has taken many forms but is grounded in a few core principles: listening to grantees; being open, accessible, and responsive to them; and looking for ways to add value beyond the grant money. Our work is also guided by the understanding that nonprofits exist as part of a larger ecosystem, and they benefit from having a wide range of options to strengthen their organizations.
Here are four ways Cafritz helps nonprofits build organizational capacity — and how other foundations can, too.
Provide general operating support. Nonprofits are on the ground every day doing important work, so they are the experts on what their communities need. They also know best what resources their organizations need to ensure that programs thrive. We trust charities to spend money wisely, which is why the overwhelming majority of our grants are awarded as general operating funds, and we typically support groups for many years.
Our grantees appreciate the flexibility to use grant dollars as they see fit, and they value the commitment Cafritz makes to them. We typically build longstanding relationships with grantees, so our staff knows and trusts these organizations.
While every nonprofit faces budget pressures, and most would rather spend money on programs than on management and infrastructure, general operating support gives them flexibility to spend the money on whatever they need most. That might mean adding more program staff, expanding to a new site, upgrading accounting software, hiring a strategic-planning consultant, or keeping the lights on.
We believe providing consistent, unrestricted, flexible support is one of the most effective ways to help nonprofits increase capacity.
Be responsive and accessible. In the month before each of our three annual proposal deadlines, Cafritz staff offer multiple question-and-answer forums for nonprofits. These 90-minute virtual sessions are for groups that have never received grant money from our foundation or for new staff at nonprofits we already support who want to learn more about our decision-making process.
Each session starts with a presentation about Cafritz’s history, mission, processes, and policies and ends with more than an hour of discussion among attendees and our program staff. These conversations address a variety of topics, such as grant-making timelines, the difference between general operating and program support, the duration of grants, and the value of submitting letters of support. Participants receive a short, anonymous evaluation form immediately after the meeting, and their feedback has been invaluable in helping us improve the information sessions and our grant-making practices.
Cafritz program officers also make themselves available before grant deadlines for one-on-one conversations with any organization planning to submit a proposal. After grant decisions are made, we invite groups that did not receive an award to contact us to get feedback from the staff members who read their proposal and guidance on how they can better present their work in the future.
Foster relationships among nonprofits. With more than 400 active grantees across a large metropolitan region, we are well-positioned to be a connector for nonprofits, including introducing groups doing similar work or serving the same populations. For example, if we know that a mobile health clinic, a job-training program, and an afterschool arts program offer services at the same public middle school, we make sure they are in contact with each other because chances are they reach many of the same people.
The foundation also has supported nonprofits’ efforts to form coalitions with groups doing similar work, helped organizations find potential merger partners (and made grants to support mergers), and helped schools and housing programs identify grantees that could serve as resources for students or residents.
Plus, we send frequent emails to grantees alerting them of new grant opportunities and make personal introductions to other foundations when we think they are a good match.
Support a wide variety of technical assistance. Many nonprofits are founded by a person or group that sees a compelling need in the community and wants to help. While these organizations are inspired by a vision and driven by a mission, they may not have made building the infrastructure needed to achieve these goals their highest priority.
Fortunately, like many other regions across the country, D.C. is home to numerous organizations that exist to help other nonprofits build capacity. These groups provide training and resources and offer various forms of support, including shared office or program space, group health insurance, technology assistance, peer support groups, and other services for nonprofits at every stage of development. We also support these capacity-building organizations, recognizing that they are an essential part of the nonprofit ecosystem.
A recent successful example is our partnership with Catchafire, an online platform that matches nonprofits with skilled volunteers. These individuals offer their time and skills to help nonprofits with projects that may take a few hours, days, or many months to complete. The work varies in nature — focusing on fundraising, human resources, marketing, and more — all with the goal of improving nonprofits’ ability to achieve their missions.
All Cafritz grantees have access to Catchafire. Since 2019, grantees have received pro bono services worth more than $2.9 million — approximately 15,000 donated hours of work — through this platform. That this work is, and always has been, completely virtual was particularly fortuitous during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We continue to partner with Catchafire today because the platform enables nonprofit leaders to decide what kind of support they need and choose the volunteers they want to help them. This same principle holds true for most of the capacity-building efforts we support: We provide grant money for a wide range of resources without prescribing specific solutions or interventions. We try to stay out of the way and trust organizations to identify the resources they need.
Our approaches to supporting capacity building have evolved over time and will continue to change as we listen to grantees and the community. But the underlying principles and behaviors — trusting nonprofits, striving for transparency and accessibility, and looking for ways to add value beyond making grants — could be implemented by any foundation committed to building grantee capacity.
