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What is Capacity Building?
While there is no agreed upon single definition for the term "capacity building," it can be understood as a process that organizations undertake to acquire the capabilities, knowledge, and resources necessary to be more effective. In her book, Investing in Capacity Building, Barbara Blumenthal provides a simple definition of capacity building as "actions that improve nonprofit effectiveness."
The Pew Fund Capacity Building Program focuses on five areas that contribute to organizational effectiveness:
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1. Management information systems desin and development - securing hardware, securing and/or designing software, and building related staff skills necessary for managing work more effectively, e.g. for tracking client demographic data, service utilization, and progress toward outcomes.
2. Financial management and planning - assessment, planning and development of financial systems, as well as staff skill building to improve reporting systems and enable organizations to identify the most cost-effective services.
3. Evaluation and outcomes system development - increasing staff knowledge and understanding of evaluation and developing MIS and other internal systems for assessing program effectiveness.
4. Leadership development for succession planning - planning for and implementing strategies for the development of new leaders and/or leadership transitions through identification of leadership needs, development of internal new leadership capacity, and executive leadership succession planning and recruiting.
5. New program planning and development - rigorous planning of new programs through research into and adaptation of research-based, effective practices as well as staff development in support of the new evidence based initiatives.
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