Capacity Building

Capacity building supports nonprofits by strengthening the systems, structures, processes, cultures, skills, resources and people needed to effectively serve their communities and meet their missions. Capacity-building initiatives promote financial stability and resilience for nonprofits, lending critical assistance that organizations and their leaders need to become stronger and sustain their work.⁸

Figure 15 illustrates that overall, 77 percent of grantmakers provided some form of capacity building support. Despite the importance of this support for nonprofit organizations and leaders, this marks a troubling reversal of the growth trend noted in GEO’s 2017 field study, where 86 percent of grantmakers reported providing capacity-building support. As nonprofits continue to face rising challenges with cuts to federal funding and attacks on equity efforts, capacity building support remains a critical need for nonprofits. Through capacity building, grantmakers can provide legal assistance, policy and advocacy support, essential infrastructure, wellness resources and connection to community.

Figure 15. Capacity Building Funding Support by Survey Year. The chart shows the percentage of foundations that provide some form of capacity-building support over time. Sixty-five percent of foundations provided capacity-building support in 2008 and 2011, 77% in 2014, 86% in 2017, and 77% in 2025. Capacity-building support increased between 2011 and 2017 but has since declined.

Nonprofit needs vary, and grantmakers continue to provide a wide array of support types. Figure 16 shows that unsurprisingly, the most common forms of support include traditional capacity building focus areas such as collaboration, leadership capacity, communications, program delivery, evaluation and learning, and more.

Figure 16. Traditional Capacity-Building Support. The chart shows the percentage of foundations that provide traditional types of capacity-building support. Sixty-six percent support collaboration, 62% support leadership capacity, 60% support communications, 59% support program delivery, 54% support evaluation and learning, 50% support mission, vision, and strategy, 49% support fund development, 47% support financial management, 46% support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and 44% support technology. Collaboration and leadership capacity are the most commonly supported areas.

In addition to traditional capacity-building areas, capacity-building support is notably emerging for wellness, safety and security, and legal support, and a few grantmakers are supporting unionization and advocacy, as demonstrated in Figure 17. As attacks on communities and the nonprofits serving them continue to escalate, these types of support will only become more relevant and essential. Figure 18 shows grantmakers that indicated that DEI is either “very much” central (63 percent) or DEI is “somewhat central” (43 percent) to their strategy supported at least one emerging capacity-building activity.

Figure 17. Emerging Areas of Capacity-Building Support. The chart shows the percentage of foundations that provide support in emerging areas of capacity building. Thirty-five percent support wellness, 19% support safety and security, 18% provide legal support, 2% support unionization, and 2% support advocacy. Wellness is the most commonly supported emerging area.

Figure 18. Support for at Least One Emerging Capacity-Building Activity by DEI Commitment. The chart shows the percentage of foundations that fund at least one emerging area of capacity building, based on how central diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is to their strategy. Twenty-one percent of foundations where DEI is not at all central provide this support, compared with 43% where DEI is a little bit or somewhat central, and 63% where DEI is very much central. Foundations that view DEI as central to their strategy are more likely to support emerging capacity-building activities.

Grantmaker Story

We know that the nonprofit, the applicant, its staff, volunteers and board are best positioned to identify their capacity challenges.”

Stephanie Hyre

Chief Program Officer
The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation

The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation — Investing in Capacity and People

The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation (TGKVF) in West Virginia supports small and emerging nonprofits through its Building Bridges Leadership Institute (BBLI), a cohort-based capacity-building program.

BBLI participants convene with fellow nonprofit leaders and are matched with a consultant to help further their mission. Based on grantee partner feedback, the foundation has adjusted its process to ensure consultants reflect the diversity of participants and the communities they serve. “We know that the nonprofit, the applicant, its staff, volunteers and board are best positioned to identify their capacity challenges. We want to support the growth and efficiency of those organizations and invest in people,” said Stephanie Hyre, Chief Program Officer. TGKVF has also created more flexible entry points for grassroots, volunteer-run nonprofits, including funding through an intermediary for those without 501(c)(3) status, expanding access for groups serving rural and under-resourced communities.

Read the Full Story

People sit at tables in a classroom-style meeting room, listening to someone off camera. A woman in a red sweater stands near the wall to the left, and several participants seated at tables are looking forward while others look down at papers or phones.

The Building Bridges Leadership Institute hosted its End-of-Year Celebration and networking event at the Kanawha County Public Library on December 16, 2022.

Photo Credit: Raphael Barker Photography, 2022.

Nonprofit Story

Everything starts from relationships. If the staff feel like this is the best place to be, then I can keep investing in them.”

Kimberly Foreman

CEO
Environmental Health Watch

Environmental Health Watch — Investing in Leadership and Wellbeing

Environmental Health Watch (EHW) is Northeast Ohio’s longest standing environmental justice organization, dedicated to building a future where every child, family, and individual can live in a healthy home within a sustainable community.

With capacity-building support, EHW has been able to invest in leadership training and staff wellbeing to sustain its team over the long term. These funds have allowed EHW to bring in trained facilitators to deepen staff relationships, leading to shared trust and decreased staff turnover. “Everything starts from relationships. If the staff feel like this is the best place to be, then I can keep investing in them,” said CEO Kimberly Foreman. “Funding paid sabbatical leave for nonprofit leaders is also important. When work feels like it’s always with you, you need time away to think, reflect and truly disconnect so that you can return with fresh energy and perspective.”

Read the Full Story

A group of people stand together on a grassy area in a wooded park, listening to two speakers standing in front of them. Large trees with green leaves hang overhead, and sunlight filters through the branches.

In summer 2025, nonprofit Environmental Health Watched launched their first ever youth edition of Power and Policy. Teens explored environmental injustices in their own backyards pictured here at Doan Brook Watershed and learned that power is not just a concept, it is a force they already possess.

Photo Credit: Morgan B. Parks, 2025.

⁸Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, “Reimagining Capacity Building: Navigating Culture, Systems & Power,” 2021. Available at https://www.geofunders.org/resource/reimagining-capacity-building-navigating-culture-systems-power/.

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