About the Alliance | About Capacity Building

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management brings together the many different actors in the field of nonprofit capacity building, forming an interconnected professional community that builds and shares knowledge. 

Capacity building is defined as the "process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in the fast-changing world."
- Ann Philbin, Capacity Building in Social Justice Organizations, Ford Foundation, 1996 

The following explanation of capacity building, the actors in the field, and its relationship with organizational effectiveness is excerpted from Evaluation of Capacity Building: Lessons from the Field by Deborah Linnell, published by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. 

Capacity building, capacity itself, and organizational effectiveness are all related, but they are not the same.  

Capacity refers to an organization's ability to achieve its mission effectively and to sustain itself over the long term. Capacity also refers to the skills and capabilities of individuals.

Capacity building refers to activities that improve an organization's ability to achieve its mission or a person's ability to define and realize his/her goals or to do his/her job more effectively. For organizations, capacity building may relate to almost any aspect of its work: improved governance, leadership, mission and strategy, administration (including human resources, financial management, and legal matters), program development and implementation, fundraising and income generation, diversity, partnerships and collaboration, evaluation, advocacy and policy change, marketing, positioning, planning, etc. For individuals, capacity building may relate to leadership development, advocacy skills, training/speaking abilities, technical skills, organizing skills, and other areas of personal and professional development.

Capacity building agents come in many shapes and sizes. Those that first come to mind are management consultants (either independents or for-profit firms) who provide expertise, coaching, training and referrals. There also are nonprofit consulting organizations--referred to as management support organizations (MSOs) that provide consulting, training, resources, research, referrals and other services for nonprofits.

A distinction is sometimes made between capacity building and technical assistance. Often nonprofits hire outside specialists to perform tasks or functions in areas in which they lack capacity. Those services provided do not necessarily leave behind additional organizational capacity, although they do increase the ability of an organization to achieve its mission.

You can find much more information in Evaluation of Capacity Building: Lessons from the Field for a more detailed review of organizational effectiveness frameworks, case studies, and practical tips for evaluating capacity building efforts.

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