Late last week, San Antonio unveiled its inaugural "Capacity Camp" for its nonprofit community - education, health and human service and arts programs. Below is a guest blog from CTEF members, Francesca Rattray, VP of Center for Nonprofit Support and Sandie Palomo-Gonzalez, PhD, Asst. VP of Grants and Programs, San Antonio Area Foundation.
The San Antonio Area Foundation has taken exciting steps in the area of building nonprofit excellence. First, in 2010, the Area Foundation established the Center for Nonprofit Support, which offers workshops, customized training and technical assistance to help nonprofits get the tools they need to achieve their missions more efficiently in the community.
Then, after engaging in conversations with community leaders and conducting best practices research to determine how best to use our discretaionary dollars to maximize impact in the community, the Area Foundation announced a new multi-year grantmaking initiative to strengthen nonprofits and help agencies better fulfill their missions in 2011.
The application process has two phases. First, nonprofits submit an application for funding to take the Core Capacity Assessment Tool or CCAT, a tool that helps agencies identify strengths as well as areas for organizational improvement. The Organizational Assessment grant provides agencies with a unique opportunity to engage in an assessment process, use the CCAT as a springboard for strategic conversations between board, leadership and staff, and then create a plan for strengthening the organizational based on the assessment results.
Nonprofits can then apply for funding for a project that will strengthen their agency -- so long as the project aligns with a need identified in the CCAT. In this second phase, nonprofits can request funding for outside support from consultants, trainers, or organizational coaches or for professional development or training workshops to build their capacity.
While the CCAT helps take the guesswork out of identifying training or consulting needs, finding “capacity building” services and the providers offering them in the marketplace can be challenging.
To make the process easier, the Area Foundation hosted its first “Capacity Camp,” on September 14. The Camp featured a presentation by the TCC Group, the organization that administers the CCAT, followed by a “capacity fair,” which gave nonprofits the opportunity to “shop” for capacity building services and learn firsthand about the services provided by some of the consultants, trainers and coaches in the community – including the Area Foundation’s Center for Nonprofit Support.
The presentation and fair, attended by more than 100 nonprofits and 15 “capacity-builders,” demonstrated the range and diversity of services that nonprofits can utilize to take their organizations to the next level.
October 17 is the next deadline to submit an application for the Area Foundation’s Strengthening Nonprofit grantmaking initiative. Visit www.saafdn.org for more information.
