The Organizational Effectiveness (OE) team is often asked where nonprofits can find resources for capacity building projects. Grant funding in this area can be hard to find, and unfortunately, we are not able to provide support for all of the worthy projects that come our way, even for Packard Foundation grantees. In some circumstances, it…

First, organizations, then networks, now movements… Many of us in the capacity building sector started our work focused primarily or exclusively on strengthening organizations. At first, borrowing from the best practices of the business world, we developed business plans, performance management systems, and financial metrics. Over time, a nonprofit capacity building sector emerged and matured,…

The Independent Sector (IS) 2016 Conference was a thought-provoking, inspiring conference, that reminded me why I go to conferences—for the opportunity for learning through face-to-face interactions. In mid-November I joined my colleagues from the Packard Foundation Organizational Effectiveness team at the conference to meet and learn from people across the social sector—including nonprofits, foundations, and corporations….