Mapping how Community Foundations Support Capacity-Building

I’ve been busy behind the scenes exploring the capacity-building programs of more than 80 community foundations—and what I’ve found is fascinating.

As I analyzed these offerings, I brought multiple lenses to the table. My background as a professor, with deep experience in program and curriculum development, gives me a critical eye for how learning experiences are structured. My time as an Associate Dean for Faculty Development means I think a lot about how people grow, learn, and apply new insights in real-world settings. These perspectives shape how I see capacity building. To me, capacity building isn’t just a set of offerings—it’s a powerful strategic tool that, when designed with intention, can drive real impact.

So, what am I finding? I’m seeing incredible variability—not just in what’s offered, but in the purpose, audience, structure, and delivery of these programs.

And, while some community foundations focus on individual professional development, helping nonprofit leaders develop core competencies, others emphasize organizational growth, strengthening nonprofits from the inside out. Still others take a community-wide approach, fostering relationship building and collective action.

And that’s just the why. The who, how, what, when, and where of capacity building are just as diverse:

✅ Designed for nonprofits, grantmakers, or philanthropic advisors—or a mix of all three.

✅ Delivered as one-off events, structured cohorts, or ongoing learning series.

✅ Ranging from free resources to in-depth professional development programs with fees.

✅ Taking place asynchronously, virtually, in-person, or through hybrid formats.

✅ Offering everything from templates and toolkits to facilitated workshops, mentorship, and grants.

My biggest take-aways? First, the meaning of “capacity building” varies widely across foundations—not just in definition, but in its role and integration within the foundation. For some, it’s a core part of their work. For others, if I’m being honest, it feels more like an afterthought.

Second, in many cases, there are missed opportunities because program design doesn’t fall meaningfully from stated goals.

As our Capacity Building at Community Foundations concept map makes clear, capacity-building efforts can differ dramatically based on fundamental questions like:

✅ Whose capacity are we aiming to build? Nonprofit leaders? Grantmakers? Philanthropic advisors?

✅ To what end? Strengthening individual skills? Organizational effectiveness? Field-wide collaboration?

✅ Why is this important? How does capacity building align with your foundation’s broader mission?

✅ What resources are we willing to commit? Staff time, funding, partnerships?

Once you’ve answered these questions, take the next step: Define what success looks like. Just as you’d expect a grantee to articulate outcomes, your foundation should be clear on how you’ll know whether you’ve actually increased capacity (Whose capacity? Capacity to do what?). What indicators will you track? What changes do you hope to see?

From there, you can begin designing programs that intentionally drive toward your goals. For example:

If your aim is to foster relationships among nonprofits, a one-time, anonymous webinar won’t cut it. Instead, consider interactive workshops, peer-learning cohorts, or in-person convenings.

If your goal is to strengthen collective action, a conference with back-to-back expert panels won’t do the trick. Instead, think about roundtable discussions, retreats to tackle shared challenges, or an UnConference where participants co-create the agenda.

When intentionally designed, capacity building can be a powerful lever for impact.