In December, the Community Foundation announced over $200,000 in grants to 18 local organizations in our Nonprofit Capacity Building grant round. So, what is nonprofit capacity building? It’s helping strengthen an organization’s core operations and build efficiencies in how it works. It was described to me once as “investing in a tree’s trunk, not its branches.” To build the capacities of the agencies that serve us and our communities, we have to be willing to support more than just programming. We need to invest in their infrastructure: things like upgrading their information systems, building a fundraising plan, or paying for staff development and program evaluation.
Nonprofit Capacity Building is one of the core funding categories that the Community Foundation invests in through the FOREVER Funds, our community-voiced, community centered grantmaking program. Want to learn how we make funding decisions? Join us March 20 for a “How the FOREVER Funds Work” breakfast session at the Memphis Botanic Garden.
Visit cfgm.org/wkno to register.