Strengthening Capacity, Sustaining Impact

The Capacity Building Resource Hub shares practical tools, lessons, and examples from the Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Economies (RISE) program to help you make investments that strengthen nonprofit organizations over time.

Why Capacity

Building Matters

Nonprofits are expected to solve increasingly complex challenges while navigating real constraints on funding, staffing, and time. Too often, investments focus on programs without supporting the organizational infrastructure behind them.

Effective capacity building changes that. It helps organizations strengthen how they lead, learn, plan, and adapt so they can continue delivering results even as conditions change.

See how we define capacity building in our field guide

Making Capacity Building More Equitable

Our Perspective

We believe capacity building works best when funders create the conditions for nonprofits to strengthen their organizations in ways that are responsive to their unique context and built for the long term.

An intentional capacity-building strategy starts by asking nonprofits what they need.

Effective capacity-building investments pair unrestricted funding with other types of support.

Capacity-building supports work best when they offer flexibility without sacrificing accountability.

Resources for Effective Capacity Building

These three downloadable resources offer different entry points into the lessons and insights emerging from RISE and what they mean for effective capacity building. Start with the perspective that feels most relevant to you.

design

Explore how RISE was intentionally designed around what nonprofits said they needed to strengthen their organizations and advance their work.

implementation

See what it looked like to capacity-building principles into practice, including the choices, adaptations, and supports that shaped the RISE experience.

impact

Step into the experiences of RISE participants through stories and reflections that bring the value and impact of the work to life.

From Principles to Practice

For more than 20 years our team at Community Wealth Partners has specialized in designing and managing programs that strengthen nonprofit resilience and collaboration. We’ve learned that the most effective investments combine intentional design with responsive implementation. RISE put this approach into practice through a three-year initiative supporting 22 nonprofit organizations across Dallas and Miami-Dade County with unrestricted funding, coaching, peer learning, and organizational strengthening (technical assistance).

RISE in Numbers

A closer look at the investment

Nonprofit Organizations representing Miami-Dade, Florida and Dallas, Texas

$175k

Nonprofit General Operating Support

$30-40k

Nonprofit Technical Assistance Support

Voices From RISE

“We feel the trust from you all.
That has a ripple effect on our ability to drive powerful work and conversations.”

“In these types of organizations, you’re always living on the margins because you’re serving people on the margins. The funding helped CCDC leverage additional dollars from other funders and pay salaries, including for Americorps Vista members impacted by federal funding cuts.”

“I've found that in-person interactions are essential for nurturing the deeper, trust-based relationships that sustain meaningful coalition work.”

RISE Partners

Thank you to the nonprofit leaders, organizational strengthening partners, and coaches who made RISE possible. Your leadership, partnership, and commitment to learning shaped this work and what we’ve learned along the way.

Nonprofit Organizations (Dallas, Texas)

Nonprofit Organizations
(Miami-Dade County, Florida)

Organizational Strengthening Partners

Program Coaches

Let's Talk Capacity Building

Do you have a question about RISE, a media inquiry, or are you interested in a thought partnership call related to your capacity building investments? We’d welcome the opportunity to connect.