Capacity Building as an Impact Strategy
- A 5 to 10 minute read written by Andreina Weichselbaumer + Tanya Jaramilla -
For years, philanthropy has focused on funding programs. It makes sense to fund initiatives that are tangible with outcomes that can be measured, reported, and felt by the community. Programs don’t happen on their own, though. Behind every successful initiative is an organization backed by humans navigating leadership transitions, staff burnout, funding uncertainty, community expectations, and the daily challenge of doing more with less. As community needs grow exponentially and funding landscapes become more unpredictable, we’re seeing a major shift in how some funders think about impact long-term.
Rather than asking “What programs should we invest in?”, we now see visionary philanthropists asking a different question: “Which organizations are critical to the future of our communities and what will it take for them to thrive over the next decade?” That shift is moving trust-based philanthropy from an idea into a practice, creating space for a different kind of investment; one that recognizes organizational health as a driver of long-term community impact.
At Radical Partners, we’ve spent over a decade supporting leaders through coaching, strategic planning, workshops, and building coalitions. Through our partnership with Julian Grace Foundation, we’re exploring what happens when funders and capacity builders/strengtheners work together in service of organizations already doing meaningful work in their communities.
We’ve come to think of the players in this symbiotic relationship as:
Capacity Seekers, leaders who hold the trust, expertise, relationships, and lived experience that make change possible, and are seeking how to improve and scale their impact.
Capacity Boosters, funders whose investments create the conditions for organizations to focus, adapt, and grow, as they build and impact communities.
Capacity Builders, supporters and trainers who work at the intersection of funders and organizations to help strengthen the strategies, systems, skills, and relationships that allow organizations to sustain and scale their impact.
None of these roles work in isolation and we’re seeing the magic that happens when collaborations including all stakeholders thrive as we invest in the power and sustainability of three local organizations in Chicago, Illinois: Healing to Action, Free Spirit Media, and NewRoot.
Capacity building isn’t about fixing organizations or prescribing solutions. The strongest organizations already know their communities better than anyone else. What they often seek is space to reflect, trusted partners to challenge assumptions, opportunities to learn from peers, and support to strengthen the systems that sustain their work. Meaningful capacity building looks like leadership coaching, strategic accountability, peer learning, operational strengthening, and relationship building. The impact strategies we’ve built to combine these approaches provide organizations of any scale the opportunities they deserve to become even stronger.
One of the most interesting lessons from this work is that organizations across the country are facing many of the same challenges. Whether in Miami, Chicago, or smaller cities, leaders are navigating how to scale without losing sight of their mission. Organizations are committed to sustaining and growing teams and programs that generate positive community change all while diversifying funding, navigating retention and burnout, and managing strenuous evaluation and operations practices. Though challenges are shared, the most effective solutions are found within the local context.
Organizations are the experts in their communities, so our roles as funders and capacity builders/strengtheners isn’t to arrive with answers but rather to help leaders strengthen the strategies and systems that allow them to pursue solutions rooted in their own context. The role as funders isn’t to dictate the path forward but to create the conditions for those solutions to emerge and grow.
If there’s one lesson we continue to learn alongside Julian Grace Foundation and the leaders we support, it is this: sustainable impact requires sustainable organizations sustained by strong leaders (who also and often need support too). When funders invest in organizational health, capacity builders/strengtheners provide relevant, tailored support, and leaders are trusted to serve, communities are better positioned to thrive.
This partnership is just the beginning and we’re grateful to the bold leaders who take us up on these opportunities to accelerate impact. Together, we’ll be sharing more about lessons, reflections, and stories from this journey.
Follow along as we continue to invest in organizational strength, community leadership, and long-term impact by subscribing to Radical Partners’ and Julian Grace Foundation’s newsletters.