For several years, a philanthropist had given money to a San Francisco- based AIDS prevention organization. When it became clear that the nonprofit needed to expand, he gave a $50,000 grant so that the nonprofit could hire its first paid secretary and rent office space. Although academics and foundations might say that the donor contributed to “capacity building,” neither he nor the recipient ever used this term.
Our interviews with 34 individual donors and their advisers across the United States likewise show that they either don’t know or don’t like the term “capacity building.” Capacity building means developing the internal resources (e.g., technological equipment, management expertise) a nonprofit organization needs to accomplish its mission. Individual donors generally support the idea of developing these internal resources. However, most donors never use the phrase “capacity building” to describe their often informal philanthropic work in this realm. Indeed, most view the term as jargon. Many donors also said that they do not know about other donors’ or foundations’ work concerning capacity building.
The respondents in our sample included both major and minor donors, wealth managers, office managers, private bankers, and trust attorneys. Many were eager to learn more about capacity building, saying that they would prefer to receive their education through peer networking or brief, journalistically written summaries, perhaps on the Internet.
Read more stories by Thomas E. Backer, Alan N. Miller & Jane Ellen Bleeg.