Improving Capacity among Nonprofits-Impact Study of the Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program

摘要

The CCF Demonstration Program funds intermediary organizations to provide NPOs with capacity building training, technical assistance, and sub-awards (financial assistance). Capacity building activities under the Demonstration Program are to address five critical areas: organizational development, program development, revenue development, leadership development, and community engagement. Through receipt of capacity building assistance from CCF intermediary grantees, NPOs are expected to improve their effectiveness and organizational management including their ability to develop and train staff, expand the types and reach of their programs, and improve their access to and management of funds from diverse sources, including federal funds. This report presents the findings from a study assessing the impact of the CCF Demonstration Program. Previous studies by Abt Associates and other researchers have measured changes in outcomes before and after capacity building assistance. However, such before/after designs do not establish the causal effect of capacity building assistance. That is, these studies could not attribute the observed changes to the assistance provided as opposed to other factors that might have produced or led to the changes. Organizations are not static; some of the observed change very likely would have occurred as the NPOs matured or as they took steps on their own (i.e., without the efforts of the intermediary).