GoBuild Compassion Capital Fund 2010
In 2010, Nonprofits First successfully administered the Compassion Capital Fund, a $500,000 grant received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nonprofits First contributed a match of $85,000 which enabled us to bring these additional resources to the community.
The purpose of this grant was to provide capacity building through training, technical support and sub-awards to faith-based and community organizations to assist in leadership development, program development, organization development and community engagement. Upon completion of the capacity building activities, agencies demonstrated that they had improved the organization’s sustainability and effectiveness, enhanced its ability to provide social services, or created collaborations to better serve those most in need.
The project was divided into three phases with a total of 101 nonprofit agencies participating in one or all of the phases. In phase one, all agencies received invitations to participate in capacity building training classes at no cost. The second phase consisted of a competitive application process, through which 39 agencies were selected for one-on-one consulting support. These agencies completed an organizational assessment tool and received 34 hours of professional consulting based on the results.
In the final phase, 21 agencies were selected to receive sub-awards for further capacity building initiatives. The sub-awards totaled over $200,000. Each agency was awarded approximately $10,000.
Agencies applied the sub-award grants to such resources as:
- website design and development
- donor management software
- marketing materials
- computers and hardware
In total, participating grassroots agencies received over 800 hours of training and over 1,200 hours of professional consulting to help build agency capacity.