Preparing to Exit From the Start Strengthening Grantees' Organizational Capacity

Another foundation — this one a “spend down” — created special funds to help grantees with organizational development during its final three years. The largest fund provided three-year capacity-building grants to about a quarter of the foundation’s grantees. A smaller fund was available for professional learning projects for grantees’ staff and volunteers. “It has been essential,” the foundation CEO commented, “to have some dollars budgeted each year that can be used to respond to unanticipated opportunities or to extend a resource that has a better than expected impact.” The professional learning fund allowed grantees to hire trainers and consultants in areas such as participatory action research, youth-led evaluation, and peer-led problem solving.