Capacity Strengthening for Canadian Non-Profits

We believe it’s time to create a space for a Collective Approach to Capacity-Building. Join us in kicking this off with a Virtual Town Hall on March 27!

Based on the very well-attended capacity-building session at the PFC 2022 Conference, and reconfirmed through the McConnell Foundation’s landscape analysis in Fall of 2022, one theme comes through and resonates most clearly – the need to work together, as funders, on better serving the non-profit sector with capacity strengthening supports. 

Doing this for individual leaders and organizations is vital, but strengthening capacity is not just about one-to-one, it is also about the ecosystem. Collaborative efforts to support capacity strengthening at all levels can enable collective action by organizations and communities (e.g., to work together in new ways, connect and take part in policy discussions, break down silos, build collective power) and realize even greater possible impacts.

As funders, it is our role to be flexible, responsive, and patient to facilitate this work.  

PFC, MakeWay and McConnell therefore propose these two focus areas for further action:

1. Change our practices – using existing forums, such as PFC peer working groups, let’s learn and work together on honing our philanthropic practice to better support capacity strengthening.

2. Create a new space for funding this work – for those Foundations that are interested, let’s convene a new space to explore how we can partner and raise net-new funds for capacity strengthening work.

Virtual Town Hall

To all those interested in pursuing these objectives, join us for an open town hall session on March 27, 1-2:30 pm ET, to seek partner interest and craft a workplan for further action.