National Service Agency Announces Grants to Build Nonprofit Capacity, Achieve Greater Results

Washington, DC—The Corporation for National and Community Service awarded its new Nonprofit Capacity Building Program grants totaling $1 million to increase the capacity of nonprofits to improve lives in communities facing economic hardships. The two-year grants were awarded to five organizations to build and implement performance management systems to help achieve greater results for nonprofits in diverse communities.

“Nonprofits are a critical engine and partner in our efforts to deliver vital services to those in need across the country,” said Patrick A. Corvington, CEO of the Corporation. “With millions of people and families facing uncertain futures, it is incumbent on us to better leverage resources to help the nonprofit sector drive community solutions. That's exactly what these funds will do.”

Under Corvington's leadership, the agency is placing a higher priority on measuring the progress we are making in addressing the challenges communities face and holding ourselves accountable for results. The grantees will provide small and mid-size nonprofits with performance management tools and resources that help them deliver and demonstrate results. These nonprofits are tackling pressing challenges in education, economic opportunity, and health in financially strapped communities across the country.

The grantees enable nonprofits to make a greater difference in communities and are part of a vital support structure that includes community foundations, nonprofit associations, academic institutions, national nonprofit networks, and faith-based organizations. Their work will target support to organizations working in economically distressed cities, rural communities, and tribal reservations that provide essential services such as financial literacy, job training, and youth development to vulnerable families and populations.

Below is detailed information about the five grantees and their project focus areas and partner organizations.

The Arizona Community Foundation ($220,000; 2 year grant) will work with partner organizations to provide performance management training and technical assistance for select nonprofits that aid working families in building and sustaining financial health in counties and reservations across the state of Arizona.

Focus area: State of Arizona.

Partners: Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and FSG Social Impact Advisors.

Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston ($220,000; 2 year grant) will work with partner organizations to help build the performance management capacity of nonprofits that improve education and financial outcomes for low-income youth ages 12-24 by providing them with job search, job readiness and other skills trainings.

Focus areas: Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan Lawrence, Lowell and Lynn counties in Boston.

Partners: United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, and Emanuel Gospel Center's Applied Evaluation Systems.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits ($200,000; 2 year grant) will work with partner organizations to provide nonprofits that serve the educational, financial and health needs of Minnesotans with performance management coaching and technical assistance.

Focus areas: Minnesota's Northeast, Northwest, and Central Counties including tribal reservations located in these areas.

Partners: Greater Twin Cities United Way Outcome Measurement Resource Network, Minnesota Council for Quality for Evaluation, Nonprofits Assistance Fund, Creation in Common, and University of Minnesota.

The United Way of the Bay Area ($200,000; 2 year grant) will build the performance management and evaluation capacity of nonprofit organizations that advance economic opportunity in high-poverty communities across the Bay Area. Technical assistance will focus on measuring client outcomes in debt reduction and income and asset building.

Focus areas: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Solano counties in California.

The University of Central Florida ($160,000; 2 year grant) will provide nonprofit organizations that focus on education, economic opportunity and health in central Florida with a range of services that include training and technical assistance, counseling, and computerization of the performance management process.

Focus areas: South Lake, South Sumter and West Orange counties in Florida.