Foundations Need Capacity Too: Initial Findings from the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool

For many years, the social sector has paid substantial attention to the issue of nonprofit effectiveness. By contrast, comparatively little attention has been paid to the capacities that foundations themselves need to achieve impact. What capacities are essential to advancing a foundation’s own mission? How do these elements compare to the capacities their grantee partners need?

We believe that foundation capacity—like nonprofit capacity more broadly—is essential to impact. In developing the FCCAT and sharing aggregate findings in this report, our core purpose is to elevate attention to this important issue.