Do you think that OE funders should require grantees to undertake an organizational assessment before awarding an OE grant? Why/why not?
  • Cole Wilbur

    Well, it depends. Sometimes the need is obvious to both the grantee and the foundation and an assessment would be unnecessary. However if there is any doubt about the real needs of an agency (ie they say they need better fund raising capacity when it seems that their strategy is out of date), then an assessment would be very worthwhile. I think the key thing is that part of our OE process is for us and the grantee to consider the benefits of doing this assessment and then make a decision.

    We do need to consider who would pay for the assessment and who would do it. In most situations the grantee would not be able to make this assessment themselves and thus our OE process would amount to Step 1 – a grant for a consultant to do the assessment and then Step 2 – to have this or another consultant help the organization to figure out how they could substantially improve their operations.

    • Gurpreet

      Cole, you bring up a good point about who will pay up.

      Does anyone know how much a typical assessment would cost (I know there are many variables to consider, but estimates would be great)? Considering OE grants are, on average, ~$40,000, OE may not be able to fund a whole lot of assessments without reducing funding for actual capacity building projects. Could partnerships with other OE programs help cover the cost?

  • Jeff Jackson

    I think the questions the OE team has posed on the assessments page of the OE wiki are helpful to this conversation:

    Here are a few things that a funder and/or nonprofit might consider when selecting which organizational/network assessment tool might work best for what they need, if an assessment is needed at all:

    Does/has the organization/network already use another tool and would multiple tools be overkill or confusing?
    What if an organization/network prefers a different assessment tool than what its multiple funders might like/require?
    How valuable or not is it for one organization/network or a funder to compare assessments of multiple organizations?
    What are the organization’s reporting needs? automated, self-generated, custom, generic, no need for a report, etc.
    When is the tool more useful if implemented by one, few or many stakeholders?
    When is self-implementation vs third-party implementation more appropriate?
    When is it appropriate to have a custom tool to cover culture, mission, life-cycle, size, organization structure like network, etc. vs a generic tool?
    What additional capacity is built by using local language(s)/jargon vs a non-local language?
    Given there are many free assessments, is the tool the least expensive way to advance strategic conversation and action about capacity?

    Also see: http://packard-foundation-oe.wikispaces.com/Organizational+%26+Network+Assessment

    • Gurpreet

      Jeff, thanks for pointing back to all of the resources we have up on the wiki!

      Also, in your experience as an OE Program Officer, could you see yourself asking organizations to conduct an organizational assessment before submitting a specific type of proposal? What are some examples of when you would do this (assuming that it wouldn’t be a requirement for all requests)? How would some organizations react? It’ll be great to get some representatives of organizations to share their thoughts on this!

      And, once you receive the results/report, how useful do you think it will be? More or less useful than the Primary PO’s assessment based on their relationship with the organization? More or less useful than the phone conversations you have with representatives from the organization to answer your burning questions?

      Or this a case-by-case issue that we can’t decide on a general level? Anyhow, maybe an organizational assessment could be one tool (if standardized) at a PO’s disposal if she or he chose to wield it.

      • Jeff Jackson

        Gurpreet, I’m happy to chat more about the questions you raise, both from my experience at Packard and in the field as a non-profit leader and consultant to non-profits/foundations. At the same time, I too am hoping we hear more from Packard grantees and other NGOs on this issue – since they have the most at stake in this question (cost and benefit).

        I’ve guided a few foundations on when/how best to use and not use org assessments with grantee partners. There are many considerations that go in to the question and, at the risk of over-simplifying, I tried to highlight the key considerations in the questions on our wiki and listed above in my last comment, . I’ve designed two free self-assessment tools for two foundations to use with all of their grantees; they actually use them on an annual basis with over 400 grantees – one of the largest longitudinal samples I’m aware of. Having said this, there were conditions in place where that approach worked well for those foundation and those NGOs, but might not work well (or could even do damage) for other foundations and other NGOs.

        Our current practice at Packard when reviewing OE grant requests is to a) ask how the grantee prioritized their capacity building focus (perhaps via a previous org assessment, evaluation or strategic planning process), b) check assumptions with their primary foundation Program Officer (who knows the grantee better than we do) and c) consider whether an upfront investment in an organizational assessment would add value or not. It’s not rocket science to arrive at a conclusion, but it might be a bit more of artful practice.

  • Rachael Barrett

    The question is great on many levels, as supported by the comments. My quick answer is yes and is based on a recent search for capacity building funding.

    My organization requested capacity building funding from a donor. We essentially asked for plan to plan funding. Which the donor noted is necessary, but sometimes challenging for foundation’s to give.

    In our situation, we knew we needed help in one area of our work; and we had internally identified possible solutions; but it is a bit of a “doctor heal yourself” position to be in…and seeing this; we chose a plan to plan solution. This meant bringing in a consultant with expertise in the area we are interested in enhancing and have him lead staff through various options. Working together, having organizational assumptions challenged by an unbiased outsider will hopefully help us make a more refined decision about next steps.

    • Cheryl

      Hi Rachel, Thank you for sharing your experiences. OE does hear regularly from our grantees that capacity building funding is hard to come by. While having outside consultants help with the process, as you well know, any real change comes from lots of hard work in the organization itself. I commend you and your organization for your commitment to addressing the areas where you identified help was needed.

  • Jared Raynor

    This is a great follow-up question to the Gold Mine analysis. Before answering the “should you require an assessment” I find it helpful to reflect on what do you want to achieve with your OE grants? In today’s capacity building environment, we know that a generic “better organizations” response is not particularly satisfying or compelling. While I won’t digress here into an analysis of potential desired goals of OE grants (e.g., common language, field building, program capacity, sustainability, scaling, compliance, general strategy improvement, foster interaction, build awareness, develop technical skills, demonstrate viability, token grantmaking, tie-offs, etc.) (happy to discuss if folks are interested), suffice it to say that answering that question I think will bring greater coherence to the question on an assessment.

    A second thought is that we frequently discuss assessment tools as a ubiquitous whole, rather than as taking a variety of forms and serving a variety of purposes. Some assessments, such as TCC’s Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT) are meant to look broadly at capacity within an organization–to help organizations avoid potential “blind spots” or to think about capacity needs through a more holistic lens. Others, such as BoardSource’s Board Self-Assessment have a much narrower focus. Some tools are meant to foster dialogue and interaction (e.g., Alliance for Justice’s Advocacy Capacity Assessment Tool) and others are meant to serve as data input into a conversation.

    Given the variety of tools and such, the broader lens of intended outcomes becomes more important and a precursor to answering the question posed fully. Look forward to ongong engagement in the strategy experiment!

    • Cheryl

      Hi Jared, Great to have you weigh in here. You raise a lot of great points, and these are definitely issues we are taking into consideration. I think you are absolutely right that we need to be clear about the desired goals of an OE grant, and as part of the grantmaking process, POs communicate with grantees to hone in what a particular grant is to achieve. Some grantees are very clear, others get to it with more conversation/coaching. As for the assessments tools, you are right to remind us that assessments take on varying forms and serve different purposes. All food for thought as we move forward.

  • http://N/A Theron Fuller

    Question: 1) Do you think NGO capacity building funders should require their grantees to undertake an organizational assessment before awarding an OE grant? Why/why not?

    Reply: Organizations should conduct assessments to determine what their current capacity is, what the potential demand for additional services is, and if there is a market for additional services, what changes the organization must make to scale their services upward. It doesn’t make good business sense for an organization to increase its capacity if it currently has surplus capacity. In this case, a services marketing project would be preferable to a capacity building project. Similarly, if there currently is no surplus customer demand for services, then it doesn’t make any good business sense to create capacity nobody is going to use.

    The granting organization should also have an idea about whether the candidate organization will provide additional services in the market or whether they will use their increased capacity to increase their market share of existing services.

    For over 30 years Duck Chang’s restaurant has been my favorite place to dine out. Although the restaurant is consistently full during business hours and there is obviously surplus demand for the restaurant’s food, the Chang family has never increased the capacity of the restaurant. With the current capacity Chef Chang has personal control over the dishes prepared in the kitchen and can oversee the preparation of the restaurant’s signature dish, Peking duck. Chef Chang was the personal chef to the king of Thailand at one time, and each customer gets a dish literally fit for a king. The number of tables is just the right size for Mrs. Chang to oversee the quality of service and to give personal attention to each guest. A capacity-building grant would be a disaster for the Peking Duck. The dishes would be very good, but not outstanding. Service would be good, but without the personal attention each guest now gets. The Peking duck would be very good, but it would lack a certain something. The Peking Duck would become just another big Chinese restaurant.

    Question: 2) Where/how does it make sense for a funder to support building the field of capacity building?

    Reply: I can think of two cases when it makes sense to support building the field of capacity building. 1) When demand for services exceeds the capacity of the market to meet the demand. 2) When building the capacity of one or more organizations would increase the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, and/or reduce service delivery cost.

    Question: 3) When should a funder recommend capacity building consultants to grantees and when not?

    Reply: When an organization doesn’t have capacity building expertise and before they generate a grant proposal.

    • Cheryl

      Hi Theron, Thanks for your input. We are appreciate your comments taken from a service provision perspective of capacity. Certainly many NGOs, as well as private sector companies, struggle with balancing supply and demand.

    • Jeff Jackson

      Thanks for your comments Theron and for your email to me in response to my ARNOVA post.  You were one of three ARNOVANS who responded immediately with wonderful food for thought.

  • Jeff Jackson

    Thanks for your comments Theron and for your email to me in response to my ARNOVA post. You were one of three ARNOVANS who responded immediately with wonderful food for thought.

  • Shiree Teng

    With much of capacity building efforts, there’s no “one size fits all” answer. I agree with Cole’s “It depends.” Some organizations have a great grasp on what they need and why they need it. They have done the readiness homework to prepare themselves and are very clear on what they need. Others may not have a clue and would greatly benefit from an org assessment, either done inexpensively with an online tool, such as TCC’s CCAT, RoadMap’s My Healthy Organization, Casey’s revamped from McKinsey’s assessment tool; the mid-range for these are around $200/org. When there’re more complex analysis and “excavation” needed, an external consultant may be the best way to go. 

  • Stephen Slade

    Yes, at least within a couple of years of being funded. And I’d actually recommend that someone outside the organization do the assessment. IF I was giving someone money to do something, I would want to have a) confidence in the organization and b) be certain that they have identified their real need. 

    • Cheryl Chang

      Thanks Stephen! Really appreciate input from the non-profits we work with.