The Western New York Foundation’s Impact Capacity Assessment Program (iCAP) is a competitive program for nonprofits that wish to build their ability to perform well. Effective long-term capacity management is vital to any nonprofit entity.
Donor Name: Western New York Foundation
State: New York
Counties: Allegany County (NY), Cattaraugus County (NY), Chautauqua County (NY), Erie County (NY), Genesee County (NY), Niagara County (NY), Wyoming County (NY)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 01/14/2022
Stipend: $10,000
Grant Duration: 8 to 10 Months
Details:
The Impact Capacity Assessment Program is an 8 to 10-month, board driven and team-based approach to strengthening internal organizational capacity.
- Measure the organization’s strength in select core competency areas with two online organizational assessments. The BoardSource assessment focuses on board governance and leadership. iCAT focuses on core capacities such as leading, learning, planning, managing, resource generating, and overseeing.
- Match with an organizational development consultant with specialized knowledge of the nonprofit community who will provide evidence-based approaches to meet the agency’s hierarchy of needs over time.
- Review the results of the assessment analysis. The consultant will utilize the data from the assessments, information gleaned from key agency stakeholders, and a review of various agency documents to create a capacity matrix. The matrix will represent the shared understanding of the agency’s current state of organizational capacity and its various dimensions.
- Explore areas of opportunity and address capacity-limiting challenges through a series of deliberate steps and a combination of complementary strategies such as assessments, strategic planning, information sharing, training, technical assistance, coaching and evaluation. Setting the foundation for assessing organizational capacity needs and gaps will inform and guide capacity strengthening initiatives throughout the iCAP engagement.
- Plan strategic solutions that build nonprofit adaptability and resilience. Design a capacity building plan, with an accompanying action plan that includes goal and progress measurements, that supports organizations in achieving current and future goals.
- Implement recommendations through leveraged implementation support dollars. The foundation is committed to supporting capacity building plans and will use its resources to leverage additional support to successfully realize plan implementation. The Western New York Foundation believes that investments in organizational capacity increases agency effectiveness and encourages big-picture thinking that leads to growth, greater impact, and stronger collaboration.
A $10,000 stipend will be awarded to the organization that can be used to offset administrative expenses or support additional capacity efforts related to iCAP. This is generously supported by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
Eligibility Requirements
- Grants are limited to non-profit organizations which have obtained tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code
- All applicants must have three years of 990 filings in order to be eligible to apply for a grant
- The foundation support small to mid-size organizations. Small to mid-size being defined as organizations with budgets between $250,000 and $6,000,000.
- Grants are limited to agencies that are physically headquartered in one of the seven counties of Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Wyoming.
- Grants for the following types of groups and uses are not made:
- Religious Organizations for Religious Purposes
- Political Organizations, Campaigns Allegany, and Candidates
- Medical & Science Sector
- Higher Education Institutions
- Private, Charter, Public, and Religious Schools
- Municipal and Government
- Grants or Loans to Individuals
- Fund-Raising Events, i.e. Sponsorships, Tables, Dinners, and Telethons
- Endowments
- Scholarships
- Capital Campaigns
- Operating Expenses
- Programming
- Please note that it is their normal practice to schedule a meeting with applicants after receiving and reviewing their proposals, schedules permitting. This is exploratory in nature and does not in any way indicate a predisposition of the Board toward approval.
- The Foundation will allow the submittal of one application per 501(c)(3) organization at a time.
- Applicant must be current on all grant reports due to the WNY Foundation
- Organizations who have been granted an award may reapply to the Foundation two (2) years following the final payment of a grant.
For more information, visit Impact Capacity Assessment Program.
