- We prefer to talk about ‘building skills and confidence’ rather than ‘capacity-building’, which is unlikely to mean much to the people who have most to gain from this type of support.
- Funders, support-providers, groups and communities are likely to have different views about their support and needs, and why they have those needs.
- Support needs and preferences vary over time – with changes in political and economic circumstances, the issues that groups work with, and movement of staff in organisations.
- The most popular and most effective type of support is one-to-one engagement between an adviser and individual members of a group, provided at a time when the support is relevant and needed. But this is expensive and hard to organise.
- Support needs will never be comprehensively met. Everyone involved should accept this and focus on what can realistically be done.
- Building capacity is not just about helping people to navigate systems – it should help them to understand why systems work the way they do, and give them the power to change those systems for the better.
- Funders might consider how far their own processes make it difficult for different types of groups to benefit from their funding. They should review application and grant management processes, removing any unnecessary requirements – and explain why they ask for each piece of information and what they will do with it.
- Organisational development support is not just about providing courses on particular topics. A range of approaches can be effective, for instance, peer networking and mentoring between more and less experienced groups.
- Funders should ensure that groups have the capacity to meet their requirements. Providing support and development contracts alongside funding programmes can help to achieve this.
- We should not limit ourselves to thinking about groups. Some of our greatest successes in this area have come from supporting communities over the longer term to identify what they want to achieve, and then offering funding, help and advice on how to implement those ideas.
Please contact us if you have any comments or questions.