Now Accepting LOIs

The Western New York Foundation’s Impact Capacity Assessment Program (iCAP) is a program for nonprofits that wish to build their ability to perform well. Efficient long-term capacity management is vital to any nonprofit entity. iCAP offers the nonprofit the opportunity to engage in a process to assess its capacity needs in coordination with an organizational development consultant.

Multiple members of the organization's staff and board will participate in organizational self-assessments of key capacity elements that have been designed to pinpoint current capacity status and opportunities for transformative growth and change. Results will be examined with the help of a consultant and culminate in a long-term capacity building plan for the organization that includes the development of action plan priorities with goals and progress measurement.

The Impact Capacity Assessment Program is an 8 to 10-month, team-based approach to strengthening internal organizational capacity. Key elements of the program include:

• An organizational development consultant works with the organization to conduct an in-depth, comprehensive organizational assessment that will measure the organization’s strength in select core competency areas. The nonprofit will choose a consultant from a pool of consultants provided by the WNY Foundation.

• One or two online organizational assessments that measure the organization’s strength in select core competency areas. The assessment(s) are taken prior to the project launch and will be reviewed and analyzed by your consultant.

• The development of an initial capacity assessment based on the current state of the organization prepared by the consultant to help guide capacity building development conversations.

• Consultation and technical assistance throughout the process.

• Organizational development coaching to identify areas of opportunity and address capacity-limiting challenges.

• The development of a 2 to 3-year organizational capacity-building plan with an action plan that includes goal and progress measurements.

• A $10,000 stipend that can be used to offset administrative expenses during iCAP. This is generously supported by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Applicant must be a non-profit organization who has obtained tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code.

2. The applicant must be a food system organization with at least 90% of its work focused on food systems efforts, an arts and culture organization, or a rural organization.

3. Applicant must have three years of 990 filings. Please note that postcard filings do not meet eligibility criteria.

4. Applicant must have a operational budget between $250,000 and $6,000,000.

5. Executive Director must be in the Executive Director position for at least 1 year, depending on familiarity of the organization

6. Must employ at least the equivalent of 4 full-time staff members.