Miscellaneous
Case Studies on Nonprofit Capacity Building
Collection
Intermediate
IPN
India Development Review (IDR Online) has published several case studies related to nonprofit capacity building. These case studies, created with the support of ATE Chandra Foundation, highlight the value of capacity building and explore many of its dimensions including embedding it into organizational culture, talent management, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, communications, and fundraising.
| Embedding capacity building into organisational culture | This study, based on Universe Simplified Foundation, highlights the importance of investing in people and culture for sustainable growth, detailing how an organization consciously decided to prioritize capacity building to manage scale. It describes a process of knowledge transfer, co-creation of documents, and supervised task execution to enable staff to perform tasks independently. |
| Getting nonprofit talent management right | This case study examines how Arpan, a nonprofit, built a strong team culture despite resource constraints by investing in experienced team members to monitor work, think critically, and build the capacities of ground-level staff. |
| The importance of nonprofit M&E systems | This study focuses on Tapasya, a grassroots nonprofit, and how it strengthened its monitoring and evaluation framework to amplify its impact. It discusses the challenges and capacity building needed for a sustainable M&E framework, particularly for scaling organizations. |
| Getting your nonprofit communications right | This case study, based on Vidhi Center for Legal Policy, emphasizes the need for investment in building the communication capacity of nonprofits, recommending that funders support training from local experts familiar with the Indian context. It also highlights the benefits of having an in-house communications team for proactive narrative setting and increased audience engagement. |
| Everything you need to know to fundraise successfully | This study details how Adhyayan Foundation and Reap Benefit built their in-house fundraising capabilities through a capacity-building grant and the significant impact this had within a year. It underscores fundraising as crucial for a nonprofit’s growth and financial health. |
