In short
- The grantee is in the driving seat. Most know what they need, so we listen, then find the right consultant.
- When a deeper look helps, we run a health check and roadmap: a Nonprofit Builder assessment specialist facilitates three sessions with the grantee's management team, around a self-assessment on Org360.
- The health check stays confidential to the grantee. The roadmap is shared with the funder, so you can plan the support ahead.
- We use the Bridgespan framework by default, and can run McKinsey's OCAT, the Organizational Mapping Tool or your own.
The grantee is in the driving seat
That's our ethos. Capacity building is the grantee's journey, so we start by listening to what the grantee wants.
In about 95% of cases, they already have a clear picture of what they need, and it makes sense. So we go ahead and help them find the right consultant. They know where they are, and we meet them where they are in their journey.
When a grantee wants to think it through first, we use three simple questions, inspired by appreciative inquiry:
- What's the organization you dream of building?
- What's holding you back from that dream?
- If we could help you with one thing this year, what would your first priority be?
Talking about a dream, and the obstacles on the way to it, makes it much easier to talk about capacity than starting with "what are your problems?". More on the three questions.
When a full assessment makes sense
Sometimes a deeper look is the right first step:
- The grantee is new to capacity building and wants an in-depth needs assessment before choosing where to start.
- The funder wants a consistent picture across a group of grantees, for example at the start of a program.
For both, we offer a health check and roadmap.
Health check and roadmap
A health check and roadmap is three facilitated sessions around a rubric-style self-assessment, where each item offers four described levels to choose from. It's facilitated by one of our consultants who specialize in organizational assessment, with the grantee's management team taking part: usually three people or more.
- Introduction session. The consultant explains the process and gets to know the organization. Each member of the management team then fills in the health check on Org360.
- First feedback session: priorities. The consultant and the team look at the results together and agree on the priorities.
- Second feedback session: the roadmap. They finalize a roadmap for the next 1 to 2 years of the organization's development.
| What it is | Who sees it | |
|---|---|---|
| Health check | The detailed self-assessment and its results | The grantee only, so the team can be as frank as possible |
| Roadmap | The agreed priorities for the next 1 to 2 years, with the support projects and their likely cost | Shared with the funder, so you can plan the support ahead |
Org360, the platform behind it
We run the health check on Org360, a modern survey platform we built for organizational assessments, employee engagement surveys and leadership 360s. It's free for funders and grantees who use it with Nonprofit Builder for this purpose, and its data is hosted in Germany.
The Bridgespan framework, by default
Our default tool is the Bridgespan Organizational Effectiveness Framework. It's the most recent of the well-known nonprofit assessments, and it's published under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY 4.0), so anyone can use and adapt it. It brings together the best questions from McKinsey's Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (OCAT), the Organizational Mapping Tool and other established assessments.
- 85 questions in 14 areas: strategy, governance, management and culture, leadership, finance, people, fundraising, communications and advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, programs, legal and compliance, IT, partnerships, and a final question on the 3 to 5 priorities for the coming year.
- A rubric for every item: four levels, each described in plain words, plus "not applicable" and "don't know". People pick the description that fits their organization best, which gives far more honest answers than a 1 to 5 score. About 34 minutes per person, with room for comments in every area.
- A clear report with scores by area, strengths, growth areas and a development plan. See a sample Org360 report.
OCAT, the Organizational Mapping Tool or your own
If you prefer McKinsey's OCAT or the Organizational Mapping Tool, we can load it into Org360. Some foundations have their own assessment, and we can set that up too.
More Org360 surveys for nonprofits
Org360 also has ready-made surveys for nonprofits, including:
- Nonprofit Leader All-Rounder 360: 360-degree feedback for executive directors and senior leaders.
- Happy Beneficiaries: a short survey of beneficiary satisfaction, with a Net Promoter Score.
- Employee Wellbeing Survey: built for nonprofit teams, where burnout and wellbeing are common concerns.
A foundation can include these in its package and offer them free to all its grantees.
Frequently asked questions
Do grantees need an organizational assessment before capacity building?
Usually not. About 95% of the nonprofits we talk to already know what they want to work on, and it makes sense. A full assessment helps when a grantee is new to capacity building or a funder wants a consistent picture across several grantees.
What is a nonprofit health check?
A structured self-assessment of how the organization is doing across areas like strategy, governance, leadership, finance, people, fundraising, communications and monitoring. With us, it's the first half of a health check and roadmap: the management team, usually three people or more, scores the organization on Org360, then agrees priorities and a 1 to 2 year roadmap with a specialist consultant who facilitates the process.
Who sees the results of the assessment?
The health check stays confidential to the grantee, so the team can be completely frank. The roadmap is shared with the funder, so it can plan the support that will follow.
Which organizational assessment tool do you use?
By default, the Bridgespan Organizational Effectiveness Framework, an openly licensed tool (CC BY 4.0) that draws on McKinsey's OCAT, the Organizational Mapping Tool and other well-known assessments. It runs on Org360, our survey platform.
Can we use OCAT or our own assessment framework?
Yes. We can load McKinsey's OCAT or the Organizational Mapping Tool into Org360, or set up a foundation's own assessment.
How long does the assessment take?
The Bridgespan self-assessment has 85 questions and takes about 34 minutes per person. Each member of the management team answers it, and around it sit three facilitated sessions: an introduction and two feedback sessions.
Related: how we measure the success of capacity building, and our field guide on the types of capacity building.
Planning an assessment for your grantees?
Book 45 minutes with Anna Kondratyuk, our CEO, or send us a message.