Capacity-Building Programs: Building Capacity for Conservation

Population growth, declining timber economies and rural/urban migration patterns are having a significant impact on the landscape around us. Rural, land-based communities are facing unprecedented challenges and many are recognizing the interrelationship between the health of their local natural resources, community and economy.

At the same time, natural resource issues can be contentious and heated, typified by distrust and deadlock. It is the belief of the National Forest Foundation, and many others, that one way to move past the controversy is to engage communities in collaborative processes to find common ground and develop proactive solutions.

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) supports citizen engagement in the stewardship of our National Forests and Grasslands by providing funding and resources to meet the needs of collaborative efforts at various stages of growth and capacity, from start-up to a sustainable organization. We seek to nurture groups along their path with grants, technical support and resources and access to peers in the field, to enhance their knowledge and skills on such topics as:

• Working effectively with the U.S. Forest Service;
• Linking the science and practice of restoration;
• Multiparty monitoring;
• Organizational development; and more.

All of our grant and technical assistance programs fill a specific niche in the world of community-based collaborative natural resource management. The Community Assistance Program (CAP) provides start-up funds for new collaborative efforts. By pairing start-up funds with direct technical assistance, the success rate of new groups rises dramatically. Grantees are provided with opportunities to network with and learn from their peers through workshops, peer learning calls, mentoring, best practices and more.

The Collaboration Support Program (CSP) is an outgrowth of our learning through CAP. Start-up groups have reported back to the NFF that they experience ongoing difficulty in securing capacity-building and operational funds as their CAP grants run out. There is a significant need among collaborative groups for money to assist with the process of collaboration. Without an open and transparent process, collaborative groups would not be able to get to project-level implementation. In response, we adapted our program to provide on-going support for collaborative process needs. In addition, the program offers funds for innovations that could potentially benefit the entire field of collaboration. CSP awards are contingent upon the applicants' demonstration of transferable practices or lessons learned.

Many nonprofits struggle in the middle stages of growth for many years. The Mid-Capacity Assistance Program is designed to guide mid-capacity, community-based collaborative efforts toward becoming high-capacity, self-sustaining organizations through both fundraising and direct technical assistance. The funding is specifically targeted to enhance the organization's capacity in the areas they identify in their grant proposal. The organizations are expected to produce measurable results - for their organization, community, economy, and for their local environment and natural resources (for an example of a template for tracking measurable results, see our tool for Developing an Outcome-based Monitoring Plan. We supplement the financial support with technical assistance targeted to each group's specific organizational growth challenges. In addition, we assist these organizations with support they need in building partnerships with the Forest Service, business interests, conservation organizations and community groups.

The Capacity-Building Programs promote the formation and growth of nonprofits to build upon the entrepreneurial spirit of founders, with a vision to accomplish measurable results for their community, economy and natural resources. For more established organizations with fundraising and project management capabilities, the NFF offers support for on-the-ground projects, providing matching grants for forest stewardship, recreation, wildlife habitat improvement and watershed restoration activities.

Find more resources on collaboration, community-based stewardship and organizational development here.

Unsure which program fits your group? Check out our "Continuum of Assistance" chart.

Col·lab·o·ra·tion: A voluntary process through which a broad array of interests--some of which may be in conflict--enter into civil dialogue to collectively consider possibilities for improving the management of natural resources for the benefit of both the environment and the surrounding communities. Collaboration is different from a partnership, in that collaboration involves a diverse and comprehensive array of stakeholders; a partnership is likely to engage a few parties that are interested in working together on a specific project (adapted from David D. Chrislip, 2002).