55 organizations awarded Capacity Building grants

The Kauffman Foundation awarded grants to 55 organizations to strengthen the organizational capacity of 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity organizations by fostering sound leadership, strong boards, professional development for staff, technology, evaluation, strategic planning, communications, and sustainability. This is the first round of grants announced after the Foundation rolled out its refreshed grantmaking strategy in August.

Capacity Building grants are intended to support an organization’s focus on internal effectiveness and long-term stability. These one-time, short-term grants will be awarded to charities that demonstrate a specific capacity gap and that are aligned with the Foundation’s strategic priorities and focus areas. Eighty-five percent of the organizations are based in the Kansas City area.

Grantees demonstrated a specific capacity need and an ability to generate impact. Examples of needs include: staffing, program enhancement, operating systems, IT planning and digital security, or communications and marketing.

“We heard loud and clear that grantees needed funds to grow their reach and achieve impact – and we responded,” said Allison Greenwood-Bajracharya, Kauffman’s chief impact and strategy officer. “This is just the first of many awards we are announcing, but we’re excited to offer a grant program that is so directly in response to a community request.”

The full grantmaking strategy was designed based on community feedback that was gathered through interviews, surveys, and meetings in late 2023 and early 2024.

The grants offered reflect a blend of focus areas, as many organizations plan to bridge workforce and career development, college access and completion, and entrepreneurship. Workforce and career development reflected the largest area of emphasis with 68% of grantees indicating it will be their primary focus area. A total of $11.2 million in Capacity Building grants were offered through this round of funding. Nearly one-third of these grants are going to organizations that have not received a Kauffman Foundation grant in the last five years.

“Our community knows their challenges and opportunities best,” said Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace, president and CEO. “Our Capacity Building grants support well-positioned organizations to grow solutions they know work best. We’re excited to collaborate with these organizations in moving forward our commitment to make Kansas City a national model for equitable economic mobility. The work of these organizations will drive change in Kansas City for years to come.”

The Foundation aims to measure progress, learn from the communities regarding successes and failures, and adapt its grantmaking approach to achieve the most impact in supporting Kansas City. Another round of Capacity Building grants will become available in April 2025.

Meet the first round of Capacity Building grantees >

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