Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Interdisciplinary Studies

First Advisor

Toms, Forrest

Abstract

An in-depth examination of the use of assessing capacity to stimulate capacity building was conducted with member nonprofits of the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium, in Guilford County, North Carolina. The primary research question was ―to what extent and in what ways does assessing the capacity of a nonprofit organization help that organization‘s executive director engage in capacity building?‖ As an academic and practitioner in nonprofit leadership and management, the researcher was interested in exploring the use of assessing capacity prior to implementing capacity building initiatives. The research question prescribes the mixing of research methods and stipulated a connected mixed methods design due to the need to connect qualitative interview data to quantitative survey data. As a result of this study, the researcher found, when an executive director surveys the capacity of their nonprofit it helps them plan and implement capacity building. This study is significant for future research and practice of assessing the capacity of nonprofit organizations. More specifically, the results of this study contribute to the current literature and practices on capacity building from both a micro and macro perspective. Executive directors and leaders of nonprofit organizations have insight on how assessing capacity stimulates capacity building in nonprofits. Additionally, the nonprofit sector has knowledge about the significance of assessing capacity to plan and implement capacity building initiatives. Keywords: nonprofit and nonprofit organization, capacity, capacity building, organization development.

Share

COinS