2024 Summer Capacity Building Grant

The Black Hills Area Community Foundation (BHACF) is offering its Summer Capacity Building Grant, a program designed to strengthen the effectiveness, sustainability, and efficiency of eligible organizations within specific counties of South Dakota. While the description doesn't explicitly detail the BHACF's overarching mission, the focus on "capacity building needs" suggests an alignment with fostering a robust and resilient non-profit sector in the Black Hills area. This grant directly supports the foundation's implied strategic priority of empowering local organizations to better serve their communities through enhanced operational capabilities. The target beneficiaries for this grant include IRS 501(c)(3) public charities, schools, government entities, and religious organizations operating within Oglala Lakota, Fall River, Custer, Pennington, Meade, Lawrence, and Butte counties in South Dakota. The core impact goal is to strengthen these organizations, enabling them to achieve greater effectiveness, sustainability, or efficiency. This focus on internal organizational health indicates a theory of change where by investing in the operational capacity of these entities, the foundation expects a ripple effect of improved service delivery and community impact. The grant prioritizes several key areas for capacity building. Eligible projects include measurements and evaluation, partnership development, strategic planning, board engagement/development, marketing and donor engagement, technology needs and technical support, and staff development/retention. These focus areas are indicative of the foundation's understanding that a holistic approach to organizational development is necessary for long-term success. The expected outcomes are directly tied to improvements in these areas, leading to more effective and sustainable organizations. While specific measurable results are not explicitly detailed beyond the types of eligible projects, the emphasis on "measurements and evaluation" as a funding area suggests that grantees will be expected to demonstrate how their capacity-building efforts lead to tangible improvements in their operations and service delivery. The grant duration of one year and a maximum grant amount of $5,000 further indicate a focused approach on achievable, short-to-medium term improvements in the selected capacity-building areas. Ineligible projects, such as religious or political activity, fundraising, debt retirement, or multi-year funding, further define the boundaries and strategic intent of this capacity-building initiative.