The Philantrepreneur Journal Vol2 Spring2016 | Page 5

Letter From The Editor
Dr. Victoria Boyd, President/Founder
The Philantrepreneur™
The Philantrepreneur Foundation

Capacity building is a popular term these days—too
popular and expansive a term, in fact, to mean much to
individuals making specific decisions about programs and
grant strategies. As a result, everyone from practitioners to
foundation CEOs is calling for increased attention to the
capacity building needs of nonprofit organizations. So far,
however, the rhetoric is ahead of the work.
Community structures are organized around three
realms: government, business, and nonprofit sectors. Like a
three-legged stool, all three sectors must be present, sturdy,
and working together to achieve balance and stability.
However, in today’s rapidly changing environment, there
is considerable concern that the third sector—communitybased nonprofit entities—may lack the capacity and
technical expertise to keep up with change and thereby
contribute to an enriched and healthy quality of life. Many
small, community-based groups are organizationally
fragile. Many large groups are stretched to their limits.
As demand for community-based services grows, as new
needs are identified, and as new paradigms for exchange
and interaction emerge, the nonprofit sector is continually
challenged to devise ways to increase and strengthen its
capacity.
In this edition of The Philantrepreneur Journal we want
to encourage organizations to open a dialogue on capacity
building. It is not a quick fix but the results will be longterm goals of the sustainable development, movement to
empower people, increase community participation, foster
social cohesion, enhance cultural identity, and strengthen
institutional development.

Capacity building must rest on the notion that change
is needed. One of the top three challenges identified in
research and date measurement is Leader Adaptability –