Capacity building (capacity development)

Capacity building is the development of skills, knowledge, infrastructure, and systems that allow individuals and groups to increase their ability to do work. Capacity building, which is also called capacity development, is common among nonprofit organizations trying to better communities and society in general. However, individuals, governments, and other groups also take part in capacity development. Groups taking part in capacity development may aim to increase the capacity of their members or the capacity or larger groups, such as communities. Capacity building—especially that done by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups with a great deal of wealth and power—has been criticized for various reasons, especially because these groups sometimes focus on their own goals for capacity building instead of local citizens’ needs and goals for their community.

Background

Capacity building is most often used by NGOs, foundations and other nonprofit organizations, governments, and other institutions that are focused on creating change in communities and regions. The second half of the twentieth century saw a rise in such organizations and in government programs meant to improve society. During the 1970s, the fields of community development, international aid, and public health all grew and became more prominent. This mirrored the rise in globalization around the same time. As these changes occurred, capacity building also started to attract attention. The basic ideas of increasing knowledge and developing skills helped originate the field of capacity building. In the 1980s, the NGO movement rapidly developed, creating a huge range of organizations with various goals, interests, and ideas. By 2000, capacity building was being commonly implemented by aid programs, NGOs, and governments.

Overview

Capacity building is a proactive system of learning and development, which means it is a process that individuals and organizations purposefully undertake to improve themselves, their services, and their communities. Capacity building often occurs when an individual or organization decides to learn new information or develop new skills or programs. An organization might use tools, training, technical assistance, skills development programs, or quality assurance practices to help build capacity. Capacity building is important because organizations cannot remain static and still provide the best possible solutions for their clients. Capacity building helps identify gaps in an organization’s ability to perform certain functions. The organization can address these shortcomings before a new program or solution is implemented to ensure its success.

Capacity building can include learning new information and skills, which may be technical or general. Technical skills include those needed to implement programs or help people in specific ways. For example, an organization that provides health care to a community must ensure that its team members have strong technical skills in medicine. General skills, such as people skills, communication, team-building, and leadership, are equally important for many organizations, as implementing programs and working in communities require people to have these skills.

Capacity building can also include developing infrastructures and partnerships. An organization’s infrastructure refers to how it is set up. An infrastructure can significantly impact how an institution functions and the progress it makes. Capacity building can help develop or alter an organization’s infrastructure to help it achieve its goals. It can also create or revamp partnerships that aid organizations in completing their work. For example, an organization may find through its analysis that it does not have a strong enough human relations department to hire and train the staff needed to implement a program. Capacity building could include improving this department to make the organization capable of achieving its goals. An organization can use capacity building to fulfill specific needs. For example, a group focused on reaching many people in a region might need to develop a partnership with a local government or another institution that already has a broad reach within a community.

As the twenty-first century progressed, capacity building shifted to make certain technological tools available to a broader range of people. Therefore, capacity building has focused on introducing and expanding digital technologies, which innovators call exponential technologies because of the rapid capability for such tools to be developed and distributed. Some examples are smartphones, 3D printers, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Such digital capacity building has also focused on the role of space technology, particularly in the healthcare field. The ability to expand technologies to various parts of the world can enable better communication and more efficient systems. In developing nations, his type of capacity building often begins in schools, providing digital literacy as well as physical computational tools that students need to develop such literacies.

Capacity building can also improve engagement and motivation. Organizations should assess gaps in motivation to understand how capacity development can help. Reducing gaps in motivation can help organizations have teams that are committed, driven, and active. These organizations can focus on making changes that will incentivize desired behavior and de-incentivize unwanted behavior.

Planning for Capacity Building. Capacity building can be undertaken by any group or individual. Often, the first step is to understand the areas in which the individual or organization could increase its capacity, or ability to perform desired tasks. Therefore, an individual or organization that wants to take part in capacity building should gather and examine data to understand what areas need to be expanded upon. Sometimes organizations will collect data for the sole purpose of capacity building but other times they will gather data as part of a larger planning initiative.

For example, capacity building can be used in connection with implementation planning. When an organization wants to implement a certain program or activity, the organization will often create an implementation plan to outline the steps needed to successfully launch the program. One step in the implementation plan may be to prepare for capacity building. Planning for capacity building will help the organization ensure that it has the correct tools and skills needed for a program or an activity. Planning for capacity building assumes that the organization must improve in some way before the program can be implemented. While planning for capacity building, the organization can review data to ensure that it has the necessary skills and tools. If the organization lacks these skills and tools, it should identify and address the problem. Furthermore, an organization should develop strategies to build capacity and increase motivation at this time.

Many NGOs focus on capacity building because they want to improve their services or implement the most effective programs. A major concept of capacity building is that development requires new knowledge. When people and organizations gain new knowledge, they can develop ideas and implement plans that they would not have thought of before gaining that new knowledge.

People or groups might have clear goals that they want to achieve. These goals could be as simple as protecting a local stream, or as complicated as ending world hunger. The outcome of achieving the goals is fairly clear. Capacity building is meant to develop knowledge, skills, systems, and abilities to help people and organizations reach their goals.

Goals of Capacity Building. Although capacity building is meant to change and improve skills, knowledge, systems, and partnerships, its ultimate goal is to change the behavior of organizations or individuals. If an organization has more knowledge or better partnerships, it should be able to better achieve its goals. If the new knowledge, structures, or skills do not change how the organization or individual performs, then the activities did not meet the goal of capacity building.

An organization can complete capacity building to change itself. The goal of such capacity building is to improve the organization’s ability to implement programs or perform services. An organization may also take part in community capacity building by attempting to impart knowledge and develop skills within a community.

The goal of community capacity building is to help communities have the skills and knowledge needed to help themselves. Organizations can use partnerships and particular learning strategies to help them implement community capacity building.

Drawbacks of Capacity Building. Capacity building has become ubiquitous in the nonprofit sector, and some researchers and community members criticize the practice. Some say that it allows powerful groups, such as NGOs and governments, to substantially change a community with little input from community members, who may disagree with the changes. Furthermore, some critics contend that capacity building by NGOs and governments may benefit the wealthy and powerful instead of the people who are most in need. Critics have pointed out that using capacity building to implement long-term projects and create equal partnerships with community members can help to resolve some of these shortcomings.

Another criticism of community capacity building is that often its focus is on stimulating economic development, rather than on civic and social development and engagement. Some critics also believe that capacity development does not do enough to empower community members. Furthermore, capacity building can sometimes use many resources without providing high-quality results. When organizations take part in capacity development, they do not know whether their plans for improvement will definitely change actions, which is the main goal of capacity development.

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