Giving Compass' Take:

• For any organization or nonprofit, staff members are the driving force behind project completion and achievement. GrantCraft discusses capacity building and explains the need for investing in nonprofit talent to maximize efficiency and effectively advance your mission.

• How can funders support talent-investing initiatives? What are the most useful recruiting tactics?

• Here's a look at the impact of investing in nonprofit talent.

The National Association of Nonprofits defines capacity building as “whatever is needed to bring a nonprofit to the next level of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity, so it may more effectively and efficiently advance its mission into the future.” This framework does not explicitly and clearly address the issue of investing in staff. But in reality, operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational development is not possible without the people who make it happen.

We can no longer afford a disembodied approach to capacity building. Rather, we should see the capacity to support and develop people as the foundation upon which organizations can develop most—if not all—other capacities. At Fund the People we talk about this as "people-systems"—the array of organizational practices, policies, habits, and structures that support and strengthen the morale, ability, and advancement of employees and volunteers so they perform at the highest levels of excellence.

Read the full article about talent investing by Yolanda Caldera-Durant at GrantCraft.