Giving Compass' Take:

• Andrew Stern, writing for Stanford Social Innovation Review, discusses why social programs need support of local governments to be sustainable. However, some government bodies are ill-equipped to take on the responsibilities to implement these programs.

• How can donors help build capacity of governments or offer sustainable support for mobilization?

• Here are five successful elements in capacity building.

Whether it’s a government that puts policy in place to support implementation, that can take over direct implementation of a proven program itself, or that can finance and manage implementation, the “endgame” for many of the most promising social change initiatives relies on a significant government role. Unfortunately, philanthropists often overlook or avoid this ingredient, though it’s critical to helping their grantees scale impact and make a real dent in the world’s biggest challenges.

Government adoption isn’t just something a few nonprofits here and there aspire to achieve.

Most nonprofits pursue this endgame as their path to scaled impact, because governments are the only institutions with the ability to scale, sustain, and fund programs at a meaningful level over time.

Despite the need, however, many governments in developing countries—those the philanthropic community most often targets—are not ready to take on or take over high-performing, high-potential social impact programs.

With an understanding that government capacity starts with local actors and involves bigger issues around governance, legitimacy, and credibility, the international donor community can play a useful role on both the demand and supply sides of government capacity.

Read the source article on government capacity by Andrew Stern  at Stanford Social Innovation Review.