Four funding models
- Restricted capacity-building grants — a grant for a specific project, such as a strategic plan.
- Unrestricted (general operating) support — the nonprofit decides; flexible but often not enough for larger projects.
- Sponsored cohorts — a funder underwrites a program for a group of grantees with a shared need.
- Portfolio capacity building — every grantee gets access to a platform, peers and resources, with deeper support where it’s wanted.
Reach versus depth
Consultant-per-grantee models go deep but tend to reach a minority of a portfolio in any year. Portfolio models reach everyone and target depth. Many funders combine them.