Trust-based capacity building is capacity building where the nonprofit chooses its priorities and its support, the funder adds no new reporting, and the funder learns from what the nonprofit chooses to share. It applies the principles of trust-based philanthropy to the support funders give beyond the grant itself.
What are the principles of trust-based capacity building?
- The nonprofit leads. Grantees choose what to work on and who supports them, rather than receiving a program the funder designed.
- Build on strengths. Support starts from what already works in the organization; it isn’t framed as fixing deficits.
- No new reporting burden. Funders learn from what nonprofits choose to share, not from new forms.
- The capacity stays. The nonprofit owns the work, the skills and the data after the engagement ends.
How is trust-based capacity building different from traditional technical assistance?
Traditional technical assistance is often designed by the funder, delivered to a few grantees, and measured with reports or satisfaction surveys. Trust-based capacity building is chosen by the nonprofit, offered to the whole portfolio, and measured by finished work and the outcomes nonprofits decide to share.
How do funders still learn under a trust-based approach?
Funders still learn through consent-based sharing. A grantee can share participation, finished work and progress with a specific funder for a specific purpose, and revoke it later. Because the grantee controls what is shared, the signal reflects the real work rather than a performance for a reporting deadline.
What does trust-based capacity building look like in practice?
- The funder offers every grantee access to support, with no application.
- Each grantee takes a short self-assessment and picks its own priority.
- The grantee chooses a coach, cohort or project and finishes a real deliverable.
- The grantee decides what progress to share with the funder.
Read Resilia’s trust commitments · See portfolio capacity building