Organizational Effectiveness (OE) grants are made to current Packard Foundation grantees to undertake projects that transform their organizations in a sustained and meaningful way. Our grants support a variety of capacity-building efforts for grantee organizations and networks.

What We Fund
Grant funds are primarily used to cover the cost of outside consultants. Eligible projects include:

• Organization or network assessment, reviewing and developing recommendations about existing strengths and opportunities; may include social network analysis or mapping
• Strategic planning  
• Business or operational planning, which often focuses on execution and/or revenue streams
• Financial coaching
• Mergers or other restructuring efforts
• Fund development planning and feasibility studies for revenue stream, capital campaigns, or endowment building
• Executive search services during senior leadership transitions
• Cultural competence or diversity initiatives
• Board development and governance
• Executive coaching
• Training for network coordinators, e.g., facilitation skills
• Strategic communications planning  including planning for use of social media tools
• Evaluation capacity-building

Organization Effectiveness projects often require more staff time and network member effort than originally envisioned and complex projects can easily become unwieldy. We encourage projects comprised of only one or two closely related components, focused on addressing highest priority needs.

In addition to funding individual organizations, grants are also made to nonprofits that provide organizational capacity building to a group of grantees or sub-grantee

What We Do Not Fund
We do not fund organizations or networks that are not current Packard Foundation grantees. We do not reimburse for projects already underway or for expenses already incurred. We do not fund projects to build the field of organization or network effectiveness. While other Packard Foundation programs may provide the following support, we do not support core operating costs to sustain organizations or networks and related expenses such as:

• Staff salaries
• Administrative overhead
• Computers, equipment, furnishings
• Rent or other occupancy or facilities expenses
• Financial audits
• Tuition for degree programs
• Fees and other costs of attending conferences
• Recurrent staff training expenses
• Legal fees

Information on how to apply for a grant in this subprogram

Only current Foundation grantees are eligible to apply for Organizational Effectiveness funds.

More information on Organizational Effectiveness