Building Capacity in the Community Sector
Family and Community Services (FACS) is working to improve access to the information and support not-for-profit organisations need to be viable and sustainable.
In 2005 FACS worked with the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector and representatives from community and government agencies to identify the information, resources and services needed by people wanting to build organisational capacity in their community and voluntary organisations.
In 2006 a joint project with Local Government and Community at the Department of Internal Affairs is rejuvenating the comprehensive Community Development Resource Kit.
» Find out more about this project.
The focus is on small and medium community and voluntary organisations such as Maori, sports, arts, social service, and environment groups.
In this section:
» Building Capacity Progress
» Managing Well Catalogue
» Suggestions
» Contact
Project Background
Capacity Building, is any activity that strengthens the performance of community and voluntary groups and enables them to fulfil their missions effectively.
There is an increased recognition in New Zealand, and worldwide, of the importance of supporting the infrastructure of non-profit organisations so they can flourish.
Community and voluntary organisations need good quality support and information so they can focus their effort on delivering services and contributing to their communities. However, there are gaps in the information and resources available to support these organisations.
Concerns were voiced about these gaps by organisations during the work to strengthen the community-government relationship, as documented in He Waka Kotuia: Joining Together on a Shared Journey (May 2002) - PDF 150kb.
A project with the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, established in September 2004, worked closely with small and medium sized community organisations to collect information and agree on priorities for new or revised initiatives and resources.
The options for support investigated included training resources, advisory information (e.g. good practice guides, manuals, case studies) and practical help.
The project is supported by an Advisory Group representing sector organisations and government agencies.
