A Nonprofit Capacity Self-Assessment Workbook
For Rural Community-Based Housing Organizations

Permission is granted ONLY to nonprofit community-based organizations to reproduce and/or adapt this document, and only for their own use.

CONCLUSION

The process of capacity self-assessment should not be a one-time event. The purpose of this workbook is to encourage rural nonprofit housing organizations to begin a regular annual process of self-examination, goal-setting, and implementation. The self-assessment process is similar to an annual doctor's check-up. While check-ups may seem inconvenient or uncomfortable, they are critical for maintaining personal health. When check-ups are neglected over a period of many years, physical illnesses can develop and go untreated with disastrous results, which would have otherwise been entirely preventable.

Self-assessment can also be an opportunity for organizational and interpersonal renewal. The process gives each group that completes it an opportunity to revisit its mission and its higher purpose within its community and the world at large. It also gives individual participants an opportunity to step back from their daily work and reflect on how their activities have impacted the lives of those around them.

After finishing the self-assessment workbook, meet again with your core staff and board of directors. Review the self-assessment process. Was it manageable for your organization? Are there ways that the process can be changed to make it more efficient and effective?

Next, review the capacity improvement goals that you have written in Worksheet 1 and the time line for their implementation. Are the goals and time line realistic? Are the people responsible for implementing them able to do so? If the answer is "yes," then set dates to regularly check progress on capacity goal implementation and set aside the time for repeating the self-assessment process the following year.

REFERENCES

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC). 1995. Alaska Affordable Housing Development Workbook. Anchorage, AK: AHFC.

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Drucker, Peter F. 1993. The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Nonprofit Organization. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Glickman, Norman J. and Lisa J. Servon. 1999. "More Than Bricks and Sticks: Five Components of Community Development Corporation Capacity." Housing Facts and Findings. Vol. 1, No. 3: (10-11).

Harris, Maria E. 2000. "Public/Nonprofit Partnerships: Does the Nonprofit Organization Have the Capacity to be Effective and Accountable?" Paper presented at the Western Social Sciences Association annual meeting, San Diego, CA. April 26-30, 2000.

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Rapp, Galen and Gerald Ely. 1996. How to Start a Cooperative. Cooperative Information Report No. 7. Washington, D.C.: USDA, Rural Business-Cooperative Service.

The Roberts Enterprise Development Fund. 1999. "Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Nonprofit Enterprise." San Francisco, CA: [Author].

Smith, G. Stevenson. 1999. "Training Needs of Affordable Housing Nonprofits: How to Develop ‘Better Total Management'?" Research Paper 9906. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University.

The Stevens Group. 1998. Illinois Nonprofits: Building Capacity for the Next Century. A Joint Study by the Illinois Facilities Fund and Donors Forum of Chicago (Final Report). St. Paul, MN: The Stevens Group.

Trust Fund News. 1999. "Increasing CDC Development Capacity." CDC Sustainability Series, Part Three. Vol. 8, No. 1: (1-11).