Our programmes

Since Capacitybuilders was established in 2006, we have invested some £100m in improving the support available to frontline civil society organisations.  

We aim to help the agencies delivering support to the frontline to become more:

• effective, in responding to new and changing needs at the frontline, and ensuring support is accessible to all types of civil society organisations, including small community groups and social enterprises
• efficient, by supporting joint planning and collaboration, and funding new ways of working
• sustainable, by engaging a broad range of funders and exploring enterprise models of income generation.

In 2008, we launched six main grant programmes, each running until the end of March 2011:

• £16.8m for national support services, aiming to ‘upskill’ the agencies and workers delivering support to civil society organisations.  The nine sector-led workstreams target key priorities identified by the sector as in need of coordinated national investment
• £12m for the further development of consortia of local support providers, helping them to plan and deliver better co-ordinated support at a local and regional level.
• Up to £18m to support initiatives to modernise support services at a local and regional level
• £17m for Improving Reach projects focusing on delivering support and advice to organisations working in excluded communities which have not always benefited from mainstream services.
• £5m Capital Investment Programme for delivering physical improvements to resource centres which deliver support to a wide range of voluntary and other groups working in and with local communities.
• £6m for developing networks of support for social enterprises and meeting gaps in support provision, based on regional priorities

* The future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration: final report, Cabinet Office/HM Treasury, CM7189, July 2007