One of our priorities is to ensure the organizational effectiveness of our grantees. We believe that strong programs need strong organizations to implement and sustain them. We see a direct link between building organizational capacity and achieving program impact and, ultimately, our mission.

Organizations can increase their ability to deliver on their missions by investing in sound organizational planning, ongoing board and staff development, and internal systems that are efficient and effective. We also acknowledge that these activities cost money and often can be viewed as luxuries when resources are constrained.

Irvine has long supported its grantee partners to become more effective organizations, not for the sake of effectiveness or efficiency alone, but always in pursuit of mission and better service to constituents. When making these investments, we consider an organization’s stage of development — whether it is a startup, undergoing rapid growth or already well established — and seek to provide the appropriate support.

Specific approaches to build the organizational capacity of our partners include:

• General operating support
• Project grants that include the related costs of maintaining a strong organizational infrastructure
• Evaluation or research of effective practices
• The Flex Fund: A rapid-turnaround, invitation-only fund that awards targeted grants for one-time organizational development activities

Example

The Arts Regional Initiative aims to improve the financial sustainability, management, governance and growth capacity of leading arts organizations located outside of major metropolitan areas and in selected regions of the state. As part of this initiative, we support training, networking, peer learning and technical assistance for participating organizations.

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