Transformational Capacity Building Funds Grant

The Transformational Capacity Building Funds by Inatai Foundation provide essential support for community-led organizations in Washington state. Aimed at enhancing their capacity for systemic change, these funds help organizations develop skills, stabilize operations, and manage transitions. Eligible groups include those led by marginalized communities. This initiative prioritizes applicants from specific counties and various identities, ensuring resources empower those directly impacted by inequities. Grants focus on learning, operational stability, and change capital, fostering growth and resilience in community power-building efforts.

Note:

• Applications will be reviewed in two rounds with submisson deadlines indicated above.Applicants will only need to submit one application.
• Inatai Foundation

Inatai Foundation is a 501(c)(4) serving and accountable to leaders and organizations with bold visions who are building power in racially diverse communities across Washington state.
As a foundation, we channel the funding, influence, and information we have to the leaders and organizations rooted in and led by the communities we answer to, so they have the resources, power, and opportunity they need to bring their visions to life.
Transformational Capacity Building funds supplement our other grants, helping Washington organizations build their knowledge, capacity, and capabilities for building power in their community.
Organizations have varying needs, depending on where they are in their power-building journeys. Through our Transformational Capacity Building funds, we provide current grantee organizations with one year of funding tailored to to support their capacity-building projects in the areas listed below.
Learning & Leadership Grants: Conferences, workshops, and training programs can be effective ways to strengthen your team’s skills, but they’re often out of reach financially. Our Learning & Leadership grants are designed to help existing grantees bridge this gap. This includes but is not limited to funds to attend conferences, the cost to bring in trainers to deepen your team’s organizing or advocacy skills, leadership coaching support.
Operational Stability: Are you a power-building organization that needs support to strengthen your work? This grant focuses on projects that stabilize organizational operations so that you can begin to visualize and grow your capacity. This can include but is not limited to funds for financial/budget coaching, technology and data needs, fundraising and development support, HR and board governance support, and legal support to explore new or strengthening existing organizational structures.
Change Capital: Whether it’s structural reorganizations, leadership transitions, or redefining strategies, change can be hard. This grant prioritizes organizations engaged in community power building that need support to meet clear goals and take their work to the next level. This includes but is not limited to funds for strategic planning, support for leadership transitions, and other projects that move the organization to a deeper level of their mission and vision during periods of transition or change.
Examples of What Could be Supported
Though decisions about who is invited to apply often involve various unique factors and circumstances, here are some examples of what could be supported through Transformational Capacity Building:

• Conferences and training
• Political education for team or members
• Financial/budget coaching
• Technology and data needs
• Fundraising and development support
• HR and board governance support
• Legal support for organizational structure
• Strategic planning
• Leadership transitions

Note: Due to the short-term duration (1 year) of these grants and the goal of these funds to support capacity projects, T-CAP grants will typically exclude new or ongoing permanent staff positions.

Eligibility

Transformational Capacity Building grants are available to reflective, community-led organizations who are engaging in or have a clear path to collective action that addresses systemic inequities.
Eligible organizations must be:
A nonprofit organization or a named sponsored nonprofit organization project.Led by communities most impacted by structural inequities, including efforts where decision-making power is held by people of color; queer, transgender, and gender-expansive people; D/deaf and disabled people; immigrants; people who are cash poor, and other lived experiences.