Liderança | Empreendedorismo | Gestão | Planeamento | Estratégia | Escrita para Financiamento | Especialista em financiamento para desenvolvimento | Orador internacional
20 de dezembro de 2025
There is no transformative social change without intentional education and strategic resource mobilisation at the heart of civil society practice. Capacity building is widely understood as a process through which organisations strengthen their abilities to achieve their mission sustainably, by improving leadership, systems and skills rather than only expanding projects (Council of Nonprofits, 2025). For Nonprofit Organisations (NPOs), especially in contexts of chronic underfunding, this means moving beyond project delivery to developing the organisational capabilities needed to mobilise, manage and account for resources in a way that deepens and scales impact (Ali, 2021; Al Maalouf, 2025).
Education—formal training, coaching and peer learning—plays a critical role in this transformation because it equips boards, staff and volunteers with the technical and relational competencies required to navigate increasingly competitive funding environments. Evidence from capacity development literature shows that structured learning processes improve management tools, clarify roles and strengthen internal accountability, which in turn enhance programme effectiveness and stakeholder trust (Ulleberg, 2009). When funders support education-focused capacity building, such as workshops on fundraising, financial management and monitoring and evaluation, NPOs report better strategic planning, stronger governance and a greater ability to respond to complex community needs (NCFP, 2025; INTRAC, 2011).
At the same time, resource mobilisation itself must be reframed as a strategic and educative practice rather than a reactive scramble for funds. Studies on NGOs in Africa and the Middle East highlight that organisational capability, including fundraising skills, stakeholder engagement and financial systems, significantly shapes fundraising levels and long-term sustainability (Ali, 2021; Al Maalouf, 2025). Local resource mobilisation efforts—such as building relationships with domestic donors, social enterprises and community-based giving—also operate as capacity-building mechanisms, because they demand the development of negotiation, communication and impact-measurement skills within NPO teams (Alliance Magazine, 2012). In this sense, every serious investment in resource mobilisation is simultaneously an investment in human and institutional development.
For NPOs, treating fundraising and resource mobilisation as a core competency, rather than an administrative necessity, changes both organisational culture and impact trajectories. Capacity-building models emphasise tailored training, mentoring and technical assistance, including on topics such as donor mapping, proposal writing, digital fundraising and impact reporting (GiveMomentum, n.d.; NCFP, 2025). Organisations that embed these learning processes in their strategies tend to become more resilient, more transparent and more attractive to funders, because they can articulate clear value propositions and demonstrate results with credible data (Fredriksen, 2011; Ulleberg, 2009). In practice, this means that a budget line for staff development, fundraising capacity and systems strengthening is not a luxury; it is an essential condition for meaningful, measurable and durable social change.
Donors and philanthropic institutions also carry responsibility in this equation. Philanthropic practice has often privileged short-term, project-restricted grants that underfund organisational infrastructure, creating the paradox of “high expectations, low capacity” in grantee organisations (NCFP, 2025). When funders shift towards multi-year, flexible support that explicitly includes capacity development for resource mobilisation, they help unlock a multiplier effect: NPOs strengthen their internal capabilities, diversify income sources and become less dependent on single donors, which enhances both autonomy and impact (Eisenstein, 2021; GiveMomentum, n.d.). Ultimately, there is no genuine transformation—of communities, systems or public policies—without deliberate investment in education and resource mobilisation as twin pillars of NPO effectiveness. For civil society leaders, the strategic question is no longer whether to allocate resources to capacity building, but how quickly they can do so without compromising their mission in an increasingly uncertain funding landscape (Ali, 2021; Al Maalouf, 2025).
References
Ulleberg, I. (2009). The role and impact of NGOs in capacity development. UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. https://www.observatorioeducacion.org/sites/default/files/ngos-education.pdf
