Capacity mobilization
Community-based organizations play a critical role in helping children and youth reach their potential and advance their rights. These organizations are anchored by local knowledge, community connections, and a long-term stake in the places where they work. But they face complex challenges across their organizational journeys. That’s why we help our partners to appreciate and mobilize their strengths and resources, helping them to become more effective, sustainable, and adaptive in their work.
GFC’s capacity mobilization approach holds a deep appreciation for complexity and diversity. We offer tailored and contextualized support to our partners, listening to understand their needs and experiences, with the goal of helping them optimize their efforts.
We offer support across these areas:
Participatory self-assessments:
Many of our partners do not have the time to reflect on their histories, dreams, and directions. Using creative methodologies, we engage our partners to appreciate their strengths and build consensus on areas they seek to strengthen. We accompany partners on this journey, often providing additional funding to support areas for development they identify.
Collective learning
We spend time getting to know the work of our partners and offer learning spaces that reflect their interests and aspirations in areas such as community-led change, gender transformative practice, wellbeing, strategic planning, financial management, advocacy, and other topics. Some of our partners opt to visit and learn in depth from each others’ work.
Convenings and collaborative spaces
We co-design national and transnational gathering spaces with our partners to bring grassroots leaders together around mutual challenges, opportunities, and visions for change. Using creative, participatory methodologies, our convenings allow our partners to access and provide support, reflection, and training, and envision ways to collaborate.
Sector connections
Strengthening networks in the social change sector for mutual learning and resource sharing is important to our partners. We support partners to be part of conferences, workshops, and events where their voices can be heard.
Safeguarding
Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the children and youth they work with and their teams, is at the heart of our partners’ work. We help them strengthen the tools and resources to foster contextually-relevant safeguarding cultures and practices in their organizations.
Co-creation
We collaborate with our partners to create materials such as exhibitions, media campaigns, blogs, webinars, and presentations to unlock talent and showcase their work and visions for change.
Collaborative research
Helping our partners to understand and communicate how their work is making a difference in the lives of children and youth and their communities is critical. We support our partners to strengthen their learning and evaluation skills and build case studies, conduct participatory action research or use methodologies such as outcome harvesting to better understand the effects of their work according to their own visions for change.
Featured stories
On a path to better serving our partners
The shift the power mindset
Your support drives real change
Innovative community-based organizations turn small amounts of money into, lasting impact. Your donation will support our partners working at the hearts of local communities to create a safer, more just future for children and young people.