Helping Los Angeles Jewish Nonprofits Thrive: Key Learnings from the Next Stage Capacity Building Pilot

Strong, well-resourced nonprofits are an indispensable part of our social fabric and play a key role in providing critical services that contribute to thriving communities. In an era of growing need and decreased availability of government dollars, nonprofits are increasingly forced to do more with less. They are also faced with limited time and resources to build their own core infrastructure and strengthen their capacity to expand services and deliver them more effectively. As the leader in charitable giving services for Jewish philanthropists in Los Angeles, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) seeks to magnify the impact of its donor's giving, build enduring legacies, and strengthen the Jewish and local Los Angeles community through effective grantmaking. To help achieve those goals, The Foundation launched the Next Stage Grants pilot in 2017 to help Jewish organizations and institutions in the region build their capacity and increase their effectiveness. The Foundation designed and launched the pilot with four organizations, offering funding of up to $250,000 over a two to three-year period, a semi-structured approach and space for grantees to engage with The Foundation in testing and learning. This executive summary and the full report highlight key learnings and insights from the pilot, including gains, benefits and challenges as well as considerations to guide Next Stage Grants moving forward