HIRI PCBR Database - Intermediary Profile Report - North Carolina Community Development Initiative

PHILANTHROPIC CAPACITY-BUILDING RESOURCES
DATABASE - INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATIONS

Report Title:	Intermediary Profile Report
Report Date:

Organization:	North Carolina Community Development Initiative	Program ID Number: I-12
Date Profile Created:	December 1, 2005	Date Profile Last Updated: December 1, 2005

Program Summary:
The North Carolina Community Development Initiative (NCCDI) works to strengthen the capacity, impact, and sustainability of community economic development in "low-resource" communities as practiced by community development corporations. It also encourages all CDCs to develop their organizational capacity and productivity in the areas of affordable housing, commercial real estate development, and business and enterprise development. It provides grants, loans (through a subsidiary - North Carolina Community Development Initiative Capital, Inc.), research and training, advocacy, and technical assistance. Core operating grants it provides of up to $150,000 to high-performing CDCs are used for capacity-building purposes related to staffing, rent, technology, audits, training, and more. Other grants of up to $50,000 are available to help turn around groups that have lost their competitive edge, or to help a CDC advance projects that increase the organization's asset base or earned income.

Technical assistance in Strategic Issue Management and Project Development is offered to the community economic development industry statewide at no cost. Specialized "hands-on" technical assistance covers a range of topics including administrative and fiscal management, project development, and organizational development. NCCDI also partners with St. Augustine's College on an undergraduate degree program in community economic development and a skill based professional certification program called Pathways to Professional Excellence.

NCCDI serves as a technical assistance provider to local government, and the banking and foundation communities. It manages the Charlotte Neighborhood Fund for the City, using federal Community Development Block Grant dollars, and it managed redevelopment in a region destroyed by flood, receiving $12.5 million that was re-granted to nonprofit housing developers to rebuild affordable housing in eastern North Carolina. Additionally, sometimes the organization is called upon by foundations or banks to assist with projects they have invested in that are experiencing problems.

In partnership with others, NCCDI may raise dollars for a project that strengthens the overall infrastructure for community development across the state. For example, it partnered with a foundation to assess technical assistance services available to CDCs statewide. It is a frequent partner with other intermediaries, other state-wide organizations, foundations such as the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the Enterprise Foundation, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Annual assessments are done on the 25-30 groups NCCDI funds at any given time. The organization has had two independent assessments of impact, one in 2000 following 5 years of operations, and a 10-year assessment in 2005. This most recent one looked at production and economic impact. The 5-year assessment involved an interview process that compared NCCDI to other intermediaries doing similar work in the Northeast. It is anticipated that some type of external evaluation will be done every 5 years in the future.

Contact Name:	Ebonie Alexander
Title:	President
Phone:	(919) 828-5655
Fax:	(919) 834-8018
E-mail Address:	eboniealexander@ncinitiative.org
URL:	www.ncinitiative.org

Address:

P.O. Box 98148
Raleigh, NC 27624

Date Program Began:	1994	Total Funds Awarded for Most Recent Fiscal Year:	$2,924,676
Date Program Scheduled to End:	N/A	Total Capacity-Building Operating Expenses for Most Recent Fiscal Year:	$347,837

How Program is Operated:

Run internally by the intermediary

Number Staff/Consultants:

7/4

Background Materials Available:

Yes

Geographic Areas Served:

National:

Yes

International:

Selected States:	N/A
Geographic Details:	N/A

Types of Capacity-Building Assistance Offered to Nonprofits:

1. Grants:	2. Direct Service:	3. Direct Financial Support:
Categorical	Assessment of Service Needs Coaching/Training for Individual Nonprofits Convening Education/Training for Groups of Nonprofits Information and Referral Infrastructure for Peer Networking Placing Funder Representatives on Nonprofit Boards	Facilities/Equipment Support Loans Endowment/Reserves Support

Grants Offered to Capacity-Building Service
Providers and Intermediaries:

*Support for Services to Nonprofits:*	N/A
*General Support:*	N/A

Grants Offered to Support Overall Capacity-Building Infrastructure:

Local, State/Regional

Areas of Nonprofit Operations Supported:	How Funding/Service Decisions Are Made:
Administration + Finance Communication (Internal/External) Evaluation Facilities Management Fund Development Governance (Board/Executive) Human Resources Information/Technology Support Legal/Risk Management Planning Staff Development/Training	Application by Potential Recipient � Intermediary Selection

Collaborating Organizations: N/A

Capacity-Building Work Evaluated:	Yes	Evaluation Results Available:	Yes
Frequency of Evaluation:	Variable	Type of Evaluation:	External, Mixed Methods

Summary of Evaluation Lessons Learned:
The following lessons learned were among those reported by this program:

A holistic approach is important - focusing on leadership, adaptive thinking, management skills, and an organization's role in the community. This is tougher to do, but provides a solid grounding.
The four capacities being focused upon, as developed by the Marguerite Casey Foundation, resonate well with participants.
Repetition and multiple levels of learning are important.
Capacity-building work is hard and time consuming.
Repetition and multiple levels of learning are important.
The three-year length of this program is important. Participants value the consistency, and the ability to dig deeper into the four capacities.
It is very important that that the initial assessment and selection process be done right to lay a groundwork for success.
After the first year, participants are talking differently about their work, using more strategic thinking.

It is too early to identify specific impacts from the intermediary's activities.