Capacity building

An organization with capacity is like a tree with a good root system, but how do you grow healthy roots? As much as missions partners know that organizational capacity is the key to sustainable ministry, they'll also quickly admit they are ill prepared to build it. And why not, the idea of building capacity in many organizations is limited to adding new functions and raising more money. As a result, formulas for increasing the capacity of Two-Thirds world partners often come down to adding money, buildings, or technology. Missions partners can take some comfort in knowing that many American businesses function in the same way. Which is why the field of organization development has become a major industry. With the help of organization development researchers and consultants large and small companies alike are finding that to move along the path of capacity building is to discover reservoirs of innovation, and hope. For example, in less than three years the Christian School for the Deaf in El Salvador, advanced from a local church based program to an independent, nationally networked school for the deaf. With the help of organization development consultants, the school discovered how to take their ministry to the next level of growth and achievement. Through a series of meetings and planned interventions, the leadership team and faculty reclaimed a sense of confidence and began to achieve things that previously seemed impossible. They succeeded for several reasons, mainly the following:  God was in it. Though people were initially skeptical, there was a sense that God was calling them forward.  Experienced organization development consultants guided the process.  It began on a relationship of trust that had developed over several years.  The process built on what the school already had in the way of skills and resources.  The people who would implement the change were also the architects of it.  The faculty and staff of the school used their own language, idioms and metaphors to describe what they had and what they wanted.  The entire process was seen as a learning adventure. The purpose of this paper is to explore from an organization development perspective how missions partners can build capacity for greater impact. The Christian School for the Deaf in El Salvador illustrates that missions partners can expand organizational capacity through a combination of affirming present capabilities and focusing attention on shared aspirations. …