WATERLOO – The local non-profit that helps other non-profits, Capacity Waterloo Region, has a new name and a new goal – it is now Capacity Canada and the group’s helping hands have stretched beyond the region’s borders.
“The new name reflects that we have learned some things,” said CEO and executive-director-in-residence, Cathy Brothers. “It reflects our new strategy.”
Capacity works with the board members of non-profit organizations in the region, big and small, to improve their operations and outreach.
Their new venture has expanded to Manulife Financial in Toronto with a non-profit governance boot camp that will work with local non-profits in the city.
Capacity has also helped non-profits in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and hope to expand their take on corporate social responsibility
across the country. Their goal is to strengthen non-profits by finding them like-minded, talented board members and also by improving their existing operations through training programs. They call it capacity building – helping non-profits reach their potential.
“A lot of non-profits are working in isolation,” Brothers said. “So we are like matchmakers … we are bringing people together from multiple sectors.”
Brothers estimates there are about 3,000 non-profits in the Waterloo Region alone and 90,000 across the country.
Whether it is a large, well-known non-profit like the Humane Society or local sports associations or faith-based groups, they can all benefit from Capacity’s programs.
One of their biggest successes so far has been teaming up 80 Manulife Financial employees with several local non-profits.
Business-minded people are great as board members for non-profits, Brothers said, as their skills are beneficial to the non-profit’s own success in the community.
“We’re a community builder and matchmaker kind of organization that relies on businesses being involved,” Brothers said. Capacity started in 2009 as a non-profit that gave grants to other local non-profits. But they found that organizations needed more than just money, they needed guidance.
“We found that non-profits were open to the idea of giving them support,” she said.