Introduction
This Technical Appendix report is a companion document to the report Improving Capacity among Nonprofits—Impact Study of the Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program.
The Compassion Capital Fund (CCF), established by Congressional appropriation in 2002, is administered through the Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services. The primary purpose of CCF is to help nonprofit organizations (NPOs) increase their organizational effectiveness, enhance their service delivery capacity, diversify their funding sources, and create collaborations to better serve those in need.
A major component of CCF is the Demonstration program. The CCF Demonstration program funds intermediary organizations that serve as a bridge between the federal government and NPOs. All CCF-funded intermediary organizations provide grassroots organizations with at least three types of capacity building assistance: training, technical assistance, and financial sub-awards.
Consistent with ACF’s emphasis on performance measurement and accountability, the agency has contracted with Abt Associates and its partner, Branch Associates, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to examine the impacts of the Demonstration program. This Technical Appendix and its companion report present the key findings from the impact study that collected information from NPOs receiving technical or financial assistance services from ten intermediary grantees funded in the 2006 CCF grant cycles.