Building the Organizations that Build Communities: Strengthening the Capacity of Faith- and Community-Based Development Organizations

This work gathers papers that address the key issues in expanding the capacity of faith-based and community organizations. The book is not intended to be exhaustive, rather this volume documents current thinking on the issue of capacity and the research gaps facing faith-based and community development organizations.

The 17 papers are divided into four sections. "Defining the Issues" provides a historical overview of faith-based and community development as well as related capacity issues; "Current Research on Building the Capacity of Community Development Organizations" includes six papers related to specific issues in capacity building; "Training and Capacity" includes three papers related to training CDC workers; "The Role of Performance Measures in Expanding Capacity" includes two papers on the role of performance measures.

The anthology is an excellent primer on building the capacity of faith- and community-based organizations to be successful agents of change in their communities. It will be useful to: community development agencies, foundations and intermediaries, as they consider how best to support community development organizations (both faith-based and secular); researchers, as they consider what research and demonstration programs will enhance the knowledge base of improving the performance of faith-based and community CDC's; students of community development/urban ministry, as they grapple with important issues early in their career; and directors of faith-based and community organizations, who may be seeking insights on how to sustain their organizations and improve their own efforts in communities.