Over the past seven years, more than 100 nonprofit organizations have participated in capacity building seminars funded through a grant from the Orange County Citizens’ Commission for Children. These seminars provide Orange County nonprofits with training and technical assistance in areas such as financial management, strategic planning, nonprofit governance and grant writing. While the program itself does not provide funding, previous participants have received grants and additional funding using the techniques and strategies taught in the seminars.

Participants receive training through sessions facilitated by UCF School of Public Administration faculty and receive additional support from graduate students. As part of the series, participating organizations will develop or update an existing profile for the Central Florida Foundation’s Nonprofit Search, a database that connects potential donors and partners with Central Florida nonprofit organizations. The series provides not only technical training but also opportunities for local nonprofit organizations to connect with one another — a key component of UCF’s institution-wide goal to continuously foster community engagement.

Applications

Please contact CPNM Staff for applications and any other inquiries at cpnm@ucf.edu.

Program

  • 15 Orange County nonprofit organizations will be selected to receive capacity building training online and one-on-one technical assistance. The Capacity Building Seminar will address basic principles in four critical areas:
    1) nonprofit governance
    2) strategic planning and program evaluation
    3) financial management
    4) grant writingThe seminar will be led by Dr. Maritza Concha, Director of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Central Florida and Professor in the School of Public Administration.
  • During the program, participants will complete or update their agency profile for the Central Florida Foundation’s Nonprofit Search database.
  • All course content and technical assistance will be delivered in a hybrid format through in-person workshops at the UCF Downtown Campus and various virtual formats. One-on-one technical assistance will be provided by UCF graduate students for a total of 20 hours per participating agency. The students will receive direct supervision and support from Dr. Maritza Concha.
  • Participants fulfilling all the program requirements will receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the seminar.
  • The seminar will run during the summer.

Eligible Organizations

  1. Agency must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a health and human service mission that is both located and provides services in Orange County, Florida.
  2. Agency must be in operation for at least one (1) year.
  3. Priority will be given to grassroots agencies with budgets of $500,000 or less.
  4. Priority will be given to agencies that have not previously received grant funding from Orange County.
  5. Agencies must commit two agency leaders (ideally a senior staff member and a volunteer board member) to participate in all online sessions and technical assistance (see schedule below and save the dates while awaiting notification of application status).
  6. In addition to participating in all online sessions, agency leaders will also: 1) commit at least three hours per week to review materials and submit assignments online, and 2) commit to working with their assigned UCF graduate student for 2-3 hours a week to complete homework assignments.
  7. Agency must have access to computer hardware and software as well as internet connection to access the online course content.
  8. Participants must be proficient in English. Language translation is planned for specific translation issues unique to the course materials.