Capacity Building Initiative (CBI)

Capacity Building Grant Program – Now Open

The Capacity Building Grant Program is now open. Please note that the Trust is in the process of transitioning to a new grants management system to improve the application and grant administration experience for applicants and grantee partners. As part of this transition, the online application system for this funding opportunity will open later than the release of this RFP.

We anticipate that the new system will be live in June and expect the application to be available for at least one month prior to the application deadline of July 15 at 5:00 PM ET.

In the meantime, we will post a PDF mockup of the online application on our website so applicants can preview the structure and format of the application. All narrative questions, accessible via the link below the RFP, may be reviewed and completed in advance of the system opening.

Applicants are encouraged to review this RFP closely and contact Trust staff with any questions. We appreciate your patience as we make improvements to better serve our grantee community.

Program Goals: The Capacity Building Grant Program is an annual program of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network. It supports nonprofit organizations and local governments working at the intersection of natural resource protection and community well‑being across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Capacity building refers to work that strengthens how organizations function. When organizations are healthy, they are better equipped to sustain their missions and contribute meaningfully to environmental and community outcomes. Awards may strengthen an applicant’s internal capacity or, for Movement Building and Local Government applicants, support efforts that extend knowledge, tools, or infrastructure beyond the applicant organization.

What We Mean by Capacity Building

In this program, capacity‑building projects focus on strengthening the systems, structures, and practices that support long‑term organizational or governmental effectiveness. This includes work related to governance, operations, planning, coordination, or other core functions that help applicants use existing staff and resources more effectively.

Capacity Building grants do not provide general operating support, but funds may be used for staff time that is directly dedicated to carrying out the proposed capacity‑building work.

Capacity Building Tracks

Funding is offered through three tracks. Applicants should select the track that best aligns with who will most directly benefit from the proposed capacity‑building investment.

Track 1: Organizational Capacity Building

Supports nonprofit organizations seeking to strengthen their own internal capacity to operate more effectively and sustainably in support of environmental and community health outcomes across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Track 2: Local Government Capacity Building

Supports projects designed to strengthen the capacity of local governments or Tribal Nations, either by improving internal systems or by providing targeted capacity‑building support such as planning, coordination, or technical assistance.

Track 3: Movement Building

Supports nonprofit organizations serving as capacity‑building providers for other nonprofits. Projects in this track are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of multiple organizations, particularly smaller or lower‑capacity nonprofits, rather than the applicant’s own internal capacity.

What This Program Funds (Examples)

Capacity‑building projects address challenges that affect long‑term effectiveness. Examples include:

Strategic or organizational planning
Governance or board development
Fundraising and revenue development strategies
Technology, data, or systems improvements
Staff training or operational process improvements
Shared technical assistance models
Collaboration or merger‑related efforts

A full list of eligible project types is included in the RFP.

👉 To see a list of funded projects from FY25, click here.

Who can apply? Requests are encouraged from nonprofit organizations and tribal or local governments that:

Provide services within the Chesapeake watershed, including the DC, DE, MD, NY, PA, VA, and WV portions of the watershed, or the Maryland Coastal Bays and Youghiogheny watersheds in Maryland.
Have a water and/or natural resource focus within their work aligned with one or more of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement goals.

Nonprofits must also:

Have between 1 and 40 staff members. Organizations that roll up into a parent organization’s IRS Form 990 must count total staff across the entire organization toward this limit.
Employ at least one full-time staff member (35+ hours per week) or have a dedicated volunteer contributing 35+ hours per week.
Have an active Board of Directors.

For all eligibility requirements refer to the RFP.

How much can be awarded? Funding requests will generally not exceed $40,000 for the Organizational and Movement Building Tracks and $150,000 for the Local Government Track. Requests above these levels may be considered with additional justification.

How much is available in the program? Up to $1.4 million is anticipated for this funding round. The final amount is contingent on federal funding availability.

Program Status: OPEN

Deadline is: Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 at 5pm ET

Click Here to View the Request for Proposals (RFP)Click Here to View the Narrative Questions

Questions and Technical Support

Amber Cameron
Program Officer
acameron@cbtrust.org
(410) 974-2941 x 124

The Chesapeake Bay Trust leads and administers the The Capacity Building Initiative (CBI) on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network. CBI seeks to build both individual organization and collaborative capacity to advance regional environmental and community health goals.

The CBI invests resources at three levels:

1) Movement level investments: including the development of tools and trainings that advance the field.

2) Regional (Collaborative) level investments: including critical Infrastructure to advance shared goals, this comes in the form of collaborative model development or enhancement through backbone support, training, leadership development, and shared resources.

3) Individual organization level investments: through a competitive annual grant program.

Training

Upcoming Trainings

The Trust will be offering a Diversity. Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Learning Series for a limited number of non-profit organizations and regional funders (up to 50 – to be determined) please check back for more details, which will be posted here as they become available.

Past Trainings

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training – Organizational Leadership and Leadership Culture

The purpose of the training was to assist non-profit leaders with their commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ). Through structured engagement, including small break-out groups, participants had the opportunity to discuss organizational leadership and culture regarding DEIJ, specifically focused on:

how organizations can and should diversify their boards and leadership,
how to overcome common (real or perceived) obstacles to doing so, and
how to develop and maintain a leadership culture that ensures leaders and/or board members of color not only stay with the organization but feel they have agency and power to make change where necessary.

About the Facilitator:

Francisco “Paco” Ollervides, PhD has worked directly with individual leaders and organizations in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives in the environmental sector for over 20 years. He assists strategic planning as well as conceptualizing, innovating, and driving forward initiatives that allow individuals to learn and act equitably and as stewards to our planet. His focus is on building the power of the environmental movement by facilitating opportunities for People of Color to excel in the sector through client and sponsor relationship management, customer satisfaction and retention, and staff management.

DEIJ in Action Webinar

During this webinar, the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, Chesapeake Conservancy, and Chesapeake Commons discussed successes and barriers they have encountered to carry out their organizational DEIJ goals. The Chesapeake Bay Trust, on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network (CBFN) also provided an update on CBFN’s Capacity Building Initiative and resources available for DEIJ efforts. Attendees left with a greater understanding of approaches to make the Chesapeake Bay community more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just.

View the recording here.

Restoration Project Management Training

In May 2019 through a competitive bid process the Trust on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network contracted Johnson, Miriam, and Thompson Engineering (JMT), to provide training and coaching services to 25 regional non-profit water focused organizations interested in learning more about effective restoration project management. The training was held in Hunt Valley Maryland at JMT’s headquarters. The agenda included six modules provided over the course of two days on April 24^th and 25^th2019. The modules covered topics like permit acquisition, planning, partnership management, and budget management among other topics. Additionally, JMT provided a sub-set of training attendees mentoring services. For example JMT provided over-the-shoulder review for Blue Water Baltimore and City of Lancaster on several construction specifications and proposal templates as well as a constructability plan review for a green infrastructure projects.

View the training material here.

Coaching

None at this time – Check back at a later date.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) Resources:

The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Guide – DEIJ in Action is the result of a collaboration between Chesapeake Bay Trust, the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network, and the Choose Clean Water Coalition. This report provides recommendations for how organizations working on environmental issues and the funders who support them, can increase DEIJ within their organizations.
- DEIJ in Action Appendix

The Expanding the Circle Lessons Learned Report summarizes the Expanding the Circle Pilot Program. This program was started in 2015 by the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network and the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Included in this report are summaries of each project, lessons learned, and recommendation for both watershed organization and funders.

Network Building Resources:

The Innovation Network for Communities provides network building materials to accelerate and deepen systems level change.
The Understanding Networks guide developed by the Alliance for Global Justice/AdAstra describes the different forms of organizational networks and the roles within movement ecologies. Understanding Networks emphasizes the importance of connection and relationship building as part of a strong organization.
A social movement is a organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal. The Movement Cycle guide provides participants with ways to identify their plans and strategies for organizing a social movement (environmental movement are social movements). The Movement Cycle worksheet assists in creating a social movement that will develop societal movements as one, dynamic system.
The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership developed by Facilitating Power creates a pathway to strengthen and transform our local democracies and assess community engagement efforts to advance community-driven solutions.

Organizational Capacity Assessment Tools:

The Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT) – The CCAT is a leading tool for measuring a nonprofit’s organizational effectiveness in relation to four core capacities – leadership, adaptability, management, and technical – as well as organizational culture.
The Marguerite Casey Organizational Self-Assessment is intended for self-guided use by nonprofit organizations to identify capacity strengths and challenges and establish capacity building goals.
The Society for Organizational Learning’s Five Disciplines for Building Learning Organizations

Story Telling Resources:

The Storytelling workshop guide builds upon the skills an organization needs to communicate effectively and frames storytelling as an important for both leadership and advocacy. This guide allows participants to construct an action plan outline.

Fundraising Resources:

The Grassroots Fundraising Training developed by the Alliance for Global Justice/ AdAstra examines the different options for grassroots fundraising and the structures for how to form a concrete ask.

Background: The Regional Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI) is designed to enhance local networks comprised of cross-sector organizations who are committed to working collaboratively. RCBI will increase collective grassroots capacity to accomplish shared goals at the intersection of community and watershed health and enhance local networks’ ability to advance programs and policies to improve regions beyond the term of the initiative. This initiative will provide evaluation and training services, technical assistance, and grants to strengthen and diversify regional networks working together to advance a shared regional and community driven agenda that improves the quality of life in the region and protects and restores natural resources.

Who can apply? The Chesapeake Bay Funders Network and the Trust welcome requests from a single organization on behalf of a group of organizations committed to working together long-term. Organizations eligible to apply on behalf of the network include but are not limited to: 501(c)3 private nonprofit organizations faith-based organizations; community associations, service, and civic groups, municipal, county, regional, state, federal public agencies, soil/water conservation districts, and public higher educational institutions.

How much can be awarded? $200,000 per network in year 1 of the program with additional funding annually pending funding availability.

How many networks will be selected? The Chesapeake Bay Funders Network and the Trust anticipate selecting 4 – 5 networks for a funding, training, and coaching opportunity (up to 5 years pending funding availability).

Grant Application Process: The Chesapeake Bay Trust’s grant applications are all submitted through our online system linked to the right.