Capacity Building

Direct Technical Assistance

Direct technical assistance is provided by Resourceful Communities staff and consultants to help grassroots partners build organizational capacity, grow a cadre of informed and committed leaders, and raise the dollars needed to plan and implement triple bottom line efforts. 

Creating New Economies Fund Grant Program

Resourceful Communities' Creating New Economies Fund provides small grants ($5,000-$15,000) for grassroots projects that integrate sustainable economic development, environmental stewardship and social justice.

Since the program began in 2001, Resourceful Communities has awarded 221 grants totaling more than $2 million.  These grants have leveraged more than $8 million in additional funding for grassroots partners, benefitting more than 50,000 residents of North Carolina. In 2011, we awarded 25 grants totaling more than $200,000.

Download this PDF to learn more about the grants and to read about the groups that have received them.

More importantly, the CNEF program has leveraged substantive change in communities throughout North Carolina and is sparking new initiatives that are, for the first time, putting power in the hands of grassroots leaders and community members.  CNEF grants help get people to the table with decision- and policy-makers; ongoing Resourceful Communities assistance helps our partners keep their seats at the table.  Learn more about CNEF.