Organizational Capacity Building
“People Are Stretched Thin and Things Keep Falling Through the Cracks.”
Everyone is doing their best, but too much depends on a few people and the system itself is starting to strain. Committees overlap. Roles blur. Decisions stall because no one is quite sure who owns what.
Downtowns don’t stall because people do not care. They stall because expectations drift and capacity gets overextended.
This work resets the foundation so progress can continue without burning people out.
What This Solves
Organizational Capacity Building is designed for downtown organizations where effort is high, but systems are no longer keeping up.
This work directly addresses:
Blurred staff and board roles
Committees that exist but aren’t functioning well
Decision-making that feels slow or inconsistent
Burnout caused by unclear expectations and overload
The goal is not to add more work - it’s to make the work you’re already doing more sustainable.
What We Do
We facilitate a focused, full day board and staff workshop to reset how your organization functions.
This is not a training for training’s sake. It’s a working session designed to restore clarity around who does what, how decisions move forward, and how responsibilities are shared.
The emphasis is practical and centered around what needs to change so work stops bottlenecking and people can follow through.
How the Work Typically Unfolds
Step 1: Organizational Snapshot
We review your current structure, roles, and workflows to understand where confusion, duplication, or overload is happening.
This includes a review of existing documents and conversations with leadership to understand how work actually moves, not just how it is supposed to.
Step 2: Role and Responsibility Reset
Together, we clarify staff roles, board responsibilities, and committee purpose. This creates clear ownership and reduces friction.
Step 3: Committee and Decision Flow
We assess committee structure and decision pathways to ensure work moves efficiently and does not stall between meetings.
Where needed, we help simplify or realign committees so effort matches capacity.
Step 4: Working Session with Board and Staff
We facilitate a focused, 2-hour working session designed to reset expectations and align everyone around how the organization will function moving forward.
This session is practical, structured, and designed to produce real decisions.
Step 5: Practical Next Steps
You leave with agreed-upon adjustments and clear next steps your organization can implement immediately.
What You Will Have At The End
By the end of the engagement, you will have:
✓ Clear staff and board roles
✓ Committee structures that fit current capacity
✓ Simpler, more reliable decision-making
✓ Fewer dropped balls and stalled initiatives
✓ Renewed energy because expectations are clear
Most importantly, people leave knowing what they are responsible for and what they are not.
How Pricing Works
This is a fixed-fee engagement, not hourly consulting.
Investment typically ranges from: $3,500 – $5,000
Pricing is based on organizational size and structure and is confirmed after a short introductory conversation.
There are no surprise costs and no open-ended commitments.
Best Fit For Organizations That
Are navigating leadership transition or growth
Feel stretched, tired, or overextended
Have willing people but unclear systems
Want to stabilize operations before taking on more work
If progress keeps breaking down behind the scenes, this work addresses the root cause.
What Comes Next
Some communities use this work to stabilize operations and continue on their own.
Others pair it with:
Downtown Action Planning
Strong systems make every other downtown effort more effective.
Ready to Reset the Foundation?
If your people are stretched and systems are not working, Organizational Capacity Building helps restore order and sustainability.
Next steps:
Take the Downtown Momentum Scorecard
Or schedule a short call to confirm fit
When roles are clear, work moves forward.