Partner capacity self-assessment
Rate 35 statements about governance, finance, programs, people, safeguarding, advocacy and fundraising. You get a score and a stage for each area, your strengths and the next steps to work on.
Assessing several partners? In Advancer.World each partner answers in its own language and you see every result together. Try it free in Advancer.World
Rate each statement from 1 (not in place) to 4 (fully in place). Choose N/A when it does not apply.
Your results
Sending this to partners by e-mail? In Advancer.World each partner fills it in online, in their own language, and you see every answer in one place. Start free
How to run a partner capacity self-assessment
A self-assessment works best as a conversation, not an exam. Ask the partner's leadership team to answer together, so that the finance officer, the program lead and the director agree on each answer. Twenty minutes of honest discussion tell you more than a long questionnaire filled in by one person.
Score what is in place today, not what is planned. "Mostly in place" means it works most of the time and someone could show you the evidence. Choose "not applicable" when a statement does not fit the organization: a small coalition member may run no programs of its own.
Use the results to agree two or three priorities, not to rank partners. Repeat the assessment every year with the same statements: the change in each area is the best measure of what your capacity strengthening achieved.
Run the assessment with every partner, every year
In Advancer.World partners answer the assessment online, in their own language. Their answers place them on your maturity grid, and next year's answers show how far each one has moved.
- Surveys sent to every partner
- Results placed on a shared maturity grid
- Year-on-year progress for each partner and for the whole network
Free for up to 5 partners. No card needed.
Who should fill in the self-assessment?
The partner organization itself, ideally its leadership team together. When you support a partner, go through it with them rather than for them: the discussion is part of the value.
How is the score calculated?
Each statement is rated from 1 (not in place) to 4 (fully in place). An area's score is the average of its answered statements; "not applicable" answers are left out. The stage comes from the score: Emerging below 1.75, Developing below 2.5, Established below 3.25, Leading from 3.25.
Is this the same as an OCA tool?
It covers the same ground as the usual organizational capacity assessments (OCA), in a shorter form that we wrote. Use it for a first picture or a yearly check; a full OCA goes deeper, with evidence and interviews.
Are my answers stored anywhere?
Only in this browser, on this device, so you can come back later. Nothing is sent to our servers. Download the results as Excel or print them to keep a copy.
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