Organizational Development and Capacity Building

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are well known to millions of people throughout the world.  Dedicated staff and volunteers are the first responders in an emergency and often the only support available in remote communities. The Canadian Red Cross is committed to long-lasting impacts by ensuring that we build capacities in communities we serve. By strengthening partnerships with national Red Cross or Red Crescent Societies where we operate, we support the sustainability of their efforts so that programs continue through national volunteers, staff and local communities.

Capacity building is the transfer of knowledge and/or skills to our partners as well as shared learning, to increase and improve the ability of the partners to deliver services to those in need. Areas of support provided to partner National Societies can include operational planning for existing programs, such as health or disaster management; fundraising; program monitoring and evaluation; and management of volunteers. 

Organizational development goes beyond efforts aimed at improvement. Rather, it addresses the critical process of supporting senior leadership of our partner National Societies to manage and implement organizational change. Support for significant change can include addressing the organizational structure, adapting a new mission or strategy, developing a new service or substantially changing an existing one.