For Grantees

Learning for Lasting Change

At NRF, we believe that investing in people is just as important as investing in programs. That's why, in addition to grant funding, we provide our grantee partners with professional development opportunities designed to strengthen their organizations from the inside out.

We know that lean budgets rarely leave room for staff training, yet the people doing this work every day are the heart of every great organization. NRF bridges that gap by engaging leading national experts to facilitate workshops and trainings on topics that matter most to our grantee partners.

All sessions are offered at no cost to participating organizations, ensuring that geography and budget are never barriers to growth.

To keep the content relevant and grounded in real need, we select topics directly from grantee surveys. Recent subjects addressed include:

• Fundraising
• Governance
• Grant Writing
• Leadership Development
• Major Donors
• Program Evaluation
• Relationship Management
• Storytelling
• Strategic Planning
• Theory of Change
• Wellness and Self-Care

Program Evaluation

One topic we feel strongly enough about to support financially is program evaluation. Great programs don't just deliver results, they learn from them. NRF believes that effective evaluation is one of the most powerful tools an organization has, both for measuring the impact they're making in young people's lives and for continuously improving the work.

That's why we actively encourage applicants to incorporate program evaluation into their budgets, and NRF will fund up to 10% of a requested grant for this purpose. We also know that finding the right measurement tools can be a challenge, especially for organizations with limited capacity.

To help, NRF has compiled a curated set of Grantee Evaluation Resources, practical, low-cost tools designed to make meaningful evaluation accessible to organizations of every size.

Peer Leadership Circles

Leading a mission-driven organization is deeply rewarding and deeply demanding. NRF's Peer Leadership Circles create dedicated space for grantee leaders to step back from the day-to-day, reflect, and find support among people who understand the work firsthand. Facilitated by an executive coach, each circle draws on the collective wisdom of its members to work through real-time challenges, build lasting relationships, and grow as leaders. The learning is practical, the conversations are meaningful, and the impact carries well beyond the circle itself.

Origin Story

When NRF celebrated 50 years of grantmaking in 2015, the milestone prompted a deeper question: what more could we do for the organizations we believe in? Writing a check, however meaningful, felt like only part of the answer. The NRF Board of Trustees responded by launching a capacity building program designed to strengthen grantee organizations in ways that endure. What began as a milestone reflection has grown into an ongoing commitment. This commitment goes beyond grant dollars to invest in the people, practices, and networks that make lasting impact possible. In the process, these workshops have done something else equally valuable: they have built a genuine community among grantees, connecting leaders across the country who share a common mission.