The Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has launched a report outlining five things which it has learned about capacity building.

The report, 5 Years of Funder Plus, 5 Things We’ve Learned, is aimed at funders, infrastructure bodies and a range of providers of infrastructure support.

It outlines the importance of building trust with charities that organisations seek to support.

It says that organisations need to feel empowered, giving them choice and control over the support packages they are offered, including the ability to say no. It also stresses the importance of providing support that is connected to the charity’s mission, implementing it at the right time, and using good diagnostic processes to help identify a charity’s underlying needs.

The report sets out three wider challenges for funders and capacity builders: improving evaluation; joining up funding and support, including supporting existing infrastructure; and building a strong market of providers of support, driving up performance and marginalising poorer providers.

“I know from visiting small and local charities that they really value and rely on grants – but this report has revealed that for some, the space, funding and permission to invest in capacity building is worth even more,” said Paul Streets OBE, Chief Executive of the Lloyds Foundation.

“Along with our fellow funders, we need to continue to step up to the challenge, recognising that charities’ needs are different in the current climate, and that it’s up to us to help them to thrive in increasingly difficult times.”