YOUR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION IN ACTION

The Nine Dot Puzzle

One of the most challenging mathematical puzzles to solve is the Nine Dot Puzzle. As illustrated below, there are nine dots arranged in three rows of three. Your job is to connect all the dots without lifting your pen or retracing any lines. Here’s the catch: you can’t exceed four lines. Hint: the idiom “think outside the box” comes from this famous puzzle.

Community Foundations are continuously challenged to think outside the box, to break away from traditional rules, rigid assumptions, or expected methods, to approach problems from fresh perspectives and to explore creative, unconventional ideas. Nearly fifteen years

ago, we were among the earliest funders in the region to adopt and prioritize a capacity-building grantmaking strategy. Our goal was to move away from funding specific programs or parts of a larger project to funding comprehensive strategies to help nonprofits reach the next level of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity to expand their impact in the community. For example, early on in our Strategic Focus Grant Program, we supported a pilot program that would help generate operating revenue for a local environmental organization, additional staff to expand mental and behavioral health services for a community health center, and a collaborative effort between two local housing organizations that would provide complementary services, improve efficiencies, and decrease barriers for their overlapping client base. 

In 2021, our Strategic Focus Grant Program evolved into our Capacity-Building Grant Program. As we emerged from the worst of the COVID pandemic, we listened and learned from our nonprofit partners as they rebuilt and reimagined their organizations, and adapted the program to respond to their needs for growth and systemic change: larger, multi-year grants; general operating support; technical assistance; opportunities to build cohorts for peer-learning, networking, collaboration and group problem-solving; and assistance with critical initiatives, such as strategic planning, technology upgrades, and staff development and retention. From 2021-2024, we invested nearly $1 million in helping 44 nonprofit organizations build capacity. 

In 2025, we paused the program to conduct an external evaluation, generously supported by Eastern Bank Foundation. Had the shift from a transactional to capacity-building grantmaking model yielded more impactful, transformative results? The evaluation was validating and revealing. Feedback from past recipients indicated that the shifts we’ve made have helped them to increase their individual and collective impact. Our nonprofit partners also cited common challenges and opportunities and overwhelmingly requested us to maintain and expand our support.

Our biggest revelation from the evaluation caused us to broaden our definition of capacity-building. This strategy isn’t limited to a particular grantmaking program. It is connected to everything else we do to strengthen the nonprofit sector: Every resource we provide. Every collaborative we join. Every partnership we make. Every initiative we create. And every fundraising effort we undertake. We are grateful for the opportunity to, once again, step outside the box and see the bigger picture. 

In our next column, Jeanne Ruckert Lovy, Vice President of Impact, will discuss the key findings of the evaluation project and the enhancements to the newly named Catalyst Grant Program, which will provide more than $900,000 in funding and other resources to local nonprofits, announce the 2026 recipients, and outline our plans for moving forward. 

Our hope from these columns is that the information and “aha moments” we share will help you frame and execute your philanthropic strategy in more impactful ways. Perhaps you’ll become interested in funding capacity building initiatives at your favorite nonprofit or providing larger grants to a few organizations you support to help them gain traction and emerge stronger.  Naturally, we also hope you will join our network of donors and funders to leverage the power of collective giving. To make a donation, see the links below. To continue this conversation, reach out anytime.

Kristin O'Malley
President and CEO
508.790.3040

komalley@capecodfoundation.org

The Nine Dot Puzzle Solution


Taking Our Own Advice

Because The Cape Cod Foundation is also a 501C3 public charity, we must continuously build our own capacity to help meet community needs and expand impact. Sometimes, we need to increase “people” power. Over the last ten years, we’ve expanded our team from 7-14 full- and part-time professionals. Other times, we need to build resources. In 2009, we had a total of $100,000 to award from our discretionary grant programs. Back then, our largest individual Strategic Focus Grant was $10,000. For 2026, we have over $2.5 million in discretionary funds. Our 2026 Catalyst Grant Program will provide a $50,000 grant to 18 nonprofit organizations over a three-year period. We are 100% committed to thinking outside the box by adapting and expanding capacity-building strategies to strengthen the local nonprofit sector…this year and every year.