Social Sector Accelerator

The Social Sector Accelerator, a member of the Counterpart Network, combines an entrepreneurial spirit with Counterpart International’s 52 years as an innovator, changing the way people look at and solve global development problems. Much like the way business incubators help emerging entrepreneurs, the Accelerator is an incubator for social sector organizations and emerging citizen leaders worldwide.

• We accelerate social investments in capable partners.
• We accelerate the impact of leaders, organizations and networks from the social sector.
• We improve the quality of social investment partnerships.

The Capacity Dividend

Based on the capacity building work we have done with organizations all over the world, we have seen organizations increase their capacity in several core areas that we believe are integral to the “capacity dividend.”

For example, 63% of organizations with which we’ve worked reported that they experienced increases in annual revenue, the number of funding sources, the number of services offered to beneficiaries and the number of beneficiaries served. We believe these indicators demonstrate an increase in an organization’s effectiveness and efficiency, as well as leverage and sustainability.

Accelerator Services

The Social Sector Accelerator takes Counterpart’s proven tools and unique approaches to capacity building to scale, reaching farther and wider to build the capabilities of the social sector to achieve their missions.

The Accelerator will be a dynamic hub of learners, practitioners, investors and researchers who together build an ever-stronger global community for social good. Through our core services, the Accelerator will create a “Capacity Dividend” strengthening, accelerating, and leveraging the performance and impact of the social sector. Accelerator services include:

• Organizational and individual skills building; coaching and mentoring through a global network of expert consultants.
• Free and open source tools and resources, as well as premium and proprietary tools to improve peer-to-peer learning.
• Standards and certification that codify best practices.
• Match-making services for partners and funders to find “best-in-class” organizations.
• Evidence-based data and evaluation tools that measure social sector impact and inform future planning and investment decisions.
• Investment fund management and Secretariat services.

The Accelerator supports the work of leaders and organizations working on a range of community challenges including improving food security, access to quality education, and sustainable and equitable economic development by developing programs in partnership with partners, raising funds to support their work and organizing capacity building and leadership development trainings, workshops and other opportunities to expand their work.

Why Partner with the Social Sector Accelerator?

For partners, funders and investors working with organizations around the world, the Accelerator provides a multi-faceted platform offering customized skill-building resources. Our tools and resources improve effectiveness across various dimensions, including financial performance, governance, program implementation and community engagement. By multiplying the impact of groups you work with, and expanding their reach to others who focus on the same concerns, your social investment will go farther, faster.

“Through our partnership with the Counterpart Network, we adopted policies and procedures that were instrumental in making our organization stronger, better equipped to carry out our mission effectively, and more sustainable.”

– Armen Ghalumyan, Director
Civic Development and Partnership Foundation, Armenia