Community development corporations (CDCs) attempt to build capacity—that is, the ability to carry out their functions more effectively—in a variety of ways. In previous research, we defined five categories of capacity (resource, organizational, networking, programmatic, and political). In this paper, we take on the difficult task of measuring the amorphous concept of capacity building. We look specifically at the relationship between community development partnerships (CDPs), local intermediaries funded in part by the Ford Foundation to support community development, and CDCs’ capacity-building efforts. Our survey of 219 CDCs allows us to
provide a detailed estimation of capacity of CDCs in 20 cities. It also helps us appraise the differences partnership support makes to CDC capacity-building efforts. We found that CDCs with partnership support have greater capacity than do those without it, especially in the resource, organizational, and programmatic areas.