Issues faced by nonprofits

Capacity building is an ongoing problem faced by nonprofits that rely on external funding to maintain their operations, largely because nonprofit organizations have little control over their source(s) of revenue. Increasingly in the United States, many nonprofits rely on government funds to support their operations, often through grants, contracts, or customer-sided subsidies, such as vouchers or tax credits. Some nonprofits may also rely primarily on support from charitable foundations, supporting organizations, and direct donations. Changes in these sources of revenue may influence the reliability or predictability with which the organization can hire and retain staff, sustain facilities, or create programs. Increasingly, there are few sources of revenue that allow nonprofits to develop their organizational capacities.^{[citation needed]}

Founder's syndrome is an issue organizations face as they grow. Dynamic founders with a strong vision of how to operate the project try to retain control over the organization, even as new volunteers want to expand the project's scope and try new things.