Frequently Asked Questions

  • BB4C is a comprehensive assessment tool designed to help nonprofit organizations become more racially equitable and inclusive workplaces. This assessment process is centered around the organizational capacities that are foundational to this effort. By participating in this process, you will gain knowledge about how developed those capacities are at your organization. You will also receive concrete recommendations and resources for how to build upon well-developed capacities and how to strengthen those in need of development. This process is intended for nonprofit organizations that want to meaningfully incorporate race equity strategies into their workplaces, and need expert-tested recommendations on where and how to start.

    For more information, see the BB4C Overview.

  • We suggest that organizations allocate anywhere between six to nine months to complete the BB4C assessment process. Organizations with a smaller staff size complete the survey quicker than those with a large staff size. Nonetheless, please keep in mind that advancing race equity is an ongoing commitment, and your organization’s efforts should continue long after the assessment process has been completed.

  • You can expect that people at your organization will spend at least 10-12 hours total on BB4C-related activities across all aspects of the assessment process. This includes time to take the survey, review the custom report, and time for attending meetings.

  • BB4C is intended to be a launch pad for ongoing, internal race equity efforts within your organization. Once the assessment process has been completed, it will take time for your organization to develop and execute an Implementation Plan and realize change. Any Implementation Plan should include regular evaluation, and BB4C can be used to measure progress over time. However, we recommend using BB4C no more than once every two years to allow time for implementation and change to occur.

  • Yes, Building Movement Project developed BB4C to complement the work of consultants and capacity builders supporting nonprofits by offering survey administration, automated data analysis, custom reports, and wraparound process support materials; while also being adaptable for use by nonprofits directly.

  • Anonymity and privacy is of utmost importance in this process. We do not capture personally identifiable information connected to the BB4C survey, and most findings in the custom report are based on aggregated responses from survey participants. Disaggregated information is only provided when there are more than five responses for a given demographic group in order to prioritize anonymity.

  • We have observed past BB4C participants double down on their organizational commitment to addressing internal inequities and exclusion by:

    • Hiring internal employees to build internal capacity around operationalizing race equity goals

    • Hiring external consultants and capacity builders to facilitate their race equity efforts

    • Used the BB4C process to create an inclusive race equity implementation team

    • Dedicated additional time and resources to RE efforts

  • For more information on what to expect from your custom report, see the Sample Custom Report.

  • Only the BB4C team and your organization will have access to your custom report.

  • The BB4C team will provide:

    • useful materials and resources based on years of testing the tool in the field

    • weekly updates on survey participation rates while your survey is live

    • a custom report that we will share with you, while protecting anonymity of individual survey respondents

    • answers to related questions through the BB4C Help Desk

  • BB4C takes a comprehensive approach to assessing the race equity practices at nonprofit organizations. Rather than auditing an organization’s policies, processes, and procedures, BB4C assesses staff experiences and observations through the lens of four key capacities—Learning, Leadership, Conversation, and Voice—that are fundamental to becoming a racially equitable workplace. Assessment participants have access to the BB4C Dashboard, which houses a robust library of digital materials to help your organization process its report findings, communicate them to the organization, and move to implementation.

  • We do not offer individual consulting or training services for organizations. We recommend that you explore some of our peer organizations’ offerings as a starting point for your efforts. These include Equity in the Center, Racial Equity Tools, Roadmap Consulting, Interaction Institute for Social Change, and other deep equity practitioners.

  • The Building Blocks for Change survey consists of 39 questions and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. Participants can pause and continue the survey as often as they like, so it does not need to be completed in one sitting.

  • The assessment provides an evaluation of the race equity efforts in your organization and insightful recommendations as you decide direction and focus when developing an implementation plan for advancing race equity internally at the organization. Advancing race equity within the organization provides a foundation to more fully incorporate race equity into your organization’s strategic plan, improving outcomes for all stakeholders.

  • The final phase of the BB4C assessment process is “Ongoing Implementation,” which is not so final. This recognizes that race equity efforts are ongoing, open-ended, and oftentimes not linear. While the work you do over time may shift and change, it is important to commit to long-term efforts to become a racially equitable workplace.