Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3821-7363; https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6941-8943; https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2674-4337
Document Type
Doctor of Education Capstone
Original Publication Date
2026
Location
Richmond, Virginia
Date of Submission
April 2026
Abstract
Single parent families and the costs associated with child care are on the rise. The burden of single parenthood and child care costs is not limited to financial strain; emotional and psychological stressors create an additional “burden of care” (Ha et al., 2015) that is a significant factor in single-parent households. The capstone project team worked with a Virginia-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting middle income single parent families experiencing an undue burden of financial hardship amid rising child care costs. The capstone project team used an improvement science approach (Hinnant-Crawford, 2020), parallel convergent mixed methods, design, and the organizational life cycle theory to explore targeted funding and programming capacity building strategies that would enable the Foundation’s leaders to establish a foundation for success across the interconnected domains of governance, leadership, and operations. This capstone project concludes that the Foundation should take specific actions to advance from the adolescent to mature life cycle stage, and increase capacity in leadership development, fund development, and program infrastructure in order to sustain and scale and remain aligned with their organizational mission. This capstone project contributes to broader understanding of how small and emerging nonprofit organizations can leverage life cycle assessment insights, research-based funding sustainability and program scaling practices, and center local client voices to expand community impact.
Rights
© The Authors
Included in
Educational Leadership Commons, Nonprofit Studies Commons, Organization Development Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons