> This is the Markdown of a Backed Help Centre page, https://admin.backed.giving/help/administrator/assessments/capacity-assessments.md. Every page is listed at https://admin.backed.giving/help/llms.txt.

> This page uses Backed's default terms, such as Funding Round and Application Template. An organisation may rename them, so read each as your organisation's own term if you've renamed it.

A capacity assessment rates an organisation that applies to you, such as a sub-grantee, on its
governance, finances and other capacity. Two people score it on their own: a staff scorer and the
portfolio lead. Neither sees the other's scores until both have submitted. Backed then shows the two
side by side, flags each question where they differ by too much, and the portfolio lead reconciles
them into one score per question and a rating.

A capacity assessment is for an applicant registered as an organisation. An individual can't be
assessed.

## Before you start

- You need a capacity template: an Assessment template marked `Capacity assessment`, with at least
  one scored question. See [Set up a capacity template](#set-up-a-capacity-template).
- To start an assessment you need permission to manage assessments. To see an organisation's
  `Capacity` tab you need permission to view applicants.

## Set up a capacity template

1. Go to `Plan > Form templates`, open the `Assessments` tab and build the form as any assessment
   form, scoring each question. See [Assessment templates](assessment-templates.md).
2. Open the template with `View`. Under `Capacity assessment`, tick `Capacity assessment`.
3. Set the `Divergence threshold (% of a criterion's maximum)`. A question is flagged when the two
   scores differ by more than this share of its highest score. The default is 20 %, so on a
   question scored out of 10 a difference of more than 2 is flagged.
4. Add the `Rating bands`. Each band has a `Label` and `From (% of the total)`. The first band
   starts at 0 % and each band starts above the one before, for example `Developing` from 0,
   `Established` from 50 and `Strong` from 80.
5. Select `Save capacity settings`.

A capacity template is offered only when you start a capacity assessment. An assessment round
can't use one: it never appears on the round's `Template` step, and a round whose form is marked
`Capacity assessment` later can't be saved or published until you choose another form.

Once a capacity assessment uses the template, its threshold, bands and `Capacity assessment` tick
can't change, and its scored questions can't be deleted. Duplicate the template to change them.

## Start a capacity assessment

1. Go to `Applications > Applicants` and open the organisation's record.
2. Open the `Capacity` tab and select `Start capacity assessment`.
3. Choose the `Capacity template`. Every capacity template with a scored question is listed.
4. Choose the `Staff scorer` and the `Portfolio lead`. Each list shows the first 20 administrators
   by name; to find someone else, type part of their name or email address in `Find a staff scorer`
   or `Find a portfolio lead`. Both must be administrators of your organisation, and they must be
   two different people.
5. Select `Start`.

Each scorer gets a `Score a capacity assessment` task under `My Tasks` that opens the assessment.

## Score as a named scorer

1. Open the task, or the assessment from the organisation's `Capacity` tab.
2. Under `Your scores`, give each question a `Score`, from 0 to its highest score, and an optional
   `Note`.
3. Select `Save` to keep your scores and come back later. A score you clear is removed when you
   save.
4. Select `Submit`, then `Submit scores`. Every question needs a score first: `Submit` names any
   question still blank.

Scores are final once submitted. You can see your own scores at any time, but nothing of the other
scorer's scores, notes or total until both of you have submitted. Anyone else who opens the
assessment sees only whether each scorer has submitted.

## Compare the scores

Once both have submitted, the assessment is `Scored` and shows the two sets of scores side by side:
each question with the staff scorer's score and note, the portfolio lead's, and the difference.
A question whose scores differ by more than the threshold is flagged `Divergent`.

## Reconcile

The portfolio lead, or an administrator who may manage assessments, reconciles the assessment.

1. Under `Reconcile`, enter the `Reconciled score` for each question.
2. Give a `Reason` for each question flagged `Divergent`. A reconcile without one is refused.
3. Select `Reconcile`.

Backed adds up the reconciled scores, with each question's weight, and gives the total the rating
of the band it falls in.

## The rating and the trail

The organisation's `Capacity` tab lists each assessment, newest first, with its template, scorers,
the date it started, its status (`Open`, `Scored` or `Reconciled`) and its rating.

A reconciled assessment is read-only. It shows both independent scores, the flags, the reconciled
scores and their reasons, the total and the rating with its band, and a `Trail`: who started it and
when, when each scorer submitted, and who reconciled it and when.

## See also

- [Assessment templates](assessment-templates.md)
- [Applicants](../registrations/applicants.md)