What Rural Community Assistance Partnership does

RCAP (Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc.) is a U.S. national nonprofit network founded in 1974 that delivers free technical assistance, training, and capacity-building services to small, rural, and tribal communities across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization addresses water and wastewater infrastructure challenges, working to improve access to safe drinking water and adequate wastewater treatment for communities that lack the technical expertise, managerial capacity, and financial resources to maintain their systems. In 2025, RCAP served 4.1 million rural and tribal residents across 2,622 communities, conducted 567 trainings reaching 11,565 attendees and 8,189 systems, and helped communities leverage $397.4 million in infrastructure funding.

Service delivery is human-led and routed through a federation of six regional nonprofit partners — Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), Midwest Assistance Program (MAP), Communities Unlimited, RCAP Solutions, GLCAP, and SERCAP — collectively deploying 350+ technical assistance providers with on-the-ground local expertise. The organization does not offer a software platform; instead, technology functions as an enablement layer, including the proprietary 'Drop of Knowledge' content library (weekly-updated training videos and guidebooks), the 'Rural Matters' publication, the 'Managerial and Financial Hub' for small water systems, and GIS mapping capabilities used for community infrastructure planning. CEO Olga Morales-Pate has led the organization since October 2022, bringing 19 years of prior experience from RCAC.

RCAP's business model is grant-funded rather than fee-for-service: services are provided at no cost to qualifying communities, and operations are financed through federal grants (predominantly EPA), private foundation grants (e.g., Global Water Challenge), and donations processed via Stripe. Approximately $31.75 million in grants were awarded in 2025, including $14.6M and $17M from the EPA for rural water and tribal wastewater technical assistance respectively. The organization is pursuing adjacent growth vectors including alternative financing channels (a CoBank leasing partnership launched January 2026) and sector-level infrastructure consolidation policy (a Regionalization White Paper jointly released with NRWA in March 2026).

Name

Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Legal name

Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc.

Website

https://rcap.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

RCAP is a U.S. nonprofit network founded in 1974 that delivers free technical assistance and training for water and wastewater infrastructure to small, rural, and tribal communities across all 50 states and U.S. territories through six regional partners serving 2,622 communities annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Grants and Contracts: RCAP receives significant funding from federal agencies including EPA grants for technical assistance to small and rural water systems. The organization was awarded $14.6 million from EPA to expand technical assistance and $17 million from EPA to strengthen rural and tribal wastewater systems.
2. Private Foundation Grants: RCAP receives grants from foundations such as the Global Water Challenge ($150,000 grant to strengthen rural water leadership and resilience).
3. Donations: The organization accepts donations through its website, processed via Stripe PCI-DSS compliant payment system.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RCAP is a national nonprofit network of six regional partner organizations that delivers free technical assistance, training, and capacity-building services to small and rural communities across the United States. The organization supports water and wastewater infrastructure, managerial and financial capability, and access to federal infrastructure funding through more than 350 on-the-ground technical assistance providers.

Product overview

RCAP is a national nonprofit network that provides technical assistance, training, and capacity building services to rural communities across the United States. RCAP does not offer a software product or technology platform but rather delivers human-delivered consulting services through a network of over 350 technical assistance providers across regional partners. Services include water and wastewater technical assistance, community and economic development support, managerial and financial training, and special initiatives such as Agua4All and regionalization programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water and Wastewater Technical Assistance

Quantifiable outcome

• $397.4 million in infrastructure funding leveraged by communities with RCAP assistance
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• National Rural Water Association (NRWA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026NRWA and RCAP jointly released a Regionalization White Paper in March 2026 to address infrastructure challenges in rural communities through regional partnerships and consolidation of water systems.
• CoBankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2026RCAP partnered with CoBank on a leasing program for rural water systems, providing alternative financing options for infrastructure improvements.
• Global Water ChallengecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2025RCAP was awarded a $150,000 grant from Global Water Challenge to strengthen rural water leadership and resilience through training and capacity building programs.
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2025RCAP was awarded $14.6 million from EPA to expand technical assistance for small and rural water systems, helping communities improve water infrastructure and access to safe drinking water.
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2025RCAP received $17 million from EPA to strengthen rural and tribal wastewater systems, supporting infrastructure improvements and technical capacity.
• Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRCAC serves as the Western RCAP, providing technical assistance to communities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. RCAC is one of six regional partner organizations in the RCAP network.
• Midwest Assistance Program, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMAP serves as the Midwest RCAP, providing technical assistance to communities in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
• Communities UnlimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCU serves as the Southern RCAP, providing technical assistance to communities in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
• RCAP SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRSOL serves as the Northeastern and Caribbean RCAP, providing technical assistance to communities in all six New England States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGLCAP serves as the Great Lakes RCAP, providing technical assistance to communities in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
• Southeast Rural Community Assistance Partnership (SERCAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSERCAP serves as the Southeastern RCAP, providing technical assistance to communities in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Southeast Rural Community Assistance Partnership (SERCAP): An RCAP regional partner organization providing direct water and wastewater technical assistance to rural communities across seven Southeastern states. Functionally, SERCAP is an extension of RCAP's network and serves identical end customers.
• Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC): RCAC is both a regional RCAP partner and an independent nonprofit lender providing infrastructure financing and technical assistance to rural communities across 13 Western states and Pacific islands. It is comparable in mission and target market, though it adds direct lending capabilities that RCAP lacks.
• National Rural Water Association: The most direct peer to RCAP, NRWA is a national nonprofit federation of state rural water associations providing training, technical assistance, and advocacy to rural water systems. RCAP and NRWA jointly released the 2026 Regionalization White Paper, indicating parallel missions and overlapping member communities.
• Environmental Finance Center Network: A network of university-based centers providing training and technical assistance on water and wastewater infrastructure financing to underserved communities. RCAP's Environmental Finance Center Program places it in direct collaboration with this peer network.

Emerging players

• Groundwater Foundation: A nonprofit focused on groundwater education, protection, and advocacy. It overlaps with RCAP in addressing water-quality issues affecting rural communities but focuses more on education and awareness than on infrastructure technical assistance.
• WaterNow Alliance: A nonprofit network of water utility leaders focused on sustainable, integrated water management. It overlaps with RCAP in serving small water systems but emphasizes urban-suburban collaborative approaches and policy rather than rural technical assistance.
• DigDeep: A nonprofit working to close the water access gap in the United States, particularly in rural and tribal communities without running water. It addresses the same end-customer pain points as RCAP but focuses on household-level access rather than utility system capacity.

Others

• Clean Water State Revolving Fund Programs: EPA-administered state revolving funds that finance water infrastructure improvements. They are comparable as funders of the same rural water projects RCAP supports, though they are government financing vehicles rather than service providers.

Broad incumbents

• WaterAid America: An international nonprofit focused on water access and sanitation in low-income and rural communities globally. Comparable mission around clean water access, though its geographic focus extends far beyond RCAP's U.S.-only mandate.
• US Water Alliance: A national nonprofit policy organization advancing sustainable water policy and equitable water access. It is comparable as a broad water-sector advocacy and convening body, though it focuses more on policy and urban-equity issues than RCAP's rural technical assistance mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/RCAPInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rural-community-assistance-partnership
• Xx.com/RCAPInc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rural Community Assistance Partnership