There is great diversity among the CSOs working in the Pacific region: from small, volunteer-based organisations working in villages on remote outer islands to national level umbrella organisations representing a wide range of NGOs in urban capitals. In a region that is home to many culturally and linguistically diverse communities, CSOs face very different contextual realities in the sub-regions of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to capacity development would be entirely inappropriate, given such diversity. For this reason, we have developed and tested our approach with different types of CSOs in countries from each of the sub-regions, namely the Marshall Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.The approach that has emerged from this process recognises various dimensions of CSO capacity and the fact that CSOs are likely to be at different stages along a spectrum of change and growth. Determining their needs for capacity development should be based on a shared understanding of where a specific CSO is on this journey and in which direction it would like to go.