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The collapse of state cooperatives following livestock privatization in early 90s created an institutional gap for rangeland management in Mongolia. State-owned pastures have been experiencing increasing grazing pressures as the number of private livestock almost doubled since 1992. In the absence of strong rangeland institutions, both humans and ecosystems become more vulnerable to climate extremes in the forms of dzud (severe winter weather) and drought, and economic shocks like sharp falls of prices. The government together with donors responded to the problem by facilitating formation of community-based range management (CBRM) groups that sought to empower local resource users. By 2007, 14 different donor organizations had supported formation of over 2000 such community groups with the goals of effective resource management and livelihood improvement. However, donors support and guidance of these groups varied in duration, facilitation strategies, financing, and group size and composition. This research examines how donor support strategies influenced socio-economic outcomes of formal CBRM groups. We studied 78 formal CBRM groups in 18 soums (counties) in ten Mongolian provinces, which were supported by 4 different donors. The comparative analysis of four major donors focuses on how differences in institutional design affected outcome variables such as perceived changes in range condition, livelihoods, level of cooperation, traditional and innovative range management practices, leadership and trust within a CBRM institution, its ability to learn and to integrate knowledge into practices. These analyses will help identify institutional design elements associated with positive rangeland and socio-economic outcomes. Our findings may benefit policies for capacity building of CBRM groups and for the design of rangeland management institutions in Mongolia.