Growth of Youth-Serving Organizations
A free study by Bridgespan, commissioned by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, of 20 US youth-serving nonprofits that grew substantially. It looks at how they grew, what growth did to their finances, how their structures changed, including adding a chief operating officer, more formal systems and new board roles, and what helped or held them back. It comes as a white paper, executive summary and 20 case studies that leaders and funders use to plan for growth.
Keywords
How to cite
The Bridgespan Group (2005). Growth of Youth-Serving Organizations. https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/growth-of-youth-serving-organizations
Related in the library
- 1.5C214
Nonprofit Lifecycles
A short book that sets out seven stages a nonprofit can pass through: idea, start-up, growth, maturity, decline, turnaround and terminal. For each stage it describes what programmes, management, governance, resources and systems typically look like. Leaders, boards, funders and consultants use it to place an organisation on the curve, spot the area that lags behind the others and plan capacity work that fits the stage. Copies are sold through the Nonprofit Lifecycles Institute and partners such as SaskCulture.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideBook - 1.5C216
Creating the COO Position
A free Bridgespan article on when and why nonprofits add a chief operating officer, drawn from a survey of COOs and interviews with COOs and executive directors. It covers the usual triggers, such as a chief executive stretched by a growing staff or a growth plan to deliver, the worries executive directors have about sharing control, and how organisations managed the transition. It links to Bridgespan's wider set of COO resources, including sample job descriptions.
CurrentShort readFree - 1.5C218
Designing and Filling New Positions
A free Bridgespan toolkit for nonprofits that need new or changed roles to deliver a new strategy or growth plan. It sets out five steps: define what the strategy requires, find the capability gaps, design new and modified positions, assess internal candidates and fill the roles. It includes a position profile template, a skills assessment spreadsheet and a case study of a youth nonprofit that added a deputy director and an expansion manager as it grew.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 1.5C219
Scaling Up
Verne Harnish's book on growing an organisation through the stages from a few people to hundreds. It's built around 4 decisions every growing organisation has to get right: people, strategy, execution and cash. It comes with one-page worksheets, including the One-Page Strategic Plan, and routines such as daily and weekly meeting rhythms and priorities. Written for companies, it's widely used by nonprofit leadership teams that are growing fast.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 1.5C226
Good to Great
Jim Collins's study of companies that moved from good results to great ones and stayed there. It introduces ideas many nonprofit leaders now use: level 5 leadership, first who then what, confronting the brutal facts, the hedgehog concept and the flywheel. Collins's website offers free tools to go with it, including a diagnostic tool, a discussion guide and a vision framework.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 1.3C010
How to Build an Organisational Development Plan
A toolkit for Indian NGOs and their funders that takes an organisation from diagnosis to an OD plan. The plan document walks users through 4 steps to find where the NGO falls short and plan improvements. A companion Organisational Development Assessment Guide covers 13 capabilities and helps teams choose a short list to work on first. Bridgespan built it with 5 Indian intermediaries as part of Pay-What-It-Takes India. It is licensed CC BY 4.0.
Start hereCurrentTool or templateFree
Related project ideas
Get expert help with organisational assessment and development
Consulting and coaching projects built from 600+ real projects. Pick one, add your needs and hear from vetted consultants.
Organisational capacity assessment
“You are growing or about to launch a new strategy — but you have no honest picture of whether your systems, structures, and people are ready for it.”See project
Organisational design & restructuring
“Your structure is creating bottlenecks and duplicating effort — nobody is sure who is accountable for what, and the organisation is holding itself back.”See project
All 9 Organisational development project ideas
Work with a consultant or coach
Nonprofit Builder members can browse vetted consultants and coaches who work on organisational assessment and development, and invite them to a project.
Suggestion box
Something to fix or add here?
Know a better resource on this subject, found a broken link, or spotted a mistake in this record? Tell us.
About C215 Growth of Youth-Serving Organizations
A person reads every message. A title, a link or a few words is enough.