Topic 11 of 15 · Risk, safety and safeguarding
Nonprofit risk management, security and safeguarding
Free nonprofit risk management, safeguarding policy and security guides for nonprofits, NGOs and human rights defenders.
- 14 resources
- 14 free
- 4 tools and templates
- 3 sub-topics
Risk is where small gaps cause big harm. A missing safeguarding policy, a team in a hostile area with no security plan, a board that's never discussed risk appetite.
This shelf covers security for staff and human rights defenders, safeguarding children and adults (including sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment), and managing organisational risk in a way your board can use.
You need this shelf if
- You work with children or vulnerable adults
- Your staff or partners face threats because of their work
- You don't have a risk register, or it hasn't been updated in a year
- A funder has asked for your safeguarding policy
Key questions for leaders
- What are the 5 biggest risks to your organisation, and who owns each one? Charities and risk management (CC26) →
- How much risk is your board willing to take, and has it said so? Risk Appetite Statements: A guide for NGOs →
- Do you have a safeguarding policy that staff know and use? Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH) →
- How would someone report abuse or harassment, and what would happen next? PSEAH Implementation Quick Reference Handbook →
- Do staff and partners in risky places have a security plan that covers wellbeing and digital threats? Holistic Security: A Strategy Manual for Human Rights Defenders →
What's on the shelf
11.1 Security risk management
- 11.1C141
Holistic Security: A Strategy Manual for Human Rights Defenders
A strategy manual that helps human rights defenders plan for their security and well-being. It joins self-care, digital security and information security with traditional security management. The online version has 4 sections that form a cycle: Prepare, Explore, Strategise and Act. Chapters cover context and threat analysis, security plans, organisational security and protests. Exercises, further reading and a separate Trainers' Manual support group workshops.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 11.1C142
Protection Manual for Human Rights Defenders
A manual from Protection International that gives human rights defenders knowledge and tools for security and protection. It sets out a method for defenders to assess their own risk and to define security rules and procedures that fit their situation. The content draws on more than 25 years of staff experience and has been tested in protection work and training workshops. Trainers use it to run security and protection courses.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 11.1C143
Workbook on Security: Practical Steps for Human Rights Defenders at Risk
A workbook that guides human rights defenders through writing a security plan for themselves and, where relevant, their organisation. Its 6 chapters cover introduction, assessing risk, analysing threats, wellbeing, creating security plans and context. 17 appendices give practical material on topics such as SWOT analysis, office and home security, detention and arrest, travel, computer and phone security, and surveillance. Defenders work through it alone or in groups.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 11.1C144
Good Practice Review 8: Humanitarian Security Risk Management
The 3rd edition of a widely used reference on security risk management for humanitarian organisations. Practitioner experts revised it over 3 years. Its 7 chapters cover foundations, ecosystems, organisational and operational elements, people, technology, and specific threats. The 2025 edition adds a person-centred approach, the security burden on national and local actors, partnership security, access and deconfliction, and digital risks such as disinformation and surveillance. Security managers use it to design policies and plans.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 11.1C145
Security to go: a risk management toolkit for humanitarian aid agencies
A toolkit for staff who are not security specialists and need to set up basic safety and security systems in a new context or a sudden emergency. Modules are grouped into planning and preparedness, response, and support services. Topics include actor mapping, risk assessment, digital security, security plans, facility security, communications, travel safety, medical evacuation and private security providers. It contains a risk rating matrix, a security plan template, sample SOPs, checklists and a glossary.
CurrentTool or templateFree
11.2 Safeguarding and PSEAH
- 11.2C151
Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH)
A free online hub that helps humanitarian and development organisations, and smaller civil society organisations in particular, strengthen safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. It lists over 1,300 resources, including tools, guidance, training material and how-to notes, plus 140 consultants. National hubs serve 12 countries in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Content is in 18 languages and follows the CAPSEAH framework.
Start hereCurrentKey online resourceFree - 11.2C146
Developing child safeguarding policy and procedures
A facilitator's guide for workshops that help organisations write or strengthen a child safeguarding policy and procedures. 4 sessions cover risk and mitigation, drafting or strengthening a policy, implementation, and roles and responsibilities. Exercises include a risk assessment, a SWOT analysis, a self-assessment against the Keeping Children Safe Standards, designing a reporting procedure and mapping local resources. An appendix gives notes on planning and running a learning event.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 11.2C147
The International Child Safeguarding Standards
A set of 4 standards that describe what an organisation needs in place to protect children from harm caused by its staff, activities, operations and partners. The standards cover policy, people, procedures and accountability, and list requirements under each. 5 guiding principles frame them, including shared responsibility and the best interests of the child. Organisations, donors and auditors use them to build and check safeguarding policies.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 11.2C148
Misconduct Disclosure Scheme
An inter-agency scheme that lets aid employers share information on past substantiated cases of sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment when they check job candidates. It covers people with completed or ongoing disciplinary processes, beyond police records. Launched in 2019, it had more than 260 member organisations by March 2024, from INGOs and national NGOs to UN agencies. Between 2019 and 2023, over 137,000 checks led to 385 applications being rejected.
CurrentKey online resourceFree - 11.2C149
PSEAH Implementation Quick Reference Handbook
A quick reference handbook on putting protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (PSEAH) in place in an organisation or project. It is meant for organisations starting this work and for those checking their practice against current good practice. Each chapter includes a case study on how a specific organisation tackled the topic. The full text downloads from CHS Alliance via the Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub page.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 11.2C150
Safeguarding & participatory grant-making: An essential guide for funders
A guide for funders on building safeguarding into participatory grant-making. It walks through planning, delivery and review, with the aim of protecting the community members who make funding decisions from harm. It includes a handout, Questions for decision makers to funders, which decision makers can use to ask whether a funder has planned for their safety. Foundation staff use it when designing or reviewing a participatory process.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 11.2C152
Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) risk assessment tool
An Excel tool that helps organisations identify and reduce risks of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in their work. It covers internal systems, work with communities, contractors, suppliers and partners, and programmes delivered in communities. Users identify where risks exist, what causes them and what they look like, then plan steps to reduce and monitor them. Versions exist for global use and for Bangladesh, Jordan, Pakistan and Syria.
EmergingTool or templateFree
11.3 Risk and crisis management
- 11.3C153
Charities and risk management (CC26)
Guidance from the charity regulator for England and Wales on how trustees identify, assess and manage risks to their charity. It defines a risk as any event that could stop a charity achieving its aims or carrying out its strategies, with examples such as reputational damage, lost funding, poor investments and policy changes. Trustees use it to set up and review a risk register and to report on risk in their accounts.
Start hereCurrentKey manual or guideFree - 11.3C154
Risk Appetite Statements: A guide for NGOs
A guide that explains what a risk appetite statement is, why it is useful and how an NGO can develop one. It focuses on security risk and shows how security risk management fits into organisation-wide enterprise risk management. Chapters cover the strategic value of a statement, its role in governance and accountability, and practical steps for putting it in place. It is written for security practitioners, senior leaders and boards.
EmergingKey manual or guideFree
Related project ideas
Get expert help with risk, safety and safeguarding
Consulting and coaching projects built from 600+ real projects. Pick one, add your needs and hear from vetted consultants.
Safeguarding risk assessment & mitigation planning
“You know safeguarding risks exist in your programmes and operations, but you have never systematically identified them or worked out how they should be mitigated.”See project
Child & vulnerable adult staff training
“Staff interact with children or vulnerable adults every day but have had no formal training — they wouldn't know how to recognise a concern, let alone what to do about it.”See project
All 8 Safeguarding project ideas
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