Resource library · free toolkits, templates and guides
The practical library for people who build nonprofits
211 really practical toolkits, templates and guides for nonprofit and NGO leaders, and the consultants and funders who support them. A mix of the classics and newer methods.
Suggestions are welcome211 resources · 15 topics · 137 publishers · 197 free to use
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8 resources found
- Search: budgeting
- 8.2C200
A Budgeting Guide for NGOs
A free guide to budgeting for NGO managers and finance staff. It sets out a plan, do and review cycle for building and running a budget, a checklist for monitoring spending against the budget during the year, and tips from experienced NGO finance professionals. Managers use it to prepare annual and project budgets and to keep them on track.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree with sign-up - 8.4C110
Full Cost Resources
A free collection of Nonprofit Finance Fund materials on the full cost of running a nonprofit. It contains the Full Cost Framework, 3 practices for getting started and building a full cost budget, a page on the 6 full cost areas, a short video series, and the Full Cost Communication Guide. The guide gives tips and sample scenarios for conversations between nonprofits and funders about grant terms.
Start hereCurrentTool or templateFree - 8.4C111
True Program Costs
A free guide and editable Excel template for working out the real cost of each programme. It follows 11 steps, from defining programmes and setting up cost centres to allocating salaries, direct costs, administration and fundraising, then reviewing the whole. An allocation methods chart helps teams choose bases such as staff time, floor space or client numbers. Leaders use the results to price services and see which programmes need subsidy.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 8.2C107
StrongNonprofits Toolkit
A free set of financial management tools for nonprofit finance staff and leaders. It is organised by topic: budgeting, navigating uncertainty, cash flow, operations, data and analysis, audit readiness, and governance and strategy. Downloads include a financial risk self-assessment, an equity in financial management self-assessment, a financial infrastructure self-assessment and a fiscal management activities calendar in Excel. Short videos from BDO explain equity in the finance function.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 8.2C199
Financial Health Check Assessment Tool
A free self-assessment for small and medium NGOs, first published by Mango as Mango's Health Check and now kept by Humentum. Any staff member or trustee can complete it without finance training. It scores the organisation on 6 areas: planning and budgeting, basic accounting systems, internal controls, staffing, grant management and financial reporting. The result is a score with recommendations and a glossary of financial terms.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 8.4C109
The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle
A short article on why nonprofits underfund overhead such as IT, finance systems, training and fundraising. It describes a 3-stage cycle: funders expect low overhead, nonprofits feel pressure to match, then underspend and underreport their costs. It cites data on real versus reported overhead rates. Closing sections set out what funders can do, such as general operating support, and what nonprofit leaders and boards can do.
ClassicShort readFree - 8.1C104
Fundraising for Social Change
A 496-page how-to handbook for small and mid-sized nonprofits that want to build a broad base of individual donors, written with racial, economic and climate justice groups in mind. It covers fundraising infrastructure, hiring a development director, working with consultants and coaches, budgeting and planning, and handling financial trouble. Spotlight sections carry reflections from working fundraisers. Teachers get a free instructor's manual and online extras.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideBook - 15.3C195
Developing a Financing Strategy
A CIVICUS toolkit for civil society organisations that have not yet written a financing strategy. It explains why one is needed and what must be in place first: planning, budgeting, financial systems, public image and clear values. It then sets out the options: donor funding, earned income, member fees, public fundraising, investments and careful spending. It ends with ideas for writing the strategy document and putting it into practice.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree
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