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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9 resources found
- Search: fundraising guide
- 8.1C202
Fundraising for Success
A short guide from INTRAC's Common Ground Initiative for small and diaspora NGOs that have little time, staff or fundraising experience. It explains why fundraising needs a strategy, and how a small organisation can plan where its money will come from, who will raise it and how. It is part of a series of guides for small NGOs that includes one on governance.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 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 - 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 - 8.2C106
Financial Management for Humanitarian and Development Professionals Guide
A free guide to the basics of financial management for projects in development, humanitarian and conservation work. It is written for staff who are not finance specialists, such as project managers and programme leads. It links to an optional certification exam in English and Spanish. The guide is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 licence, so teams can adapt and reuse it for internal training.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 8.2C108
Internal financial controls for charities
Regulator guidance for charity trustees on the internal controls that protect funds and assets from fraud and loss. It explains how controls help trustees meet their legal duties, manage financial risk and keep proper accounting records. The page has 3 parts: the CC8 guidance, a separate page on protecting a charity from fraud, and a downloadable checklist that trustees and finance staff use to test their own controls.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 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 - 8.4C110
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 - 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 - 15.3C198
The Matrix Map
An article setting out a 4-step method for judging programmes and fundraising activities on both mission impact and profitability. Teams list every business line, score impact on a 1 to 4 scale, work out whether each line makes a surplus or needs a subsidy, then plot the results on a grid. The 4 quadrants, Stars, Hearts, Money Trees and Stop Signs, guide what to grow, contain, nurture or close.
ClassicTool or templateFree
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