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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14 resources found
- Search: nonprofit capacity
- 13.1C168
Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity: Core Concepts in Capacity Building
A primer for grantmakers on supporting grantee capacity. It defines nonprofit effectiveness, capacity and capacity building, and covers trust between funders and grantees, links to funder strategy, grantee and funder readiness, and 5 types of support from unrestricted grants to collective capacity building. It sets out 3 principles: contextual, continuous and collective. Each section ends with questions for grantmakers, and a final section covers measuring impact.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 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 - 13.1C167
Capacity Building 3.0: How to Strengthen the Social Ecosystem
A paper that proposes a new way to talk about capacity building, drawing on TCC Group's 35 years of designing and evaluating capacity-building work. It has 4 sections: core concepts and definitions of capacity and capacity building; who needs to build capacity; how the idea of capacity has changed, leading to an organisational actualisation framework; and newer methods used in effective capacity building. Funders and consultants use it to frame their approach.
ClassicResearch and evidenceFree - 1.2C002
A Guide to Organizational Capacity Assessment Tools
A memo for funders, consultants and nonprofits on choosing and using organisational capacity assessment tools. Informing Change reviewed 91 assessment tools, checklists and guides for the Hewlett Foundation. Sections cover methodology, what a good assessment experience looks like, cross-cutting lessons, how to select a tool and specific situations for using one. A companion spreadsheet database lists the tools. Its main finding is that the process around a tool matters as much as the tool.
ClassicKey online resourceFree - 1.2C003
Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool
A self-assessment spreadsheet that nonprofits complete to rate their own capacity. Developed by the Marguerite Casey Foundation from The Conservation Company's Capacity Assessment Grid, it covers 4 areas: leadership, adaptive, management and operational capacity. It includes instructions for filling it in and a scoring calculation, so organisations can benchmark progress over time. Grantmakers also use the results to understand grantee capacity and track its growth during a grant.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 1.2C004
Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (OCAT)
A survey-based capacity assessment that a nonprofit's leaders complete to rate the organisation across a set of capacity areas, producing scores that show strengths and gaps. Social Venture Partners and other funders use it to open a conversation with grantees about where to invest in capacity. Social Venture Partners International hosts version 1 as a free Excel workbook.
ClassicTool or templateFree - 9.1C114
The Role of Brand in the Nonprofit Sector
An article from the Spring 2012 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review for nonprofit leaders, communicators and funders. The authors observe that many nonprofits still use their brand mainly for fundraising. They describe a shift toward using brand to pursue long-term social goals and to build internal identity, cohesion and capacity. They set out the brand IDEA framework: brand integrity, brand democracy, brand ethics and brand affinity. Readers use it to rethink the job of a brand.
ClassicShort readFree with sign-up - 6.4C082
Resiliency Guide
A discussion and self-assessment guide that helps funders and nonprofits talk openly about the pressures nonprofits face and reflect on organisational strengths and weak spots. First developed in 2014, it has gone through several versions and draws on the 2020 study Resilience at Work. Grantmakers use it to decide where, when and how to invest in capacity building, and grantees use it with their funders.
Start hereCurrentTool or templateFree - 7.3C095
Organizational Learning Self-Assessment Tool
An 18-question self-assessment that nonprofits and grantmakers use to gauge their learning culture in 5 to 10 minutes. Items are rated 1 to 5 across 3 areas: organisational habits and behaviours, leadership and strategic direction, and capacity and resources. Each area suggests 5, 15 or 30 minute actions and further resources. Teams use it to start a discussion, and can share it with funders or partners.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 1.2C008
Bridgespan Organizational Effectiveness Framework survey
An online team survey on Org360 that runs a Bridgespan-based organisational assessment for nonprofits. It has 85 questions and takes about 34 minutes. Areas include strategic clarity, governance, financial sustainability, and diversity, equity and inclusion, with rating questions and open reflection questions. Leaders, board members and staff respond, and Org360 produces an automatic report with strengths, gaps and a development plan. It is free to use after sign-up.
Start hereEmergingTool or templateFree with sign-upNonprofit Builder tool - 13.2C171
Pay-What-It-Takes Philanthropy
An article that argues funders should pay the real costs of the work they fund, in place of the common 15 percent cap on overhead. The Bridgespan authors show that indirect costs at 20 high-performing nonprofits ranged from 21 to 89 percent of direct costs, with a median of 40 percent. They describe the starvation cycle, show how cost structures differ by type of nonprofit, and propose reimbursing costs by segment.
ClassicShort readFree with sign-up - 4.4C056
Effective Delegation Process and Worksheet
A short guide and worksheet for managers who hand off work. It sets out 3 steps: agree on expectations using the 5 Ws and roles such as MOCHA, stay engaged through check-ins and reviews of work in progress, and debrief to share feedback and lessons. It explains how to adjust involvement to the person's skill and capacity and the task's stakes. The worksheet follows the 3 steps and comes as a Google Doc or Word file.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 13.3C177
The Effective Exit: Managing the End of a Funding Relationship
A practical guide for grantmakers on ending a funding relationship well. 6 sections cover why exits are normal, communicating clearly with grantees, strengthening grantees' organisational capacity, helping them find new funding, getting the most from the final grant, and exits that are not routine. It includes exit strategies from 4 grantmakers and a sample Healthy Nonprofit Checklist from the New York Foundation.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 13.3C178
When Shift Happens: Navigating Toward a Framework for Responsible Philanthropic Exits
A journal article that sets out a framework for responsible exits when a foundation stops funding a field or grantee. Learning leaders from the Skillman Foundation, the California Health Care Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts drew on literature, focus groups, interviews with foundation staff and nonprofit leaders, and their own experience. The result is 7 core elements meant to keep a field resilient after funding ends.
EmergingResearch and evidenceFree
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