Resource library · free toolkits, templates and guides
The practical library for people who build nonprofits
227 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 welcome227 resources · 15 topics · 145 publishers · 210 free to use
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7 resources found
- Search: nonprofit operations
- 14.1C240
Nonprofit Management 101
Edited by Darian Rodriguez Heyman and Laila Brenner, this guide gathers advice from dozens of sector practitioners into one book on running a nonprofit. It covers the whole job: starting an organisation, strategy, boards and governance, fundraising, financial management, marketing and communications, staff and volunteers, and technology. Written for leaders new to the sector and for experienced managers who want to see how the pieces fit together.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 5.1C064
Human Resources (HR) Toolkit for Small and Medium Nonprofit Actors
A 32-page toolkit for small and medium nonprofit, humanitarian and development organisations that want a formal system for managing people. It offers guidance, tips and checklists for writing or strengthening HR policies, plus a set of questions to review an existing HR framework, find gaps and set priority actions. It is written for HR staff, programme and operations teams, and finance and admin managers who handle basic HR.
Start hereCurrentTool or templateFree - 2.1C016
Scenario Planning for Nonprofits
A worksheet toolkit that helps nonprofit leaders plan under uncertainty. Teams first agree guiding principles, then work through 4 steps: identify key drivers of programmes, operations and funding at risk; build best, moderate and worst-case scenarios and model their effect on revenue; create a portfolio of actions with costs or savings; and set measurable trigger points that tell them when to act. Leadership teams fill it in together.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 4.4C059
Nonprofit Chief Operating Officer (COO) Resource Center
A Bridgespan hub of articles and samples on the nonprofit COO role, grouped in 3 parts. Becoming a COO covers FAQs and finding the right post. Being a COO covers running operations, CEO-COO partnership conversations, sources of support and the move to chief executive. Hiring a COO covers creating the position, finding candidates, role structures from the field and 3 sample job descriptions. Boards, CEOs and aspiring COOs use it.
EmergingKey online resourceFree - 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 - 12.3C162
Choosing Your AI Path: A Framework for Nonprofit Leaders to Make Strategic Choices
An article and framework that help nonprofit leaders decide how to use AI. It sorts choices into 3 dimensions: augment internal operations, advance mission and programmes, and advocate on AI governance and policy. Each dimension has field examples, strategy elements and low-cost no-regrets actions. A section sets out what institutional funders can do for grantees. Companion worksheets help teams apply the framework.
EmergingKey manual or guideFree - 5.4C239
The Future Is Collective
A practical guide by Niloufar Khonsari for nonprofit and social justice leaders who want their workplace to reflect their values. It shows how to decentralise power and set up collective governance, build transparency, equity and mutual care into daily operations, and explain structural changes to funders. It also covers everyday conflict, difficult team dynamics and job terminations, handled with a compassionate, justice-centred approach.
CurrentKey manual or guideBook
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