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.

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211 resources · 15 topics · 137 publishers · 197 free to use

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5 resources found

  • Search: nonprofit succession
  • 4.3C050

    Building Leaderful Organizations

    Volume 6 of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Executive Transition Monograph Series, written for nonprofit executives and boards. It sets out 3 approaches to succession planning: strategic leader development, emergency succession planning and departure-defined succession planning. A section on the tough issues covers common sticking points, and a resource list closes the guide. Boards and executives use it as a framework to start succession planning and to spread leadership across staff.

    Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree
  • 4.3C053

    Making Founder Successions Work

    An article from the Spring 2018 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review, republished by Bridgespan. It questions the common advice that a founder should make a clean break when stepping down. The authors argue that many nonprofits gain when they plan a deliberate, bounded ongoing role for the departing founder. Boards, founders and successors use it to discuss what role the founder should keep and how to set its limits.

    ClassicShort readFree
  • 4.3C055

    How to Plan and Execute an Emergency Succession

    A short Blue Avocado article on emergency succession plans, which cover a sudden leader absence for 1 to 3 months. It walks through 4 parts: naming first and second acting successors with limits on authority, or splitting the role's functions among staff; a ranked communications plan; and an operational checklist of contacts, accounts and key dates. It links to an editable Word template that a board and staff can complete in under 2 hours.

    CurrentTool or templateFree
  • 4.1C044

    Nonprofit Leadership Development Toolkit

    A free toolkit for nonprofits that want to grow leaders from within. It comes with the Bridgespan article How Nonprofit Leadership Development Sustains Organizations and Their Teams. It contains sample competencies from Bridgespan's competency bank, a 70-20-10 development plan template that a manager and staff member fill in together, and guidance on rolling the approach out across an organisation's systems and culture. It is a download from the article page.

    CurrentTool or templateFree
  • 4.3C051

    Founder Transitions

    A guide for founders, long-serving executive directors and boards facing a founder transition. It explains the particular challenges when a founder or long-term leader steps down and how to plan for both planned and unplanned departures. It argues that supporting founders through the exit protects their legacy and the organisation. Boards and executives use it to prepare the handover, the search and the founder's next role. It is part of the Casey Foundation's executive transition series.

    ClassicKey manual or guideFree

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