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
Search and filter all 211 resources
10 resources found
- Search: organisational development plan
- 1.3C010
How to Build an Organisational Development Plan
A toolkit for Indian NGOs and their funders that takes an organisation from diagnosis to an OD plan. The plan document walks users through 4 steps to find where the NGO falls short and plan improvements. A companion Organisational Development Assessment Guide covers 13 capabilities and helps teams choose a short list to work on first. Bridgespan built it with 5 Indian intermediaries as part of Pay-What-It-Takes India. It is licensed CC BY 4.0.
Start hereCurrentTool or templateFree - 1.1C001
The Barefoot Guide to Working with Organisations and Social Change
A do-it-yourself guide for leaders and facilitators who help organisations develop in healthier and more human ways. Written by a collective of development practitioners, it covers how to read an organisation, how to facilitate change, leadership, relationships, power and building a learning organisation. A library of downloadable exercises, readings, case studies and diagrams sits on the Barefoot website. Facilitators use it to plan OD processes and run sessions with teams.
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 - 1.2C005
Capacity for Conservation
A free online platform for conservation organisations that want to assess their strengths, plan their development and find learning resources. Built by BirdLife International and Fauna & Flora, it includes self-assessment and planning tools on organisational development and resilience, a resource library of over 260 tools and case studies, an eLearning hub with over 40 courses and an archive of recorded webinars. Teams use it to assess themselves and then follow up with matched resources.
CurrentKey online resourceFree - 10.2C136
Becoming locally led as an anti-racist practice
A guide from Bond, developed by The Social Investment Consultancy, for UK-based and other international NGOs that want to become locally led. It gives a baseline view of what locally led development looks like and tools to review how each department works, from HR and finance to programmes, communications and trustees. Staff at any level use it to start internal conversations, plan organisational change and discuss funding models with donors.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 1.5C215
Growth of Youth-Serving Organizations
A free study by Bridgespan, commissioned by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, of 20 US youth-serving nonprofits that grew substantially. It looks at how they grew, what growth did to their finances, how their structures changed, including adding a chief operating officer, more formal systems and new board roles, and what helped or held them back. It comes as a white paper, executive summary and 20 case studies that leaders and funders use to plan for growth.
ClassicResearch and evidenceFree - 1.5C216
Creating the COO Position
A free Bridgespan article on when and why nonprofits add a chief operating officer, drawn from a survey of COOs and interviews with COOs and executive directors. It covers the usual triggers, such as a chief executive stretched by a growing staff or a growth plan to deliver, the worries executive directors have about sharing control, and how organisations managed the transition. It links to Bridgespan's wider set of COO resources, including sample job descriptions.
CurrentShort readFree - 1.5C219
Scaling Up
Verne Harnish's book on growing an organisation through the stages from a few people to hundreds. It's built around 4 decisions every growing organisation has to get right: people, strategy, execution and cash. It comes with one-page worksheets, including the One-Page Strategic Plan, and routines such as daily and weekly meeting rhythms and priorities. Written for companies, it's widely used by nonprofit leadership teams that are growing fast.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 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 - 1.5C218
Designing and Filling New Positions
A free Bridgespan toolkit for nonprofits that need new or changed roles to deliver a new strategy or growth plan. It sets out five steps: define what the strategy requires, find the capability gaps, design new and modified positions, assess internal candidates and fill the roles. It includes a position profile template, a skills assessment spreadsheet and a case study of a youth nonprofit that added a deputy director and an expansion manager as it grew.
ClassicTool or templateFree
Suggestion box
Know a resource we should add?
Know a practical resource we should add, or found a broken link or a mistake? Tell us.
A person reads every message. A title, a link or a few words is enough.