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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7 resources found
- Search: social business
- 14.2C189
Social Business Model Canvas
A method page from Elrha's Humanitarian Innovation Guide for innovation teams in humanitarian and development work. It explains the Social Business Model Canvas, Tandemic's version of the Business Model Canvas. The social version separates funders from users, splits the value created for each and adds a box for impact measures. A team session takes 2 to 3 hours, and the page advises reviewing the canvas over time.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 15.2C191
Start Your Social Enterprise
A 28-page start-up guide for people setting up a social enterprise or trading venture. After an introduction to what social enterprise is, it has chapters on mission, market, money, social impact, people, sales and marketing, legal structure, the business plan and looking after yourself, ending with a summary. Founders work through it chapter by chapter as they shape their plan.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 15.1C222
Social Entrepreneurship 101
A free 5-week online course from Acumen Academy for people new to social entrepreneurship. It covers 5 areas: what social entrepreneurship is, finding your problem and mission, theory of change and impact measurement, building a financially sustainable model, and scaling. It uses videos with founders such as Charles Best of DonorsChoose.org, reading and workshop guides and a case study. Acumen Academy also has a free course on business models for social enterprise.
Start hereCurrentKey online resourceFree - 15.2C190
Social Enterprises in Asia
An introductory guide to social enterprise published by Kordant Philanthropy Advisors in 2014 and held on IssueLab. It explains what social enterprises are and the main models they use, drawing on examples from Asia. It is for nonprofit leaders and founders in the region who are weighing whether earned income or a social enterprise model fits their mission.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 15.1C220
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries's book on building new ventures through fast, cheap experiments. It's organised in 3 parts: vision, steer and accelerate. Readers learn to name their riskiest assumptions, test them with a minimum viable product, measure progress through validated learning and decide whether to pivot or persevere. Social entrepreneurs and nonprofit teams use it to test new programmes and earned income ideas before scaling them.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 15.2C193
Business Sustainability Planning and Resource Mobilization Toolkit and Training Curriculum
A toolkit and training curriculum from Pact for local NGOs and civil society groups. It helps organisations plan for financial sustainability, choose a business model suited to their own funding context and mobilise resources beyond donor grants. Capacity builders use the curriculum to run workshops. Organisations use the tools to draft their own sustainability plans. It is free under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 licence.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 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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