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: team learning
- 5.2C067
The Fearless Organization
A book by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson on psychological safety at work. It explains what psychological safety is, why it matters for learning and performance, and what happens when people stay silent. Using case studies from many sectors, it gives leaders a set of practices for setting the stage, inviting participation and responding well when people speak up, admit mistakes or raise concerns. Team leaders and managers use it to build candid teams.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideBook - 7.1C086
A Practical Guide to Nonprofit Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning
A guide for nonprofits of any size on setting up measurement, evaluation and learning with limited resources. It works through 3 steps: define outcomes and metrics from your theory of change, measure them without overloading staff and clients, and learn and improve through a dashboard and regular data reviews. It also covers when a formal evaluation is worth the cost and how to start without a data team.
EmergingKey manual or guideFree - 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 - 7.5C102
How to Build a Nonprofit Dashboard for Your Leadership Team
A how-to article on building a dashboard that a nonprofit leadership team reviews to track a small set of priorities. It works through 3 steps: agree on up to about 10 priorities, choose 1 or 2 check-engine-light metrics for each with red, yellow and green targets, then act on reds and follow up in regular reviews. It comes with a review session template and a set of example priorities and metrics.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 7.3C094
Evaluation Flash Cards
A set of 25 one-page cards by Michael Quinn Patton, each explaining one evaluation idea in plain terms with an example from Otto Bremer grants. Topics include evaluation questions, logic models, theory of change, outcomes versus indicators, triangulation, formative, summative and developmental evaluation, and lessons learned. Teams pick a card to discuss in staff or board meetings to build evaluative thinking.
ClassicTool 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 - 1.2C005
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 - 2.5C208
Scaling Out, Scaling Up, Scaling Deep
A free report prepared for the McConnell Foundation and Tamarack Institute, drawn from a decade of the foundation's Applied Dissemination grants and peer learning group. It sets out three ways to spread a social innovation: scaling out to more people and places, scaling up into policy and law, and scaling deep into culture, values and relationships. It shares lessons and strategies from grantees, plus what made the peer learning process work. Teams use it to plan beyond simple replication.
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 - 4.2C047
Doing More with More: Putting Shared Leadership into Practice
An article on a 2-year learning community, from 2008 to 2010, in which leaders of 27 California civic participation nonprofits tried shared leadership. It reports results, such as 78 percent of participants growing their ability to develop staff as leaders. It names 4 preconditions: senior commitment, upfront planning time, sound basic management and clear accountability. It then describes 4 areas of change: leader mindsets and roles, structure, decision processes and culture.
Start hereClassicResearch and evidenceFree - 7.2C089
Outcome Harvesting
A brief that introduces outcome harvesting, a participatory method for identifying, verifying and making sense of outcomes when cause and effect are unclear. The evaluator collects evidence of what changed and works back to assess whether and how the intervention contributed. It explains the core concepts and steps. Evaluators and teams use it for advocacy, policy and other complex work where results cannot be set in advance.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 4.1C045
Theory U Tools (u-school for Transformation)
A free online set of Theory U methods from the Presencing Institute's u-school for Transformation, released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike licence. Tools include container building, the iceberg model, stakeholder and dialogue interviews, shadowing, learning journeys, case clinics, 3D modelling, empathy walks, guided journaling, prototyping and a listening assessment. Social Presencing Theater practices are also included. Facilitators and teams use them for group reflection and organisational or systems change.
CurrentKey online resourceFree - 5.1C063
HR Toolkit for Racial Equity
A toolkit in which the W.K. Kellogg Foundation shares the HR practices it uses to advance racial equity. Its 10 sections give samples for equity standards and principles, an employee value proposition, employee resource groups, learning opportunities, recruitment partner talking points, interview questions, recruitment tracking, performance indicators, recognition programmes and a 17-item climate survey. HR teams adapt the samples for their own hiring, pay and promotion practice.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 9.4C127
Shifting the dial
A 16-page NPC guide for charities, funders and consultants who run or back policy change campaigns. It covers 3 areas: planning a campaign with impact in mind, choosing the right tools to evaluate it, and learning and improving as the campaign goes on. It draws on examples from several UK organisations. Teams use it to track progress, adjust strategy and respond to changes in the policy environment.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree
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