Organizational Development

Basic Guide to Outcomes-Based Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations with Very Limited Resources from Free Management Library provides guidance for basic planning and implementation of an outcomes-based evaluation process (also called outcomes evaluation) for nonprofits, especially small organizations with limited resources.

Paradigm’s report, Managing Unconscious Bias: Strategies to Manage Bias & Build More Diverse, Inclusive Organizations, details how unconscious bias affects organizations, limiting effective decision-making and standing in the way of diversity and inclusion efforts.

Download and adapt this sample sexual harassment policy for your organization.

Do your responsibilities include accounting or fundraising (also known as development or fund development) for your nonprofit? Do you supervise the development and accounting work? These are two critical functions and successful collaboration between them is essential to every nonprofit’s success.

Think about the last time you interviewed a potential new hire. Did you get excited to see someone who went to your school or knew one of your friends? It’s normal for things like a candidate’s degree, alma mater, or mutual connections to influence you; however, those factors may not have anything to do with the job they’re applying for.  

"Interim Executive Directors: The Power in the Middle" by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund explains the benefits and basics of using an interim executive director in a leadership transition. Interim executive directors are highly skilled managers who temporarily take the helm of an organization, help the board and staff address important systems and capacity issues, and lay the groundwork for the permanent leader’s success.

Adapt this template called, "Confidentiality Agreement for Service on the Search and Transition Committee" from the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits to help committee members be clear about the do's and don'ts around their committee work.

Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2008 "Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits" seeks to continue detoxifying the topic of nonprofit succession planning so that executives, boards, staff, and funders can take up these activities without unnecessary fear or concern and provides nonprofit boards and executive directors a framework for their own succession planning activities.

Jeanne Allen's "Boards and the Onboarding Process for New Nonprofit Executives" has five recommendations from Boosting Nonprofit Board Performance Where It Counts for boards to adopt a “leadership development mindset” for supporting the new Executive Director.

52 Free Development Opportunities for Nonprofit Staff is a list organized by skill type of ways nonprofit leaders can engage staff members in critical skill development areas without sending them to formal external trainings.