Tools to Engage: Resources for Nonprofits

Welcome to Tools to Engage!

We’re so glad you’re here! Tools to Engage is an ever-changing compilation of the best resources from across the social sector, chosen for their particular focus on supporting constituent engagement and addressing systemic challenges, such as race, gender, and power inequities in the sector. These resources are aimed at organizational development experts, management support organizations, and internal and external consultants, but may be used by anyone who finds them useful.

The resources on this site are organized around categories aligned with the Nonprofits Integrating Community Engagement (NICE) Guide, which offers information, tools, case studies and other resources to help nonprofit groups develop core competencies on constituent and community engagement. Use the “Type,” “Category,” and “Keyword” search functions below, or feel free to just browse this collection of over 100 resources designed to help you advance your social change goals.

Please consider commenting on individual tools or in the Forum to let us know your experience with these resources. Access to commenting and to the Forum is restricted to members, but it’s free and easy to sign up!

 

Transactions, Transformations, Translations

“Transactions, Transformations, Translations: Metrics That 
Matter for Building, Scaling, and Funding Social Movements” is a way of looking at organizational growth and the alliance building that brings groups together. This evaluation approach can capture the importance of narrative and numbers, of politics and policies, of transformation as well as transaction.


The Design and Implementation of Cross-Sector Collaboration

Based on an extensive review of the literature on collaboration, this article presents a propositional inventory organized around the initial conditions affecting collaboration formation, process, structural and governance components, constraints and contingencies, outcomes, and accountability issues.


Crossing Organizational Boundaries to Build New Partnerships

Breaking down the silos between service providers, and the barriers between providers, advocates, and organizers is critical to knitting together and protecting a strong social safety net that helps build community. Furthermore, fostering collaboration between organizations (and often even within organizations) can help better identify community level issues that a strong ecosystem of organizations can address together. This report explores partnerships initiated in cities that are facing similar social and economic struggles.


Sharing Values

This exercise is designed for working with partners to explore where values are aligned and where there might be differences. There is a discussion guide that focuses on both the alignment and possibilities where values differ.


Evaluating Collective Impact: Five Simple Rules

Download this article to learn the five simple rules that that can assist participants, funders, and evaluators of collective impact initiatives to track their progress and make sense of their efforts. Downloading requires signing up to join the CIF, which is free and which we recommend.


The Culture of Collective Impact

This article presents 5 core values that help leaders at all levels work better together.


Collective Impact Implementation Activity Checklist

This checklist can be useful, regardless of the stage of development, to identify the implementation activity that can fill a gap or move the group forward. Accessing this resource requires you to join the Collective Impact Forum, which is free, and which we recommend. The Collective Impact Forum has curated published research and essential resources to help you get started in your exploration of the collective impact approach.


A Framework for Collaboration Among Community Partnerships, Support Organizations, and Funders

This guide focuses on understanding community change; who to involve and how to engage them. It explains seven key factors for community change and how to develop a plan. In addition, it provides a checklist for roles and responsibilities for various players at different points of the process and a power point that summarizes the main points in the section.


Model for Evaluating a Community Program

This example is a model for evaluating a community program or initiative. It walks through phases of evaluation, types of stakeholders, and steps to developing an evaluation plan.


Guide to Evaluating Collective Impact

Follow this link to find the “Guide to Evaluating Collective Impact” report and a supplement with sample questions, outcomes, and indicators. Accessing this resource requires you to join FSG, which is free, and which we recommend.