Business and Management Tools

GroupSystems - This organization has developed an innovative tool, called ThinkTank, that leverages the power of teams for brainstorming, decision-making, collaboration, and virtual interactive meetings. The site offers a video tour of the tool, which is browser based and enables greater participation during meetings and public forums. This is the wave of the future in community engagement, brainstorming, group participation, and other efforts where collective knowledge and collaborative solutions are critical.

LegalZoom.com - This site offers legal services such as copyrights and trademark registration for a very reasonable fee. It’s a great site for any straightforward legal services, and their representatives are more than happy to walk you through the online process.

MeetingWizard.com - This is one of the more well known online scheduling tools. It is a free service that helps anyone trying to schedule a meeting with people who have complicated schedules and/or work in different locations. It is very easy to use, both for setting up the meeting, confirming the time and location, and sending reminders.

SurveyMonkey.com - This is probably the most well known of the online survey sites. This service can help anyone design a survey, collect responses, and analyze results. The basic service is free, and there are other more extensive services for a fee.

Community Engagement/Dialouge Top

Everyday Democracy (Formerly the Study Circles Resource Center) - Everyday Democracy is a national organization that helps local communities develop their own ability to organize large-scale and diverse participation in dialogue structured to support and strengthen measurable community change. They have a great resource room worth exploring.

Future Search - Future Search is a planning meeting that helps people transform their capability for action into a desired future for a community, organization, or issue. This site details what the model is and how it works. There is also an online network that anyone interested in Future Search can join.

Open Space - Open Space Technology is a model of community engagement that establishes a marketplace of inquiry, reflection, and learning, bringing out the best in both individuals and the whole. The site offers information about Open Space Technology, a weblog where you can read or post comments, and opportunities to register for conferences or join a learning community.

The World Café - The World Café is a conversational process based on a set of integrated design principles that reveal a deeper living network pattern through which people co-evolve their collective future. The model provides a simple yet powerful conversational process to elicit the thoughts, concerns, and desires of a diverse group of people. They offer this model for free.

Education Top

ERIC: Education Resources Information Center - ERIC is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. It is the place to go for the latest in educational research. The collection includes journal articles, books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, policy papers, and other education-related materials.

McREL: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning - McREL offers practical, research-based solutions for teachers, principals, superintendents and trainers. This site offers a whole host of resources for educators, many of which are free. This site is well worth a visit for anyone involved in education.

Governance Top

Governance Matters - Governance Matters is a nonprofit organization that educates, convenes and advocates for good governance within New York City's nonprofits. Although the organization is focused on New York City, their site offers a wealth of information for any nonprofit.

International Policy Governance Association (IPGA) - The International Policy Governance® Association creates a forum for the nurturing of responsible governance and of effective, ethical governance consulting. The Association intends to impact the understanding, use and teaching of the Policy Governance system and welcomes into membership boards using Policy Governance, as well as individuals or organizations who use or teach Policy Governance. Although a membership organization, this website contains substantial information for non-members interested in learning more about the Policy Governance model.

PolicyGovernance.com - This is the official Policy Governance site, as developed by John and Miriam Carver. Policy Governance is an integrated set of concepts and principles that describes the job of any governing board. The site gives a brief overview of the model and links for ordering an array of Policy Governance publications. It also lists training events that are intended to assist both consultants and organizations wishing to implement Policy Governance.

Non-Profits Top

Alliance for Nonprofit Management - The Alliance for Nonprofit Management is a professional association of individuals and organizations devoted to improving the management and governance capacity of nonprofits. They are a membership organization offering a wide variety of services, including a newsletter, conference, career bank, resource center, and a directory of nonprofit consultants.

BoardSource - BoardSource strives to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations by strengthening boards of directors through their consulting practice, publications, tools, and membership program. They have a great knowledge center that is open in a more limited way to nonmembers.

Bridgestar - Bridgestar provides talent matching services, content, and tools designed to help organizations build strong leadership teams and help individuals pursue career paths as nonprofit leaders. They are a free membership organization and offer a free monthly newsletter focusing on themes designed as a conversation about how to build and sustain effective nonprofit organizations.

Center for Nonprofit Excellence - CNE offers affordable and customized management assistance to help nonprofit organizations achieve mission critical goals and objectives. They have a library of resources, will answer questions, list a calendar of events, offer training to staff and boards, and sell books.

Charity Channel - This organization’s purpose, according to their website, is to foster a place where nonprofit professionals can learn from each other, share information and work together to advance the cause of philanthropy. For a small subscription fee you can gain access to a wealth of articles, discussion forums, job listings, and consultants directory.

Community Driven Institute - This organization’s mission is to ensure the social sector has what it needs to create a healthy, compassionate, and vibrant world through convening, engaging, mobilizing, and support the section. This site is particularly useful for its nonprofit library.

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services - CompassPoint Nonprofit Services is a consulting, research, and training organization providing nonprofits with management tools, strategies, and resources to lead change in their communities. They are a good source of articles for nonprofits.

The Corporate Fund - The Corporate Fund is comprised of many of New Hampshire’s most generous corporations, which pool a portion of their charitable dollars to focus entirely on improving the overall management and effectiveness of New Hampshire's nonprofits. Although the funds are intended for NH nonprofits, the website offers the following for any nonprofit: a consultant resource bank, a comprehensive downloadable board self-assessment kit, and a listing of both national and local resources for nonprofits.

Council on Fund Raising (CONFR) - CONFR is a membership organization whose mission is helping nonprofits raise more money for a better New Hampshire. They offer a variety of educational programs and a spring and fall conference.

Giving Monadnock - The mission of Giving Monadnock is to strengthen the fundraising and governance of nonprofit organizations and increase philanthropy in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire. Their website offers resources for nonprofits, a nonprofit directory, and information on the programs they offer, such as their Fundraising Institute and Community on Board, a program to train and match business professionals for nonprofit board service in the Monadnock Region. Although the organization focuses on the Monadnock Region, there is plenty of useful information on this site regardless of your geographic location.

GuideStar - GuideStar's mission is to revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving. The website provides free access (after registering with them) to a database of over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations. It also offers a handy new users demo to help you learn how to search more effectively. They also provide services for a fee in the areas of charity verification, compensation benchmarking, research, qualification, market analysis, outreach, development, and oversight.

Idealist - This website is a project of Action Without Borders where nonprofits can list their organizations and search for other organizations. It has one of the best nonprofit career centers on the web, with hundreds of job and internship listing, it offers a variety of resources to plan a successful community action, and it can help you locate a variety of volunteer opportunities around the world.

Independent Sector - Independent Sector is the leadership forum for charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world. They are a membership organization providing information on nonprofit accountability, research, and public policy.

NH Center for Nonprofits - The NH Center for Nonprofits is a membership organization that provides several free newsletters, a knowledge center, and information about funding, jobs, and training.

Nonprofit Financial Center - This membership organization provides accounting and advisory services, training, and information resources.

Society for Nonprofit Organizations - The Society for Nonprofit Organizations is a membership organization that provides nonprofit staff members, volunteers, and board members with affordable resources and information to work more effectively and efficiently towards accomplishing their mission. They have a wealth of information including job listings, a national directory, training programs, an events calendar, and a fundraising guide.

Strategic Restructuring - Strategic restructuring is a continuum of partnerships — including but not limited to mergers, joint ventures, administrative consolidations, and joint programming — through which nonprofits attempt to anticipate or respond to environmental threats and opportunities. This website is dedicated to the idea that nonprofits can maximize their capacity through mergers and joint programming and other such collaborative ventures. For any nonprofit considering some form of collaboration, this site will provide the guidance to help you decide whether or not to pursue a joint venture and if so, how to manage the process.

Understanding Vermont - Understanding Vermont is a program of the Vermont Community Foundation that is designed to provide useful information for philanthropists and other grant makers about the issues that shape Vermont. The site also maintains a community events calendar.

Vermont Community Foundation - The Vermont Community Foundation helps build and manage charitable funds created by individuals, families, groups, organizations, and institutions to improve the quality of life in Vermont. Grants from these funds are awarded at the suggestion of our fundholders and through competitive processes managed by the Foundation. The site also includes a section for nonprofit resources and the Vermont Directory of Foundations.

Organizational Development Top

Free Management Library - Great place to find free articles about all aspects of management. This website caters both to for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership - This is THE source for information on Servant-Leadership. Learn more about Servant-Leadership, conferences, and programs. Become a member and find resources for servant leaders.

Leader to Leader Institute - Established in 1990 as the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, the Leader to Leader Institute furthers its mission–to strengthen the leadership of the social sector–by providing social sector leaders with essential leadership wisdom, inspiration and resources to lead for innovation and to build vibrant social sector organizations. This website has a knowledge center worth exploring in detail.

The Reina Trust Building Institute - The website for The Reina Trust Building Institute provides a wealth of resources for professionals who are seeking a better understanding of trust in the workplace. Visitors will find THE most valuable tool for building and rebuilding trust in the workplace - the Reina Trust & Betrayal Model® which includes the Seven Steps for Healing™. In addition, there are powerful Stories from the Field, an Online Trust Quiz, and a myriad of pages that help organizations to learn about solutions to trust issues in the business world.

Roger Schwarz & Associates - Roger Schwarz is the author of The Skilled Facilitator and The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook. He offers free newsletters, teletraining, and webinars, which he personally conducts. He is a wizard at facilitation and group process, and it is worth taking the time to hear him speak. His website lists a variety of resources including workshops, books and other publications, and a host of on-line resources.

Society for Organizational Learning (SoL) - Peter Senge founded SoL as an intentional learning community composed of organizations, individuals, and local SoL communities around the world. SoL is devoted to the interdependent development of people and their institutions in service of inspired performance and meaningful results. They offer a variety of journals, newsletters, and links to other resources, in addition to connecting with those in the field of organizational learning.

Publications/Professional Journals Top

The Nonprofit Quarterly - This is one of the best publications on nonprofit issues. Their articles are thoughtful, insightful, and timely. It is well worth subscribing to it. They also offer a free e-newsletter.

The NonProfit Times - The NonProfit Times offers a paid subscription to their biweekly magazine (free to qualifying nonprofit executives) and four free eNewsletters covering news, jobs, fundraising, and technology.

Pegasus Communications - Pegasus offers a myriad of resources covering a variety of topics, including systems thinking, organizational learning, leadership, dialogue, and sustainability, to name a few. They also sponsor an annual conference featuring speakers such as Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, and Eamonn Kelly. Visit their website and sign up for their free monthly e-newsletter, Leverage Points, spotlighting innovations in leadership, management, and organizational development.

The Systems Thinker - The Systems Thinker, a monthly e-newsletter, is a publication of Pegasus Communications. At this site, you can subscribe to the newsletter, search an author/article database, and learn more about systems thinking. It is a great source for anyone interested in systems thinking.

Updated August 25, 2008