NGO Manager Newsletter No. 13, October 2007

Dear reader,

In this newsletter you will find a selection of new tools and guides
available on the NGO Manager's E-Library.

Contents:

1. Planning Overview Toolkit
2. Strategic Planning Toolkit
3. Terre des hommes - Project cycle hand book
4. The project cycle: a teaching module
5. Introduction to Project Management
6. Assessing Financial Vulnerability in the Nonprofit Sector
7. Money Matters: The Structure, Operations and Challenges of
Nonprofit Funding
8. Core Funding Strategies
9. Training the trainers - course manual
10. All in Diary
11. YouTube now with special section for non-profit organisations


1. Planning Overview Toolkit
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This CIVICUS toolkit introduces the different aspects involved in planning
for an organisation or project. A very good practical tool (PDF-document, 52
p.). Civicus has a large range of useful toolkits, see at
www.civicus.org/new/civicus_toolkit_project.asp.

www.civicus.org/new/media/Overview%20of%20Planning.pdf


2. Strategic Planning Toolkit
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This CIVICUS toolkit provides a model of taking an organisation through a
strategic planning process. It covers planning to do strategic planning,
covering the background issues that need to inform or direct the strategic
planning process, and then defining the strategic framework for the project
or organisation activities. (PDF, 51 pages)

www.civicus.org/new/media/Strategic%20Planning.pdf


3. Terre des homes - Project cycle hand book
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This very comprehensive Project cycle handbook is issued by the Swiss based
INGO Terre des hommes. "It is essential nowadays that all projects in the
field be organised around the project cycle in accordance with the stages
and methods set out in this
Handbook." If you don't have time to flick through this huge document
(220pages incl. glossary and bibliography) you can read the very short
summaries at the end of each chapter.

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001684&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tdh.ch%2Fwebsite%2Fdoc_dnld.nsf%2Fbf25ab0f47ba5dd785256499006b15a4%2F17d9cdebfa884381c12571e90047da86%2F%24FILE%2Fproject_cycle_manual_en.pdf


4. The project cycle: a teaching module
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This paper is found useful for both trainees and the trainers. It's a
teaching module about the Project Cycle, beginning with good objectives of a
plan and finishing with the evaluation. (PDF, 12 pages)

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001682&url=www.networklearning.org%2Fdownload%2Fproject-cycle.pdf


5. Introduction to Project Management
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This paper presents the key ideas and concepts behind the use of modern
project management methods for international development (PDF-document, 18
p.). From PM4DEV, a new initiative to facilitate project management
capacity building for NGOs, see also their website at www.pm4dev.com.

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001663&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pm4dev.com%2Fenglish%2Fdocuments%2Febooks%2FPM4DEV_Introduction_to_Project_Management.pdf


6. Assessing Financial Vulnerability in the Nonprofit Sector
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Effective non-profit governance relies upon understanding an organization's
financial condition and vulnerabilities. However, financial vulnerability of
non-profit organizations is a relatively new area of study. In this paper, a
more comprehensive model of financial vulnerability is proposed by adding
two new variables to represent reliance on commercial-type activities to
generate revenues and endowment sufficiency.

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001677&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpapers.ssrn.com%2Fsol3%2Fpapers.cfm%3Fabstract_id%3D647662


7. Money Matters: The Structure, Operations and Challenges of Nonprofit
Funding
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A new approach in analysing funding activities of the non profit sector
focuses on contributions, cash, and debt not as a form of charity, but as a
type of capital with its own terms and structure. This paper attempts to
answer two fundamental questions: How is the non profit funding market
structured? How well does that market structure function? (PDF, 80 pages)

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001678&url=www.bridgespangroup.org%2FPDF%2FMoneyMatters.pdf


8. Core Funding Strategies
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The costs of a project will always need to be funded, whether the
organisation is running 30 projects or just three. They're fundamental to
the organisation's survival, but can't be directly associated with any
specific outcome. Focusing on these costs, this guidance note no 6 published
by BOND presents a series of core funding strategies.

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001679&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bond.org.uk%2Fpubs%2Fguidance%2Fcorefundingstrategies.doc


9. Training the trainers - course manual
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The Training of Trainers Manual (PDF, 3.37 MB) is a curriculum tool to
prepare master-level peer education trainers. The manual uses participatory
techniques based on a variety of theoretical frameworks to ensure that
future trainers are skilled and confident in their abilities to train peer
educators and serve as informed resources for their peers. The manual
resulted from collaboration between the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) and Family Health International. It was produced for the Youth Peer
Education Network (Y-PEER), a project coordinated by UNFPA.

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000000115&url=www.fhi.org%2Fen%2FYouth%2FYouthNet%2FPublications%2Fpeeredtoolkit%2FTrainingTrainers.htm


10. All in Diary
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Have basic management tools always in your diary - a very pragmatic and
hands-on approach from All in Diary: "The All In Diary is a practical tool
for field-based humanitarian workers. It incorporates 50 information pages,
each covering key topics related to Principles of Humanitarian Practice,
International Standards, Managing People and Projects and Working with
Communities. In addition the diary pages are formatted for recording notes
and observations to support staff handover, monitoring and real time
evaluation. An accompanying CD incorporates the 50 information pages, with
each linked to supplementary practical tools and resources, developed within
the humanitarian sector. The complete diary contents are available in freely
downloadable formats from the All in Diary web site (www.allindiary.org)."

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001676&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allindiary.org


11. YouTube now with special section for non-profit organisations
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Using YouTube to broadcast your cause: YouTube announced a new channel for
non-profit organisations. The link shows some examples how YouTube can
become a powerful tool to present your organisation and make new contacts.
To see the YouTube introduction of this service, click on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIdEnSkhA9A. Users can subscribe to a
particular organisation and will be informed about new content once its
uploaded on YouTube. A very interesting tool, which needs to be explored and
tested. As of now, only US NGOs can participate. Let's hope that this
non-profit channel will soon be open to all. We'll follow it up and keep you
posted.

http://www.ngomanager.org/cgi-bin/dcd/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000001687&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fnonprofits


Your comments and questions are most welcome!

Please share this newsletter with friends and colleagues!

Best regards,

Marco Kirschbaum, Huyen Nguyen and Daniel Laux
Editors