Resources

Free Nonprofit Leadership Resources

Working templates and checklists you can use today.

Download our essential nonprofit leadership guides

Practical guides for succession planning, board fundraising, executive onboarding, and executive director hiring — the four leadership questions every nonprofit board faces sooner or later. Each resource is a real working tool, drawn from our nonprofit executive search practice, not a teaser for something paid.

Updated July 2026

Guide · Free

Succession Planning Checklist

A one-page succession checklist a board chair can complete in an afternoon

Most nonprofit boards discover they are not ready for a leadership transition only when one is already happening. This one-page succession planning checklist walks a board chair through the essentials: emergency coverage if the executive director leaves tomorrow, the key relationships and vendor accounts that need documentation, mission-critical knowledge that lives in one person’s head, and the realistic timeline for a proper executive director search. It is the starting point before a formal succession plan, and it can be completed in an afternoon. Every nonprofit board should have this filled out, updated annually, and stored where the next board chair can find it.

Download the Succession Planning Checklist

Nonprofit succession planning checklist — sample cover page

Guide · Free

Board Fundraising Guide

What boards can and cannot do in fundraising, and how to have the give-or-get conversation

Every nonprofit executive director eventually has to answer the same question: how do we get our board to fundraise? This board fundraising guide covers what a nonprofit board is actually responsible for under IRS and best-practice governance standards, the most common mistake boards make (asking others for money before they have given themselves), and how to structure a give-or-get expectation without losing good board members. Inside are scripts for the give-or-get conversation, sample policies at different organization sizes, and a light-touch way to track board fundraising participation without turning it into a performance review.

Download the Board Fundraising Guide

Board fundraising guide for nonprofits — sample cover page

Guide · Free

Onboarding Checklist

A thirty-day new-hire onboarding checklist for manager and new hire

The first thirty days determine whether a new hire stays for three years or quits in six months. This thirty-day onboarding checklist splits responsibilities between the manager and the new hire across the first day, the first week, and the first month — what needs to be signed, who needs to be introduced, what documents need to be shared, and what conversations need to happen. It is built specifically for nonprofit teams, where onboarding often gets skipped because “we are too small to have a process.” Use it for executive directors, program directors, development directors, or any senior nonprofit hire.

Download the Onboarding Checklist

Nonprofit executive onboarding checklist for the first thirty days

Guide · Free

ED Job Description Guide

Write an ED job description that recruits the right people and repels the wrong ones

A weak executive director job description attracts the wrong candidates and buries the qualified ones under piles of unfit applications. This guide walks a nonprofit search committee through the essentials: the actual scope of the executive director role at your organization’s current stage, the honest challenges you are hiring someone to solve, the compensation range you can commit to before you post, and the mission-fit questions that separate strong candidates from career opportunists. It also covers what to leave out — jargon, wish-list requirements, corporate-copy patterns — so serious nonprofit leaders take the posting seriously.

Download the ED Job Description Guide

Executive director job description guide — sample cover page

Frequently asked questions

Are these nonprofit resources really free?

Yes. Every resource on this page is a complete, working tool — a real checklist, a real guide, a real template. Nothing is a stripped-down teaser for a paid product. The link between our free resources and our paid work is that both come from the same executive search practice at Charity Search Group: over a decade of leadership transitions, board development, and senior nonprofit hiring.

Do I need to give my email address to download them?

For most resources we ask for your name and email so we can send the file directly and stay in touch with the nonprofit leaders who use our work. Unsubscribing takes one click, and we do not sell or share email addresses. Your information is used only to send the resource and, if you opt in, occasional guidance from our team on leadership transitions, nonprofit hiring, and board governance.

Can I share these with my board or my team?

Yes. These resources are meant to be circulated to your executive committee, board chair, search committee, or staff. Each one is designed to be a starting point for a conversation, not a private document. If you share a resource inside your organization, we ask only that you keep our attribution intact so people know where it came from.

Who wrote these templates and guides?

The Charity Search Group team wrote these based on our nonprofit executive search practice — the successful and unsuccessful transitions we have seen, the questions boards actually ask us, and the patterns that separate healthy leadership changes from painful ones. Our CEO, Mariya Yurukova, has led senior nonprofit searches for over a decade, and the underlying frameworks reflect that direct experience.

What if my organization needs something more customized?

The templates here work well for most nonprofits, but if your organization is in a founder transition, a merger, a rapid-growth phase, or a rebuild, you likely need something tailored. That is what our executive search and consulting practice does. Book a twenty-minute call with our team — there is no cost, and the conversation often clarifies whether you need a template, a facilitator, a full search, or none of the above.

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