Resources
A library for every hard part of running a charity.
Plain-English guides, templates and checklists, organized by the thirteen things charities most often need help with. Every page is dated and checked against official sources.
Filter by stage, size and type
10 resources
Template · Governance
Board meeting minutes
Minutes for your first organizational board meeting, plus a simple template for every regular meeting after that.
Template · Governance
Bylaws for a small nonprofit
Starter bylaws for a small US public charity with a volunteer board and no members. Edit the blanks, then have a lawyer in your state review them.
Template · Governance
Conflict of interest policy
A conflict of interest policy based on the IRS sample in the Form 1023 instructions, with an annual statement for board members to sign.
Template · Governance
Document retention and destruction policy
A plain policy for what records your charity keeps, for how long, and how it destroys them safely, with a starter schedule.
Template · Fundraising
Donor thank-you letter and receipt
A warm thank-you letter that also works as the written acknowledgment the IRS requires for gifts of $250 or more.
Template · Finance
First-year budget
A starter budget for a new charity's first year, laid out line by line, with a spreadsheet version you can download and edit.
Template · Fundraising
Gift acceptance policy
A simple policy for which gifts your charity accepts, which need a closer look, which it turns down, and who decides.
Template · Starting up
One-page plan
Fit your whole charity on one page: the problem, the people, your approach, outcomes, team, money and first-year milestones.
Template · People
Volunteer agreement
A friendly one-to-two page agreement that sets out a volunteer's role, what you both expect, confidentiality, safeguarding, and how the role ends.
Template · Governance
Whistleblower policy
A short policy that tells staff, volunteers and board members how to report wrongdoing safely, and promises they won't be punished for it.