Tools
Explore the tools - guides, videos, podcasts, articles, and more - that we use in our accompaniment support and other work.
La Sobremesa Tools
Tools generated by La Sobremesa and built on years of experience in supporting and strengthening civil society organizations, networks and donors.
6 Steps to Create Your Annual Plan
- Topic: Planning
- Language: Spanish
- For whom: Organizations
Annual Projections
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Competitor Analysis
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Donor Intelligence
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Financial Sustainability Action Plan
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
How to Create a Sustainability Plan
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: Spanish
- For whom: Organizations
Other recommended tools
Inspiring tools from Latin American and global authors and sources. Articles, guides, reports and podcasts, among others, that allow you to discover diverse perspectives and complement La Sobremesa's proposal.
Brené on Armored versus Daring Leadership (Part 1 of 2)
- Topic: Transitions
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
Adam Kahane with Daniel Stillman on 'Facilitating Breakthrough'
- Topic: Healthy Team
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
"Integrating Capacity and Strategy: A Handbook for Next Generation Grantmakers"
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
"Reinventing Organizations Wiki" based on Frédéric Laloux
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: Spanish
- For whom: Leaders
"Theory of Change in 10 Steps"
- Topic: Theory of Change
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Candid.org: Gets you the information you need to do good
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
DIY Toolkit explaining "Theory of Change"
- Topic: Theory of Change
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Six Steps for Sustainability Planning
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
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Brené on Armored versus Daring Leadership (Part 1 of 2)
- Topic: Transitions
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
In this podcast, it discusses ‘The biggest barrier to bold leadership is not fear; the biggest barrier is armor, or how we self-protect when we are afraid. This is Part I of a two-part series, where Brené Brown explores the most common types of armor, which include being a knower versus being a learner, opting out of a difficult conversation versus improving and leaning in, and using shame and guilt to manage others versus using accountability and empathy.
Creada por: Brené Brown, Dare to Lead
Adam Kahane with Daniel Stillman on 'Facilitating Breakthrough'
- Topic: Healthy Team
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
In this podcast, we hear from Adam Kahane, who has over 30 years of experience facilitating breakthroughs at the highest levels of government and society. He has facilitated conversations about South Africa in the early days of the country’s transition to democracy and the end of apartheid, the conclusion of civil wars in Colombia, the transformation of the food system, and almost everything else. He is also surprisingly open and honest about his growth and transformation as a facilitator, as well as his own failures along the way.
Creada por: Daniel Stillman, The Conversation Factory
"Integrating Capacity and Strategy: A Handbook for Next Generation Grantmakers"
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
The tools in this manual are not necessarily designed for the many talented gurus of organizational effectiveness (OE) in the world, although we believe the manual will be a positive contribution to the existing OE toolbox. They are user-friendly, quick, cost-effective, and specific tools to help anyone, regardless of their prior experience in OE, to start the capacity conversation, download and organize valuable information that already exists, initiate basic capacity assessments and planning, and highlight key strategic capacity and effectiveness issues and trends within a nonprofit organization.
Creada por: C.R. Hibbs, Stanford PACS
"Reinventing Organizations Wiki" based on Frédéric Laloux
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: Spanish
- For whom: Leaders
This interactive guide shares insights on alternative ways to lead and participate in organizations. It is based on the book Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. Its primary goal is to serve as a practical guide for leaders reinventing their organization and seeking inspiration as they update specific management practices within it. It proposes a range of structures, processes, team practices, and daily organizational practices.
Creada por: Volunteer Editors
"Theory of Change in 10 Steps"
- Topic: Theory of Change
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
This guide is a ten-step manual for creating a theory of change, based on many years of development for charities and donors. It focuses on the basics, our main approach. It provides you with the information you need to carry out any theory of change and is directly applicable to smaller projects and charitable services.
Creada por: James Noble, NPC
Candid.org: Gets you the information you need to do good
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
On this website, you will find a wealth of information about grants and donors from around the world. ‘Every year, millions of nonprofit organizations spend billions of dollars globally. We uncover where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, we connect nonprofits, foundations, and individuals with the resources they need to do good, based on 88 years of dedicated experience.
Creada por: Candid, Foundation Center y Guidestar
DIY Toolkit explaining "Theory of Change"
- Topic: Theory of Change
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
In this video and exercise, you will hear about how ’establishing a theory of change… is like creating a roadmap that outlines the steps you plan to take to achieve your goal. It helps you define whether your work is contributing to the impact you envision and if there are other approaches you should also consider. The Theory of Change tool not only helps articulate and clearly connect your work to your larger goal, but it also allows you to identify potential risks in your plan by sharing the underlying assumptions at each step.
Creada por: DIY Toolkit
6 Steps to Create Your Annual Plan
- Topic: Planning
- Language: Spanish
- For whom: Organizations
A yearly plan allows us to transform desires and projects into clear lines of action with specific tasks and realistic deadlines. To achieve this, we’ve developed 3 stages consisting of 6 steps:
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- Stage 1: Prepare. This is the initial stage in constructing a yearly plan, where (Step 1) we reflect on how the previous year went, (Step 2) analyze the context, and (Step 3) envision the upcoming year.
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- Stage 2: Create. Once we have reflected and prepared everything necessary to shape our yearly plan, we proceed to (Step 4) create the objectives and expected outcomes for the year, and then (Step 5) establish indicators to monitor our progress toward our goals.
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- Stage 3: Implement. Lastly, a yearly plan serves no purpose if it cannot be implemented. For that, you need an (Step 6) implementation plan.
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Annual Projections
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
At La Sobremesa, we created this tool - that has two exercises - after accompanying many organizations in their Sustainability Plans. This tool guides you in creating financial projections for the next year, based off of the costs of three scenarios - minimum, medium, and ideal. With these three scenarios, you can create different routes to achieve your projections, with different combinations of streams of income.
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Competitor Analysis
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
We developed this tool from “La Sobremesa” after assisting numerous organizations in developing their Sustainability Strategies. It enables organizations to systematically research their “competitors” — or in many cases, their allies or sources of inspiration. They can use this tool to investigate their organization’s mission and communication style, their projects, services, or funding sources. They can draw inspiration from organizations within their own countries and regions, on the one hand, and also from outside these, to understand how they are funded, who funds them, and which projects receive that funding.
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Donor Intelligence
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
From “La Sobremesa,” we created this tool after assisting numerous organizations in developing their Sustainability Strategies. Its objective is to guide you when mapping and studying potential donors. When you’re seeking to diversify your organization’s funds, thoroughly researching new donors is important, asking questions such as: Who do they fund? Where? In what areas? For how much money? And how to apply? among other questions that this tool suggests. One of the best ways to start is by utilizing the “Competitor Analysis” (see tool on our website) to understand who funds organizations similar to yours.
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Financial Sustainability Action Plan
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Even the most strategic and well-documented Sustainability Plan lacks value without an Action Plan that sets the wheels in motion. ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.’ Once you’ve defined your goals and strategies, we recommend creating activities for each new option to explore; calculating potential financial costs; determining the responsible person, and planning when these activities will take place. This La Sobremesa tool will be your greatest ally.
Creada por: La Sobremesa
How to Create a Sustainability Plan
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: Spanish
- For whom: Organizations
Through La Sobremesa’s experience working with several civil society organizations on their Sustainability Plans, we present a guide on how to create your own Sustainability Plan in 6 steps.
These steps include reflecting on past experiences; researching the funding ecosystem; anchoring the strategy in the organization’s mission and vision; experimenting with income diversification, and ultimately implementing the plan.
We emphasize the importance of dedicating time and resources to this goal, as well as seeking external support to facilitate the process
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Keep, Fix, Try
- Topic: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
When developing a strategy, completing a process or project, or reviewing ways of working with your team, it is essential to look inward and reflect. You should create a space with all relevant individuals to ask yourself three simple yet powerful questions: (1) “What should we keep from this process - why did it work well for us?” (Keep); (2) “What should we fix - why didn’t it work out as well?” (Fix); and finally, (3) “What should we attempt to improve in the future?” (Try).
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Project Ranking
- Topic: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
We created this tool after many interactions with organizations that wanted to better understand when to take on a new project and invest their time and energy in it. This ranking allows you to identify which of your projects has been the most strategic in the past. To do so, you must ask yourself the right questions. This tool systematizes some of those basic questions, such as: How does it align with your mission? Which one has had the greatest impact? And which one has provided the most funding? among other variables. The exercise of answering these questions with your team will provide valuable insights for making decisions about future projects.
Creada por: La Sobremesa
Six Steps for Sustainability Planning
- Topic: Financial Sustainability
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
A good Sustainability Plan outlines a realistic path to fiscal health. In this article, you will find the six components of analysis to consider when creating a strategic sustainability plan: (1) Strategic Context, (2) Financial Situation Analysis, (3) Sustainability Objectives, (4) Financial Projections, (5) Indicators, and (6) Pitch.
Creada por: Rebecca Thomas
Succession Planning for Nonprofits - Managing Leadership Transitions
- Topic: Transitions
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
This tool provides key information about leadership transitions within organizations, or in other words, director successions. According to the most recent BoardSource report (2021), only 29% of NGOs have a written transition plan. The importance of thoughtful planning is crucial, as unexpected or anticipated transitions can pose significant challenges. The proper handling of these processes is essential to ensure the continuity and success of the organization.
Creada por: National Council of Nonprofits
The Water of Systems Change
- Topic: Strategies
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
Organizations, networks, and donors involved in systemic change can increase their chances of success by focusing on the less explicit but more powerful ‘conditions’ for change while also focusing on themselves. ‘The Waters of Systemic Change’ presents a practical model of the ‘inverted triangle’ of the six conditions for systemic change that should be considered when designing a project or program.
Creada por: John Kania, Mark Kramer, Peter Senge
Top Advice for New Executive Directors from Their Peers
- Topic: Transitions
- Language: English
- For whom: Leaders
This resource presents recommendations, advice, and best practices from individuals who have worked in Executive Leadership. It is aimed at individuals who are about to assume the position for the first time. The language is friendly and accessible, aiming to provide general guidelines on what a new Executive Director can expect, what goals they should set for their first months or year in the role, how to deal with organizational changes, and how to take care of themselves in the process.
Creada por: Open Society Foundation
What’s a Nonprofit Annual Plan?
- Topic: Planning
- Language: English
- For whom: Organizations
An interview with Jennifer Flowers where you will find various tips and tactics for developing an Annual Plan, such as the difference between an Organizational Strategy and an Annual Plan; how much time you should dedicate to creating and then reviewing your Annual Plan; what information you need to create your Annual Plan, among other things.
Creada por: Pinky Vincent, NonProfitPro