Store > Organizational Development > Assessment Tools
Tool - Strategic Growth: A Guide for Nonprofit Organizations - - Free
Strategic Growth: A Guide for Nonprofit Organizations is a standardized assessment tool that benchmarks where each management system in an organization is relative to the developmental cycle of a nonprofit organization. Executive Leaders, along with other staff and/or Board members, can use this guide to determine their organization’s over all stage of development (Idea, Start Up, Growth, or Established) and to assess whether the development of internal management systems is aligned with their over all development. Ten management dimensions are captured in the tool. For more information on using the tool, click here.
Management System Indicators: Complete Set - $125.00
The purpose of this tool is to allow a group of organization members to examine aspects of the organization’s functioning in some depth and to guide that discussion to the Key Tasks and Indicators most relevant to its current needs. The tool is most useful as a contribution to the assessment of internal strengths and weaknesses in support of strategic management.
The Key Tasks and Indicators included here are illustrative of good management practice in nonprofit organizations that provide services. They do not cover every aspect of each function, but rather are designed to spur discussion around this function and to anchor that discussion around important developmental tasks. This discussion may prompt attention to additional areas of development that are unique to each organization’s development and context.
The tool includes Key Tasks and Indicators for four stages of development: Idea, Start Up, Growth and Established for each functional area. Before using this tool, you should use the FIO Partners Strategic Growth Guide to identify the set of Indicators you should start with. For example, if the Guide indicates that you have completed the Idea and Start Up stages in a particular function, there is then no reason to review those Indicators. Instead, start with the Indicators in the Growth Stage. If there are one or more Key Tasks left out in the previous stage, you can simply add those missing Key Tasks to your review. Similarly, if you have substantial work to do in the Growth Stage, there is no reason to review the agency against the Established Stage Indicators though Agency Leaders may want to become familiar with them so they can anticipate the coming challenges.
Qualitative Indicators are provided for a total of ten dimensions: Program Strategy Development, Human Resources, System Participation, Marketing & Public Relations, Fund Development, Information management, Financial Management, Risk Management, Physical Plant, Quality Assurance
Climate Survey - $100.00
FIO Partners’ Climate Survey is designed to create a snapshot of organizational health. This tool gathers information about such topics as the quality and timeliness of decision making, the availability of information for decision making, the clarity of authority and responsibility, and the clarity of job descriptions, realism of performance objectives, and fairness and equity. Section F of the survey will help you gain insight into how staff views the culture of your organization. If you don’t understand the culture types that are listed or want to know more about culture and how it evolves, download our article on Cultural Norms, available for free on this website. The survey also assesses staff views of management effectiveness and views of the organization as a whole. This tool can be used to conduct an initial assessment of climate health, to identify specific areas for improvement, and can be used periodically to measure progress. It is not recommended for organizations with fewer than seven employees. This survey can be administered online and interpreted by FIO Partners for an additional fee.
Management Skills Assessment for Middle Managers - $100.00
There are many lists of essential skills for middle managers. Ours comes from 10 years of training for the Office of Training and Development of the Rhode Island Department of Administration in Rhode Island, an organization that provides training to both government agencies and the nonprofit community. We have taught groups of middle managers and supervisors 15-24 hour courses in a variety of topics, including supervision, change management, critical communication skills, strategic management, and program evaluation. Over time, we have interacted with well over 500 middle managers and supervisors. As part of each of our courses, we have encouraged our students to keep a journal of their attempts to use their new knowledge and, in reading these journals, have come to a rich understanding of the unique challenges that individuals face in these roles. This survey is designed to help middle managers plan their own skill development and to assist government and nonprofit organizations to engage in meaningful discussions of professional development with their middle management and supervisory staff. It focuses attention on two areas: Human Relations and Conceptual Skills. The survey can be used by one individual in order to devise a customized professional development plan, or, it can be administered to a large number of managers and supervisors. The collated results will then indicate patterns of needed professional development and can be used to guide decisions about training needs and curriculum content as well as coaching. This survey can also be administered online and interpreted by FIO Partners for an additional fee.
Products by Tag
Growth (2 items)Strategic Management (13 items)
Management System Indicators (11 items)
Organizational Culture (5 items)


