general resources
A diverse list of resources related to philanthropy news, writing and editing, and project and knowledge management.
PHILANTHROPY & HUMANITARIAN NEWS
Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group (promotes robust, effective, and responsive philanthropy to benefit African communities)
Bond (Bond is a U.K.-based network for organizations working in international development)
Foundation Source (This site is primarily directed toward people interested in establishing a foundation in the United States. It has useful information on what constitutes a foundation, including the differences between public and private foundations.)
Humanitarian Web (offers humanitarian training courses, humanitarian jobs, humanitarian news, and a grants directory)
New Partnership for Africa's Development (technical body of the African Union)
ReliefWeb (ReliefWeb is a humanitarian information service provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA))
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & NETWORKS
Bond (UK network for organizations working in international development)
RESOURCES fOR jOBS
Opportunities for Africans (scholarships, fellowships, internships, conferences, jobs, competitions, volunteer opportunities)
COURSES & WORKSHOPS
Topics covered include grant writing and proposal, project, and nonprofit management
American Grant Writers’ Association, Inc. (online only)
Bond (U.K.-based organization offering online and in-person training)
Ed2Go (online only)
Grant Professionals Association (online only)
Lynda.com (online only, now LinkedIn Learning)
Nonprofit Tech for Good (offers certificate programs in digital marketing, social media marketing, and online fundraising)
Open University (online only, courses cover a wide range of topics including leadership, management, and writing)
Philanthropy University (online only, free)
Udemy.com (online only)
CONFERENCES & EVENTS
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT & SOCIAL CHANGE
Center for Global Development (CGD conducts research and analysis on a range of topics related to issues affecting the developing world.)
Community Tool Box (mission to promote community health and development by connecting people, ideas, and resources. Site has some grant writing resources.)
CIVICUS (international alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society. Site has some grant writing resources).
Devex (international and career development resources)
Global Health Council (Global Health Council [GHC] is the leading membership organization supporting and connecting advocates, implementers and stakeholders around global health priorities worldwide.)
Interaction (Interaction is an alliance organization with 180 NGO members and serves as a convener and voice of the NGO community.)
USAID Alumni Association (website created by former USAID staff — site includes information and resources helpful for those in international development)
MONITORING & EVALUATION
Better Evaluation (Australia-based nonprofit that shares knowledge and resources about how to better plan, manage, conduct, and use evaluation.)
National Science Foundation 2010 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation (It may have been published a while ago, but it’s still a great resource.).
Pell Institute Evaluation Toolkit (The toolkit focuses on the evaluation of education programs, but many resources can be applied to other sectors.)
Tools4Dev (tools4dev provides templates, reviews, and how-to guides for international development and aid professionals. The site includes a section dedicated to monitoring and evaluation.)
USAID CLA Toolkit (Curated tools and resources that help you integrate Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting into your work.)
Also: If you are seeking software for M&E, this round-up of various options on EvalCommunity may be helpful to you: Software and tools for M&E professionals
DATA RESOURCES & MANAGEMENT
Our World in Data (Our World in Data, produced by the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford, provides data on how things are changing in a range of areas such as population, food, war, and environment).
List of Low- and Middle-Income Countries (Development Assistance Committee, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
Digital Curation Centre (DCC), University of Edinburgh (DCC’s mission is to help organizations worldwide make the best use of data in and for research)
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) (ICPSR, based at the University of Michigan, is an international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations. It provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community.)
Managing and Sharing Data, UK Data Archive (2011) (Best practices for researchers)
GRAPHICS & DATA VISUALIZATION
Canva (graphic design tool)
Creately.com (visual workspace platform)
Evergreen Data (Evergreen Data is a cross-industry data visualization and design firm that also offers books and courses on data visualization.)
Piktochart (graphic design tool)
Visme (graphic design tool)
GRANT WRITING & NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT
Blue Avocado (online magazine for U.S.-based community nonprofits)
Feedspot list of grant writing blogs (list of grant writing blogs and resources)
The Bridgespan Group (nonprofit advisor and resource hub for nonprofit organizations and philanthropists)
GrantStation Pathfinder (GrantStation’s Pathfinder library provides profiles of resources in the areas of grant research, writing, and management, as well as strategic planning)
Grant Training Center (The GTC blog offers useful tips and resources on grant writing. GTC also offers grant courses.)
Non-Profit Guides (grant writing tools for nonprofits)
Nonprofit Hub (supporting nonprofits through opportunities for education & collaboration)
Nonprofit Information (an independent informational website for nonprofits & philanthropists)
The Nonprofit Times (business publication for nonprofit management)
SlideShare (SlideShare has a huge collection of presentations on grant writing)
PROPOSAL & GRANT MANAGEMENT TOOLS
(Note: This is a list of resources for grantseekers. There are other tools specifically designed to assist grantmakers.)
TERMINOLOGY & ABBREVIATIONS
Candid.org’s Glossary of Terms (list of definitions of terms used in fundraising, proposal development, and by foundations)
GRAMMAR, WRITING, & RESEARCH
American Psychological Association (APA) Style (reference for APA style as well as writing and grammar tips)
AP Style-Checking Tools (automated tool reviews text and shows possible errors along with the relevant AP style rules -- works with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, and popular web browsers)
Associated Press (AP) Style Book (online version of the AP style guide (requires a subscription))
Basic Endnote (free, basic online version of Endnote that can be used to find, save, and organize references)
BuzzFeed Style Guide (guide on standards for the internet and social media)
Chicago Manual of Style Online(searchable resource for guidance on editing and publishing)
Coursera (Coursera’s catalog includes several writing courses from recognized universities)
DailyWritingTips (daily articles on grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, & vocabulary)
Editorr (similar to Grammarly in its web interface, editorr relies on real people, not software, to do the editing)
Ginger Software (spell checker, grammar checker, proofreader)
Grammar Girl (tips on grammar, punctuation, and usage)
Grammarbook.com (grammar tips and quizzes)
Grammarly (online tool that checks for grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and poor vocabulary - Grammarly also now offers editing by real people)
Hemingway Editor (online tool that scans writing for readability)
Hypothesis (Hypothesis allows you to annotate anything online, including websites and PDFs. You can keep your notes private or share them publicly with classmates, colleagues, and friends. Individuals can set up free accounts.)
ProWritingAid (online grammar checker and editing tool, with options to check for American, UK, Australian, and Canadian English)
Purdue OWL (free resources from Purdue University, including on writing, grammar and mechanics, style guides ESL, and professional writing)
Reference managers (You can use reference managers to generate references and prepare bibliographies for your grant proposals. Many reference managers also offer features to import, organize, and annotate PDFs and web pages. See our blog post that discusses three reference managers for more information.)
United Nations Editorial Manual (Definitive style manual for UN written communications. It can be useful reference for creating an in-house style guide.)
Whitesmoke (spell checker, grammar checker, style checker)
Writer (AI writing assistant for teams that can check spelling, grammar, writing clarity, and adherence to in-house style)
PROJECT & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Dropbox (document storage, collaborative document creation, screenshot capture tool)
Evernote (notes app, document storage, and web clipper tool, see Writing and Managing Grant Proposals Using Evernote)
Onenote (document storage, note-taking, web clipper, see Write Your Next Grant Proposal with OneNote)
Nimbus Note (similar to Evernote, useful for storing and sharing information)
Notion (can be used for notes, organizing information in a database, and sharing public pages)
Slab (see Simplify Your Knowledge Management System with Slab)
Trello (see How to Use Trello for Grant Research and Writing)
Wrike (project management tool that integrates with many other platforms, including Microsoft Teams)
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS) is an innovative platform hosting the first permanent ocean observatory focused on multi-ecosystem time series research in Africa. Monitor relevant open calls for funding on the BCSS website, https://bcssmz.org.
You can read more about the program by following this link: https://bit.ly/Bazaruto_Ctr
photo: @BCSS_Orlando Miranda_Salvador Colvee
📣The New Africa Fund is about to open its third cycle for its Venture Philanthropy Grant program. This unique grant gives African NGOs, CBOs, and social enterprises two years of unrestricted funding and technical support based on the individual needs of the organization. If you would like to learn more about applying the NAF is holding informational webinars in both English and French. Please sign up here to learn more.