Tools: Introduction

This section will help you to learn more about the tools and systems that help you to prove and improve your organisation’s quality and impact. Start by using the Tools Charts below.

The Tool Decider Chart: choosing the right tool for your organisation followed by the Tool Comparison Chart: comparing proving & improving approaches allow you to see all the tools at a glance.

What to bear in mind

  • These pages are not an exhaustive catalogue of all the possible tools and resources available.
  • The summaries provide a general description and sources of further information where we have details.

Tool Decider and Comparison Charts

The Decider and Comparison charts are designed to be used together. They offer an overview of the approaches to measuring impact and quality summarised opposite. The charts feature more than 20 tools compared for quick reference.

Tool Decider

The Tool Decider will help you identify the tool best suited to your organisation and to your performance management needs. Start at the centre of the chart with organisational size and work your way outwards to a shortlist of tools about which you can find out more on the Comparison Chart or from the Tool Summaries opposite.

Proving and Improving Tool decider chart (whole chart: print on A3 paper for best results)

Tool Comparison

The Comparison chart has three purposes:

  1. To help you to identify a tool to either use off-the-shelf or to adapt to meet your needs in measuring impact, reporting on performance, demonstrating quality, or developing business strategy. You can use the chart as an overview to compare the tools in analysing their merits and decide which tool is most appropriate.
  2. To give you the general information you need in order to respond to others’ suggestions or requirements that you take up a particular method or tool.
  3. To enable those providing support and advice to third sector organisations to understand a range of approaches, and signpost their clients to places for further assistance, based on their needs and situation.

Proving and Improving Tool comparison chart (whole chart: print on A3 paper for best results)

Not ready for these approaches?

Here are some approaches that might help with your first steps.

CES Planning Triangle

The triangle is a visual tool designed to help organisations identify their aims and objectives. The triangle is a planning tool for presenting what you are going to do, why you are doing it and what you hope to achieve by doing it. Click here for more details.

Sustainable Sun Needs-Analysis Tool

The Sustainable Sun Needs-Analysis Tool is designed to help organisations work out where they are now in each of seven areas which are integral to the long-term sustainability of their organisations. Organisations can work through the chart on their own, or together with an advisor. The chart enables them to plot their current organisational health and consider future development. Click here to find out more.

New Economics Foundation

NEF aims to create a new economy that works for people and within environmental limits. We are guided by three missions:

A new social settlement
To ensure people are paid well, have more time off to spend with their families, and have access to the things we all need for a decent life.

A Green New Deal
A plan for government-led investment to reduce the carbon we emit and boost nature, while creating a new generation of jobs.

The democratic economy
To devolve state power and transform ownership of the economy to give everyone an equal stake in the places where we live and work.

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