Crafting an Operating Manual for Your Organization

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As your organization grows, you will develop the best ways to carry out every aspect of your work. Sometimes these are nonprofit best practices. Other times they are simply the methods your bookkeeper or funder wants you to use. The more of these procedures you develop, the more important it is to document them.

In addition, as your nonprofit grows, more staff will be taking care of different duties, and no single staff person will know how to do everything. It’s important for everyone to document their work.

This documentation has a wide range of uses. First, when you take a vacation, it makes it much easier for others to cover for you. Imagine how much easier it would be to prepare to leave for a two-week trip if you have all your day-to-day tasks already documented. Second, when you leave your position, it will be much easier to hand things off and know that the organization will be in good hands moving forward. Third, documenting this information will allow you to see where you can delegate tasks. If you can train someone on a task now, why not have them take it on permanently? Finally, having this documentation will help you be more efficient. In creating the manual, you’ll be able to think through your regular tasks and find ways to do your job more efficiently and effectively. You’ll also have all the information you need documented in one place. For example, you’ll have instructions on how to fill out that complicated form you have to fill out only once a year.

There is a wide range of methods to document your position and organizational tasks. A consistent organization-wide method will be simpler for everyone. Create a template that every staff member will use so that all of the information is stored in the same place and using the same format.

These procedure manuals should be computer documents that are easy to update and access. You may want a printed version for some uses, but make sure any updates are added to the computer version. You can start with a word processor or Google Docs and then become more sophisticated. Additional options include using a Wiki format, or project management software.

The advantages of creating these documents are tremendous. It means that staff have a first place to look for answers to questions without bothering others. It makes for a more consistent workflow and helps everyone be more efficient. Finally, everyone will eventually leave their position. It is critical to the smooth operations of any organization to retain their knowledge for the future success of the organization.

Note, a procedures manual is separate from other important documents an organization should have. An employee manual details the organization’s requirements to its employees. A policy manual consists of board policies–actions taken by the board to codify certain rules the organization will follow. Policies will create the need for procedures to implement those policies, but they should be separate documents.

Best practices for creating a procedure manual:

  • Start with an outline – break the position down into sections. This could be by time period (day, week, month, quarter, year) or by type of task. You may want to try it both ways. Some tasks make more sense divided up by date, others by task category.
  • Not sure what you should include? Start with an activity log and write down everything you do for a few weeks. That will give you a good starting place for your operations manual. Or take a look at your job description and start writing out procedures for each duty listed there.
  • Use position titles instead of names in your manual, so it stays up to date.
  • Include the date the manual was originally written and the date of the most recent update.
  • Ask a coworker to carefully read through the manual and validate it. Can they follow the instructions? Do they have all of the information they need?
  • Schedule a time to update the manual. Ideally, this will happen throughout the year but also plan an annual update to review the document in its entirety.
  • If you are describing computer tasks, include screenshots. Showing instead of telling will make it easier for someone else to understand. You can also create short videos to explain more detailed tasks.
  • Checklists are a great way to help yourself and others not miss important steps in complex tasks. You’ll find a checklist to be helpful as much as your successor will.
  • Keep passwords separate from the main document, but don’t forget to develop a system to track them as well. The best instructions are useless without login information. Choose a secure way to track passwords, such as an online password manager or a list stored off-site with a trusted board member.
  • Don’t recreate sources that already exist. If you have a manual for your copier, reference that instead of putting all the details in your operations manual.

Here are some of the categories you should consider including:

  • Basic organizational information including contact information for key people.
  • Financial information, including bank account details, accountant info, payroll information, investment information, and legal counsel.
  • Grant information including contact information, lists of each grant contract and its status
  • Fundraising information including the location of all donor contact information, and information on key donors
  • Insurance information, including contacts for all insurance carriers
  • Building information, including contacts for the landlord (if any), lease (if applicable), and all service providers
  • Program information including contacts in the community for all programs and services
  • Latest strategic plan

Here are some good resources:

A good organizational manual is a key part of a comprehensive succession plan. Learn more about how to develop your own succession plan here.

Have questions about getting your operations manual in place? Contact me at ingrid@ingridkirst.com and I’d be happy to help.


Looking for more help building out a succession plan? Sign up below to get my sixteen-page succession planning e-book.



1 thought on “Crafting an Operating Manual for Your Organization”

  1. I have been tasked with creating a variety of resources for my non-profit organization and had developed an outline for a manual, then I found your website and was happy to see that I was on the right track. It is such a huge job to create a manual for the Coordinators on our team because the work is intricate and our program is growing. We provide non-academic support to post-secondary autistic students so they can succeed in their educational journey. Just wanted to say thank you for your clear instructions.

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