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Incubator Tool Library

A collection of vetted tools and resources to help impact incubators run smarter, scale bigger, and better support their entrepreneurs.

Pollinate Impact Tool Library

Welcome to your shortcut to the good stuff.

When we say “tool”, we mean anything that helps incubators thrive—software, templates, handbooks, or any resource that lets you level up your game. We’ve curated the best for impact incubators across the Global South, so skip the search, grab what you need, and get back to making magic happen. 

Share your tool! If you have a tool, template, or resource that others could benefit from, submit it for review. 

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Mentoring Entrepreneurs

Equip people with the skills, attributes, and behavious to be authentic and effective mentors.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Media Resources

Organization: The Human Edge

Incubation Replicaiton Guide

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The Incubation Replicaiton Guide is organized in four modules: Setting up an Incubator, Incubation Lifecycle, Operating an Incubator, Governance. These modules help you in all aspects of establishing your incubator, setting up effective processes, and having good governance of the organization.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Villgro

Scaling Toolkit

The Scaling Impact Toolkit is organised in accordance with the three stages of our unique and proved methodology – strategy, model, and implementation.
Helps you achieve a particular objective, whether it’s getting your scaling plans off the ground, becoming financially sustainable, identifying your ideal pathway to scale and the partners you need to support your model or other challenges you may be currently encountering.

  • Category: Scaling & Growth
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: Spring Impact

Preliminary Assessment Scoring Worksheet

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  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Templates

Organization: Villgro

ESO Mapping Database

Mapping and streamlining of what incubators are offering to entrepreneurs at various stages, sectors, and geographies. Sharing information about hubs themselves and other related data, such as who has incubated whom helps us:
1. Understand if the entrepreneur is approaching you in need of additional support for the next stage of their business.
2. Understand if the entrepreneur is accessing another similar program within the same stage of their growth.
3. Identify potential partners with complimentary skills sets.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Research

Organization: Pollinate Impact

Best Practices for Alumni Engagement

A collaborative resource for ESOs to ensure continued engagement with alumni after the program. This resource is a collection of both the key challenges and the best practices that have been effective in addressing the common challenges faced by ESOs globally in engaging alumni after they have graduated from the program.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: Pollinate Impact

Best Practices for Screening, Selection & Due Diligence

This resource is a collection of both the key challenges and the best practices that have been effective in addressing the common challenges faced by ESOs globally in the process of screening, selection, and due diligence of entrepreneurs

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: Pollinate Impact

Guide to Impact Incubation & Acceleration

This is an interactive resource for entrepreneurial support
organisations (ESOs) who are running impact-focused
incubators or accelerators in the Asia-Pacific, and
beyond

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Frontier Incubators Program

Venture Development Framework (VDF)

To describe the development of early-stage science- and technology-based ventures.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Templates

Organization: Venturewell

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How to Build Organizational Development

Investing in organisational development (OD) to improve impact and sustainability is critical. However, a lot remains to be done for funders and NGOs to more intentionally invest in OD to build a stronger, more resilient NGO sector. This is a long-term journey that requires a commitment from NGOs and funders to engage in honest reflection and continuous action. This toolkit provides some initial guidance and resources to stakeholders in the sector to advance impact through OD.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: The BridgeSpan Group

Scenario Planning for Non-Profits

The scenario planning process helps organization leaders navigate uncertainty while providing structure
around making key strategic decisions. It is critical for organization leaders to engage in an iterative
scenario planning process that accounts for factors outside of your control (e.g., shelter-in-place
restrictions and the pace of economic recovery) and actions and options within your control (e.g.,
operational shifts and cost reductions).

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: The BridgeSpan Group

Non-Profit Board Resources Center

A nonprofit board’s responsibilities run the gamut—from fiduciary oversight to strategic planning and from executive evaluation to fundraising. This resource center from The Bridgespan Group and BoardSource provides guidance on how to find a rewarding board position, how to build a board, and what it takes to be an effective nonprofit board.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: The BridgeSpan Group

Non-Profit Job Description Toolkit

The job description is your primary vehicle for announcing the open position to external and internal audiences, and is a valuable tool for finding candidates best-suited to your organization’s needs. This toolkit features a wide range of sample job descriptions for senior nonprofit leadership roles, including CEO/executive director, COO, CFO, board member and more.

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: The BridgeSpan Group

Non-Profit Leadership Development Toolkit

Nonprofits and NGOs around the world are more focused than ever on developing and retaining the future leaders who will steward their
organizations toward greater impact. While a robust “corporate” leadership development system may seem out of reach due to resources
or capacity, a few simple practices can go a long way. In Bridgespan’s work supporting hundreds of organizations’ talent development, we have
found that the key to low-cost, effective leadership development is to explicitly define the competencies most important to the organization,
and then to work with emerging leaders on tailored development plans that help them build those competencies over time.

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: The BridgeSpan Group

Non-Profit Hiring Toolkit

Hiring decisions are challenging, and engaging in a thorough process requires time and energy.

In addition, every hiring decision contains an element of risk and ultimately requires a leap of faith. No matter how well you know your final candidate, it’s impossible to be 100 percent certain how he or she will perform in the new role. However, executing a disciplined, rigorous search process like the one outlined in this tool kit will help to mitigate the risks.

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: The BridgeSpan Group

Missing Middle – Segmenting Enterprises to Better Understand Their Financial Needs Summary Report

SGBs typically seek external financing in the range of $20,000 to $2 million for a range of purposes—to support early stage growth, expand operations, finance working capital, and acquire new assets— but struggle to access forms of capital that meet their needs. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), small and medium enterprises in low- and lower-middle income-countries face a $930 billion financing gap (see “Enterprise credit gap” graphic on page 5).1 Accessing financing is particularly challenging for certain types of SGBs, such as early stage ventures and businesses with moderate growth prospects, that are stuck squarely in the “missing middle” of enterprise finance: They are too big for microfinance, too small or risky for traditional bank lending, and lack the growth, return, and exit potential sought by venture capitalists. Such businesses often face a fundamental mismatch between available financing and their specific needs.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Research

Organization: Collaborative for Frontier Finance

Youth Entrepreneurship Framework

To fully unlock the potential of youth entrepreneurship, we must craft policies and programs that are tailored to the specific needs of young people. When done effectively, youth entrepreneurship can become a driving force for inclusive prosperity. This report’s effort to provide a framework for such policy creation is
both inspiring and crucial. By empowering young entrepreneurs, we can catalyze job creation and economic diversification, especially in low-income countries where traditional employment opportunities may be limited.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Templates

Organization: Youth Business International YBI

STARTUP MENTORSHIP PRACTICES IN THE AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM

This report serves to present the state of the mentorship and expert coaching landscape in the agricultural and food industry sector for
startups.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Research

Organization: Impact Hub & GIZ

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