pollinate logo svg

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. 

Share your tool →
Tool Category
Resource Type

Search

Identifying & Qualifying Deeply Aligned Funders – Tools & Strategies

  • 7 Views

Explore tips on how to shape funder research priorities and criteria to assess funder fit and uncover the information your organization needs to support this step in the fundraising process.

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Actionable Strategies for Engaging your Board

  • 7 Views

When boards are equipped with clarity, confidence, and joy in their roles, fundraising stops being a burden and starts becoming a team sport. The session walks through the core modules leaders can use to design and run their own fundraising retreat.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Grant Ready Communications

  • 8 Views

Tried and true strategies to ensure your organization is ‘grant ready’ when you do secure invitations to submit proposals and letters of inquiry (LOIs).

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Black Fox Global

Building a Fundraising Board: Recruiting and On-Boarding New Board Members

  • 6 Views

How do you then save your nonprofit and board from this quagmire? By creating a culture of success by recruiting members who can be effective, then giving them the tools to be successful.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Black Fox Global

Building Authentic Funder Relationships and Maximizing Opportunities for Funding

  • 8 Views

Explores ways to build authentic funder relationships through professional persistence.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Crafting Convincing Funder Centric Communications

  • 7 Views

Black Fox Philanthropy’s proven message development process, offering best practices and actionable insights to boost organisations fundraising success.

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Fundraising Self-Identification and Engaging Your Networks

  • 5 Views

By leveraging this framework, you will identify your unique strengths—whether as an Asker, Connector, or Nurturer—to optimize your effectiveness. Further, the session provides practical guidance and tools to support your board members in mobilizing their networks to bring in new funding.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Fostering Authentic & Lasting Funder Relationships

  • 8 Views

Whether you’re just starting out or seeking to strengthen existing relationships, this guide will help you build authentic connections with funders and create a path toward long-term success.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Turning a Funder Denial into Future Success

  • 5 Views

List of questions to seek feedback and guidance that can increase your chances in the next round

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Black Fox Global

Tool Category

Resource Type

Search

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostic Toolkit

  • 1 Views

This resource is a practical methodology to understand how entrepreneurship ecosystems work, identify their structural conditions, and guide evidence-based decision-making.

The model provides a clear way to analyze entrepreneurship ecosystems based on their core elements: the eight structural domains, the participation of key actors, the stages of the entrepreneurial journey, and digital maturity as a cross-cutting component. It enables the identification of strengths, gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities for coordinated action in each territory.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: ANDE

Reimagining the Future of Entrepreneurship Support Organisations in East Africa

  • 52 Views

The report identifies the interconnected challenges facing entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs), including incubators and accelerators. This WDI report takes a solutions-oriented approach for better serving entrepreneurs, maximizing the impact of limited donor resources, and strengthening the pipeline of investable companies.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Reports & Research

Organization: William Davidson Institute

Supporting Waste Management & Circular Economy Innovation

  • 9 Views

The toolkit brings together lessons from Kenya’s waste and circular economy ecosystem and global best practices. It is designed to be practical, adaptable, and action-oriented.

  • Clear explanations of waste management and circular economy principles
  • Guidance on designing and running effective support programmes for waste-focused SGBs
  • Real-world case studies from Kenya and beyond
  • Best practices across the full enterprise support journey — from recruitment and programme design to post-programme support and ecosystem engagement
  • Tools and frameworks for measuring environmental, social, and business impact
  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: ANDE

Application Form Template & Program Information Kit

  • 5 Views

This is a sample of a program application form for a University based incubator. It also includes clear description of the program, what is included in the program, and the expectations from applicant entrepreneurs.

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

Organization: Oxford University Innovation

Building Strong Funder Relationships & Navigating Funding Rejections

  • 5 Views

Every nonprofit leader knows the thrill of submitting a compelling grant proposal—and the sting of receiving a “no.” But what if rejection could be a catalyst for deeper alignment, stronger relationships, and future funding success?

That was the heart of our recent Masterclass hosted on the Catalyst NOW platform, “Building Stronger Funder Relationships and Navigating Funding Rejections,” featuring wisdom from sector leaders Tia Hodges, President & CEO, MetLife Foundation, Tanya Jaramilla, Director of Impact & Operations, Julian Grace Foundation, and Natalie Rekstad, Founder & CEO of Black Fox Global.

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Investment Readiness Accelerator for Businesses

  • 4 Views

This is a 3 in 1 tool that:
1) assists incubators and accelerators how to map up investor prospects through a sales funnel,
2) offers a fundraising pipeline management tool, and
3) includes an extensive due diligent checklist that includes the following broad categories – Product feasibility,vision and strategy, market attractiviness,business model, financial health etc

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Templates

Organization: ANGIN

Frontier Incubator Masterclass Series

  • 2 Views

Frontier Incubators launched a series of webinars to connect leaders from global accelerator and incubator programs with program managers who are seeking to serve entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific. Key insights from the session include the value of alumni as ambassadors, partnering with other programs, creating mutually beneficial partner arrangements, the potential of sector specific cohorts, the importance of program partner selection, ongoing application opportunities, incentive structures, and the significance of clear selection criteria.

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection

Organization: Frontier Incubators (DFAT)

Running Effective Mentoring Programmes

  • 5 Views

Is your mentoring programme not delivering the results you were expecting? Are you planning to run a new mentoring programme?

Many structured mentoring programmes achieve sub-par results because their planning and execution does not draw on best practice. Often, they start off strong but then slowly fizzle out, and other times, they don’t even take off.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: The Human Edge

Empowering FP/RH innovations for scale – Scale Up Lessons

  • 4 Views

Empowering FP/RH Innovations for Scale is a set of resources to provide an approach to stakeholders to better assess and support the scale-up of FP/RH innovations and accelerate progress towards FP/RH goals. Along with a summary, this includes a scale-up guide, toolkits and templates, and scale-up lessons and case studies. These resources are not exhaustive and build off and reference other tools and resources.
Resources include –
1. Summary and user’s guide
2. Scale-up guide
3. Toolkit & Templates
4. Scale-up lessons and case studies

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: USAID & MOMENTUM Innovation Accelerator

Submit a tool

[tool_custom_submit]

Get in Touch!

Our Network is a community of stakeholders in the impact incubation ecosystem within the Global South.  We work together to scale change, so get in touch and don’t be a stranger.

Media Inquiries

Connect with Us

LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook

We can't wait to chat!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name*
Location
Organisation
Consent*