Model guides you can adapt and adopt

Most development offices run on rules nobody wrote down: who decides whether to take a gift, what goes in a donor record, how many names one person can really know. Each kit here writes one of those down for you, as a model you adapt to your organization and adopt, with the blanks marked and the choices explained.

How the Kits Work

• Free, by email. Tell us where to send it, and the kit arrives in your inbox, followed by a few short notes on putting it to work.
• Built to adapt. Every kit has a designed PDF to read and editable Word files to make your own. Most add forms with fill-in fields, a policy your board can adopt, and an Excel workbook that does the arithmetic.
• Clear about the law. State and federal rules are flagged where they matter. The kits aren’t legal advice, so have your attorney review a policy before your board adopts it.
• Yours to share. Each kit carries a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0): adapt it and share it for noncommercial use, with credit.
• Another format? Email info@transcendadvancement.com and we’ll send it as plain text or a Word file.

Already Working With Us?

You don’t have to wait for a release date. Clients use any guide in the series now, adapted to their organization as part of our work together. Ask us about the one you need.

Fundraising and Development

The Gift Acceptance Policy Kit. Your Values, in Writing: Gift Acceptance Policy and Procedures. Decide which gifts you’ll take, and who decides, before someone offers one.

• What’s inside. A board-ready policy and procedures manual (PDF and Word), with every form, agreement, checklist, and sample letter as a Word file with fill-in fields.
• Coming Nov. 20, 2026.

The Moves Management Kit. Relationships on Purpose: Moves Management Guide. Portfolios sized to the hours your team really has, a plan for each person, the ask, and what comes after it.

• What’s inside. The guide (PDF and Word), its worksheets and forms as a Word file with fill-in fields, and an Excel portfolio tracker.
• Coming Nov. 24, 2026.

The Donor Touch Points Kit. Between the Asks: Donor Touch Points Guide. Everything a donor hears after a gift, from the confirmation email to the stewardship between asks, with sample copy throughout.

• What’s inside. The guide (PDF and Word), with its samples, worksheets, and checklists as a Word file with fill-in fields.
• Coming Dec. 15, 2026.

The Campaign Readiness Kit. Names Before Numbers: Campaign Readiness Guide, with Before the First Ask: Campaign Readiness Templates. Whether you’re ready for a capital or comprehensive campaign, and how to get ready if you aren’t, from the whole cost of a project to a gift range chart tested against real names.

• What’s inside. The guide and its templates (PDF and Word each), an adoptable Campaign Policy, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Aug. 9, 2027.

The Annual Fund Kit. The Second Gift: Annual Fund Guide, with Ready Before the Ask: Annual Fund Templates. An annual fund built around the second gift: a goal built from your donors, a calendar with room for thanks, and, for schools, parent giving without leaderboards.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of more than twenty templates (PDF and Word each), an adoptable Annual Fund and Solicitation Policy, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Aug. 30, 2027.

The Legacy Giving Kit. Long After Today: Legacy Giving Guide, with Ready When They Are: Legacy Giving Templates. A legacy giving program without a planned giving officer: the simplest gifts to offer, the words that work, who to ask, and how to treat families kindly when the gift arrives.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of templates and gift language (PDF and Word each), an adoptable Legacy Giving Policy, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Nov. 1, 2027.

The Grant Management Kit. Fewer Applications, Better Aimed: Grant Management Guide, with Ready Before the Deadline: Grant Management Templates. Decide before anyone writes, keep every deadline and report on one calendar, budget the true cost, and keep every promise you make to a funder.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of more than thirty templates (PDF and Word each), an adoptable Grants Policy, and an Excel grant workbook.
• Coming Jan. 3, 2028.

Marketing and Communications

The Social Media Kit. People Before Platforms: Social Media Guide, with Know the Room: Social Media Platform Handbook. Choose the one or two channels worth your hours, get real consent before a photo goes up, make every post accessible, and measure what connects to the mission.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook on nine platforms (PDF and Word each), a policy your board can adopt, releases and checklists as a Word file with fill-in fields, and an Excel content calendar.
• Coming Mar. 8, 2027.

The PR and External Affairs Kit. In Public, On Purpose: Public Relations and External Affairs Guide, with Ready for the Call: Public Relations and External Affairs Templates. Who speaks for you, working with reporters, the crisis plan to write before you need it, and how much your charity can lobby while staying out of elections.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of fill-in templates (PDF and Word each), and an Excel workbook that tracks lobbying against the § 501(h) limits.
• Coming Jan. 31, 2028.

Community Engagement

The Project Management Kit. Start From the Morning After: Project Management Guide. Choose the projects worth your hours, settle who decides, plan backward from the morning after, and count every hour, paid or not, with a gala, a campaign, and a database migration worked through.

• What’s inside. The guide (PDF and Word), an adoptable project policy and its forms as a Word file with fill-in fields, and an Excel project workbook.
• Coming Mar. 29, 2027.

The Events and Sponsorships Kit. More Than One Night: Fundraising Events and Sponsorships Guide, with Before the Doors Open: Fundraising Events and Sponsorships Templates. Decide what the event is for, count its true cost, get the ask in before dessert, keep the raffle and the bar legal, and treat sponsors as partners all year.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of 23 templates (PDF and Word each), an adoptable Fundraising Events and Sponsorship Policy, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Mar. 6, 2028.

The Volunteer Engagement Kit. Worth Their Time: Volunteer Engagement Guide, with Ready for the First Shift: Volunteer Engagement Templates. Roles people say yes to, screening in proportion to the risk, thanks for what people actually did, and a fair path from first shift to the boardroom.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of more than twenty templates (PDF and Word each), two adoptable policies (volunteers, and child and vulnerable adult protection), and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Apr. 3, 2028.

The Community Engagement Kit. With, Not For: Community Engagement Guide, with Ready for the Room: Community Engagement Templates. Hear from the people you serve and do something with it: decide how much say you’re offering, pay people for their time, report back every time, and share real decisions when you’re ready.

• What’s inside. The guide and a handbook of more than thirty templates (PDF and Word each), and an Excel engagement workbook.
• Coming May 1, 2028.

Board Partnership

The Development Plan Kit. History Before Hope: Annual Development Plan Guide, with Show Your Math: Annual Development Plan Templates. A development plan built from three to five years of your own results, sized to the hours you actually have, and reviewed every quarter.

• What’s inside. The guide and twenty-two templates (PDF and Word each), an adoptable Development Plan Approval and Review Policy, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Oct. 4, 2027.

The Board Governance Policies Kit. On the Record: Board Governance Policies Guide, with Signed Every Year: Board Governance Policies and Forms. The policies your Form 990 asks about (conflicts of interest, whistleblowers, records, executive pay, and expenses), a board member agreement, and the yearly habits that keep them real.

• What’s inside. The guide and a policies and forms handbook (PDF and Word each, the handbook with fill-in fields), and an Excel governance workbook.
• Coming Dec. 6, 2027.

Inclusive Philanthropy

The Donor Recognition Kit. Thanks Out Loud: Donor Recognition Guide. Honor rolls, giving and legacy societies, naming, and recognition events, with equity built into every part, so the volunteer with ten years of Saturdays isn’t left off the list.

• What’s inside. The guide (PDF and Word), with its forms, worksheets, and sample letters as a Word file with fill-in fields.
• Coming Jan. 4, 2027.

The Advancement Hiring Kit. The Job as It Is: Advancement Team Job Descriptions. Find where your team’s needs really are, then hire for the job as it is, with eighteen model job descriptions for development, communications, events, volunteer, school, and board roles.

• What’s inside. The guide (PDF and Word), with pay guidance, a posting template, an interview rubric, and a career ladder, and its templates and forms as a Word file with fill-in fields.
• Coming Feb. 1, 2027.

The Ethics and Donor Privacy Kit. A Floor, Not a Ceiling: Fundraising Ethics and Donor Privacy Guide, with Before You Need It: Fundraising Ethics and Donor Privacy Policies and Forms. Ethics and donor privacy policies a board can adopt, built on the code most of us signed: duties to the people you serve, protection for fundraisers, rules for AI tools, and a privacy notice for your website.

• What’s inside. The guide and a policies and forms handbook (PDF and Word each, the handbook with fill-in fields), and an Excel workbook.
• Coming June 28, 2027.

The LGBTQ+ Inclusive Fundraising Kit. All Year, Not Just June: LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Development Guide. LGBTQ+ inclusion across development, from the donor database to Pride Month.

• What’s inside. To be announced.
• Coming May 31, 2028.

Data and Systems Optimization

The Database Standards Kit. Every Record Is a Person: Database Standards Manual. Names and households, gift entry, identity data on donors’ terms, privacy, and the routines that keep every record accurate and respectful.

• What’s inside. The manual (PDF and Word), its forms as a Word file with fill-in fields, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming Nov. 18, 2026.

The Business Office Kit. One Gift, Two Ledgers: Development and Business Office Guide. How development and the business office share one set of facts about every gift: a monthly reconciliation, restricted gifts, pledges, the year-end cutoff, and the audit, with a working agreement both offices sign.

• What’s inside. The guide (PDF and Word), its forms as a Word file with fill-in fields, and an Excel workbook.
• Coming May 17, 2027.

The Dashboards Kit. Fewer Numbers, Better Questions: Fundraising Metrics and Dashboards Guide, with One Page, Every Month: Fundraising Metrics and Dashboards Templates. The few fundraising numbers your board needs, defined so they hold, reconciled with the books, and laid out on one page everyone can read.

• What’s inside. The guide and its templates (PDF and Word each, the templates with fill-in fields), and an Excel workbook that builds the page from a gift export.
• Coming July 12, 2027.

More Free Tools

Shorter tools for one job at a time: The Board Fundraising Toolkit, The Development Office Self-Audit, The Case for Support Workbook, and The Inclusive Fundraising Checklist. See the free toolkits →

Want help putting a kit to work? Schedule a free consultation →