Learning Pathways
Start by finding out where your organisation should focus, then follow practical learning matched to what you find.
See where your organisation should focus next
The capacity assessment walks your team through eight areas of how an NGO is run. You answer at your own pace, save and come back later, and get findings linked to practical learning. Your answers stay private to your organisation.
Try five sample questions
One question from five of the eight areas. It shows how the questions feel and how findings lead to learning. Nothing you choose here is saved or sent.
- Pick the option that best describes your organisation today, not where you plan to be.
- Not sure? Skip the question. Unanswered items are shown as unanswered, never guessed.
- Use Tab to reach the options and the arrow keys to move between them.
Your preview findings
ExampleThis is a preview. Your answers are not saved or sent.
Eight areas of a well-run organisation
The areas below are proposed for the V1 questionnaire. Their final wording and the questions inside them are being tested with the pilot group.
Governance
How your board works, how decisions are made and recorded, and who is accountable for what.
Safeguarding
Keeping participants, staff and volunteers safe, with clear policies and a way to report concerns.
Project management
Planning, delivering and reviewing projects, from work plans to risk and partner coordination.
Finance
Budgets, bookkeeping, financial controls and reporting that funders and members can rely on.
Fundraising
Knowing your funding sources, preparing applications and reducing reliance on a single funder.
Communications
Telling your story clearly to members, partners, funders and the communities you serve.
Digitalisation & AI
Using digital tools and AI responsibly, protecting data and building the skills your team needs.
Impact measurement
Defining what success looks like, collecting evidence and learning from your results.
How your results are used
The assessment exists to help your organisation plan. It is not a test you pass or fail, and it is not shown to other members.
Private by default
Only people in your organisation's team can see your answers and findings. They never appear in the directory, and there are no public rankings or league tables.
Versioned questionnaire
Each set of results is stored with the version of the questions and method used. If the questionnaire changes, your earlier results keep their original version so comparisons stay honest.
Reassess later
You can take the assessment again after you have worked on your priorities. Comparing results over time is planned for a later release.
Self-reported, and labelled that way
Findings reflect your team's own answers. They are kept separate from anything a reviewer has checked, and they are not a certification or an accreditation.
Who should answer the questions?
Ideally two or three people who know the organisation well, for example a board member and a staff lead. Discussing the answers together is often as useful as the findings themselves.
Can we stop and come back later?
Yes. In the live platform your progress is saved as a draft, and anyone on your team with the right role can continue where you left off.
Is the score a rating of our organisation?
No. Findings show where your own answers suggest you could focus next. They are not a certification, they are not compared publicly, and the scoring method is still being finalised.
Do we need to be verified first?
The access rules for the pilot are being agreed. The aim is that you can start using development tools while your verification is still in progress.
Does a good result help us get funding?
No. Results are for your own planning. Funders set and decide their own eligibility, and we don't share your answers with them.
Practical learning for the way NGOs actually work
A small, carefully chosen set of courses, templates and toolkits across eight capacity areas. Each one is linked to the needs your capacity assessment finds.
Organised around what your organisation needs
Resources, courses and learning paths
Course titles and content are examples. The launch catalogue will be confirmed with the pilot group. Completion records and certificates are proposed for V1.5.
How recommendations link to learning
When your assessment shows a gap, the Academy suggests a few specific resources and tells you exactly why each one was chosen.
- Simple, readable rules connect each assessment answer to resources in that area. No black box.
- Every suggestion shows the answer that triggered it, so you can judge whether it fits.
- Your answers stay private. Recommendations are visible only to your team.
- AI-assisted recommendations are not part of V1. Any future use would be tested first.
Finance: your next steps
ExampleSuggestions come from rules the Academy team maintains. You can dismiss any suggestion.
Every resource shows where it comes from
Before anything enters the catalogue, it needs four things on record. They're shown on every resource page so you can judge it for yourself.
Safeguarding policy template for small NGOs
An editable policy covering reporting routes, a designated safeguarding lead, safer recruitment and review. Adapt it to your country's legal requirements.
- Capacity area
- Safeguarding
- Owner
- Vision Academy content team
- Source
- Adapted from an example open template (CC BY 4.0)
- Version
- 1.2 · reporting section updated
- Last reviewed
- 15 Sep 2026
- Next review
- Sep 2027
- Format
- Editable document
Share what your organisation knows
Trainers, universities and experienced NGOs have tools that others need. We want to include them, with the same quality checks as everything else.
- During the pilot, the Academy team curates the catalogue and reviews every item.
- Contributed material keeps your name as the source, with the licence you choose.
- Each item needs an owner, source, version and review date before it's published.
- A self-service contributor workflow is planned for a later release.
Learn what matters most for your organisation
Pilot organisations take the capacity assessment and get Academy suggestions matched to their findings.