The 90-day plan: a printable checklist.

This is the same 90-day plan we run with the NGOs we set up, turned into a checklist you can print and work through. Three phases, twelve weeks, one evidence pack at the end. Nobody needs to be technical to use it. It needs one named systems owner and the discipline to finish one phase before starting the next.

Print this page, or open it on a phone in your Monday check-in and tick the boxes as they land. If a box is not ticked by the end of its phase, that is your agenda for the week, not a reason to move on.

Before you start: week zero

Do these things before you touch a single application form. Skipping week zero is the most common reason a setup stalls in week three.

Two documents do most of the work, because every vendor is really asking the same two questions: are you a legally registered organisation, and are you recognised as a nonprofit or NGO. Whatever your country calls these documents, gather both, clearly named, in one folder you will attach from again and again.

• Name one systems owner. One person, not a committee, with 6 to 10 hours a week free for the first six weeks.
• Your registration document: the certificate that proves you are a legally registered, state-approved organisation in your country. In Ghana this is the certificate of incorporation as a company limited by guarantee from the Office of the Registrar of Companies. In Nigeria it is the Certificate of Incorporation of Incorporated Trustees from the Corporate Affairs Commission. In Kenya it is the Certificate of Registration from the NGO Coordination Board. In South Africa it is the Nonprofit Organisation (NPO) certificate from the Department of Social Development. In Uganda it is the certificate from the National Bureau for NGOs. Use whatever your own registrar issues.
• Your NGO recognition or membership certificate: the document that confirms you operate as an NGO, not just any registered body. In Ghana this is the certificate of recognition from the Department of Social Welfare. Most countries issue an equivalent through their NGO board, social-development ministry, or a recognised NGO council. If yours does, include it, because larger funders and some vendors ask for it by name.
• Your tax identification number (TIN, or your country's equivalent) and a signed board authorisation letter, ready to attach.
• Answer three questions on one page: who you track and what you call them, the one activity you most need to prove to a funder, and what a good week looks like in numbers.

Phase 1 · Week 1 to 2 · Fast wins

Google Workspace and Slack, live. Week one is paperwork and provisioning. Week two is rollout, and the team should feel the change by day 10.

• Google for Nonprofits application submitted, with your registration certificate, NGO recognition certificate, tax ID and board letter attached.
• Slack for Nonprofits application submitted through TechSoup.
• Google Workspace live in your NGO's name, and you own it.
• A named firstname@yourorg.org address for every staff member.
• Shared Drive set up with folders that match how funders ask for documents.
• Main internal WhatsApp group moved to Slack.
• Systems owner can add users and reset passwords without help.

Time from your team this phase: 6 to 8 hours from the systems owner, and about 1 hour from every other staff member.

Phase 2 · Week 3 to 6 · The engine

Salesforce, built for how your team actually works. This is the hard part. The application is filed while the data model is built on a sandbox, so nothing waits idle.

• Salesforce Power of Us application filed.
• Data model built for your programme, not a generic template: beneficiary tracking, programme indicators, and funder-report fields disaggregated by location, age band and sex.
• Existing records cleaned first, then migrated into the beneficiary object.
• Salesforce Enterprise org live with all 10 free licenses assigned.
• One starter dashboard your Programs Manager can screenshot straight into a funder report.
• Every field officer trained on the Salesforce mobile app, on their own phone.
• Systems owner able to answer 80 percent of day-to-day questions unaided.

Time from your team this phase: 8 to 10 hours a week from the systems owner, and roughly 2 hours per field officer for training.

Phase 3 · Week 6 to 12 · Proof and reach

Canva templates and Ad Grants, live, then the proof. The last week is the before-and-after review that becomes your evidence pack.

• Canva Nonprofits account live, with up to 50 users assigned.
• Core template set built and branded: funder proposal cover, monthly report cover, social post, event flyer, and beneficiary story.
• Website checked for a clear mission page and contact details, with any upgrade flagged early.
• Google Ad Grants application submitted.
• Before-and-after evidence pack produced: one page, funder-ready.
• 90-day support window opened for follow-up questions.

Time from your team this phase: about 2 hours a week from the systems owner, dropping to 1 hour a week during the support window that follows.

What the day-90 evidence pack should show

One page, three numbers, before and after. If you can produce this, the setup worked and you have something to attach to your next funder update.

• Hours saved on your monthly report.
• How long a funder disaggregation request now takes. Aim for a screenshot, not a Friday night.
• The share of your records that are current and can be trusted.

Where SF Fellows GH fits

We help qualifying NGOs get set up on all four tools at no cost, and we can place a trained Fellow with you for six months to be the systems owner while your team learns. The Fellow runs week zero, the migration and the rhythm above, then leaves your staff able to keep it going. If you want to walk through this checklist against your own organisation, book a fifteen-minute call and we will tell you honestly what you qualify for and what would ship in your first thirty days.