Unlike for other health system stakeholders, there have been few visible efforts to support the use of research evidence in community-based organisations (CBOs). To begin to address this gap, we conducted focus groups and interviews with executive directors and programme managers of CBOs from the HIV/AIDS, diabetes and mental health and addictions sectors to examine their roles in health systems, their views about and experiences with research evidence, and their preferences for making systematic reviews easier to use. This study provides practical tools for supporting the use of research evidence by CBOs and for providing the results of reviews in a more accessible format.