Picks of the Week: May 18 - June 1, 2008

Website of the Week -- American Management Association

The American Management Association website features an extensive collection of free learning resources including:

• Thinker Series A selection of the latest insight behind today's leading business issues.
• Free E-Newsletters AMA’s free monthly e-newsletters focus on key issues such as work/life balance, communication and leadership. Others are targeted to HR, administrative professionals, pharma and healthcare employees.
• Research: Access to AMA's surveys and reports on current business topics and trends from job creation to crisis management. New surveys conducted and posted monthly.
• AMA Online Library; In-depth information on a variety of management and business topics in the form of tips, articles, e-books, book reviews and more.
• Recent Events: Valuable summaries and archives of many of AMA’s recent Webcast, conferences, forums, and briefings.

You will need to sign up for an access pass which will give you free and unlimited access to recorded Webcasts, Research Reports and the Online Library. Go to: http://www.amanet.org/free_resources.htm.


Publication of the Week -- Philanthropy Annual: 2007 Review

From the publisher: This new compendium, published by the Foundation Center, provides a full overview of organized philanthropy in all its forms, illustrating philanthropy's important role in society and its national and global impact. Its contents are drawn in part from Philanthropy News Digest (PND), the Foundation Center's daily online news service, as well as selected research findings in the annual Foundations Today Series and other Center sources. Highlights include:

• Topical issues covered in the mainstream and philanthropic press during 2007
• News of individuals who have dedicated their professional lives to working for the public good
• In-depth interviews and commentary from widely respected leaders and thinkers
• A sampling of books, periodicals, and blogs in the field
• Key statistical information about U.S. grantmaking
• A desk reference section with contact information for sector organizations and philanthropy press

To order a copy, go to: http://foundationcenter.org/marketplace/catalog/product_monograph.jhtml?id=prod1900001.


Trend of the Week -- Social Finance Trends

Charity Village recently published a report entitled, Strengthening Organizational Capacity: Social Finance Survey Report. The report explores the concept of social finance, or finance that delivers social, environmental and economic benefits, and how it may be an excellent opportunity for nonprofits to identify new ways of accessing capital since 96% of survey respondents agree that the nonprofit sector needs to explore new ways of accessing capital to meet its goals. The majority of respondents (61%) from outside of Canada had heard of the term “social finance.” while within Canada, that awareness level dropped to 53% of respondents. For more information, and to download the full report, visit: www.charityvillage.com/cv/research/SocialFinanceReport.pdf.


Resource of the Week -- EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial

This interactive software tool walks the user through the grant-writing process and helps them learn to write more competitive grants. While the focus is on EPA grant applications, the resource will be useful for grant writing in general. The program includes:

• Detailed information and tips on writing a grant proposal
• How to complete a grant application package
• Program-specific sections on three EPA grant programs
• Examples of good, complete grant packages
• References and a glossary of terms
• Resources and contacts
• A mock grant-writing activity where the user is able to compare their results to a successful grant application

Go to: http://www.purdue.edu/dp/envirosoft/grants/src/msieopen.htm.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Sorting and Filtering in Excel 2007

A big improvement in Excel 2007 is the ability to sort on up to 64 levels instead of the 3 we had available in prior versions. You can also filter data by color or by dates and Excel will display more than 1000 items in the AutoFilter drop-down list. A quick way to sort or filter data in Excel 2007 is to use the shortcut menu:

• Right click a column in your table
• Select Filter or Sort from the shortcut menu
• To sort by the column selected, click Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A
• To sort on multiple criteria, select Custom Sort to display the Sort dialog box