Monday, July 20, 2009

Picks of the Week: July 19 - 25, 2009

Website of the Week -- The Linchpin Campaign

Linchpin is a project of the Center for Community Change (CCC), which seeks to expand the resources available to community organizing efforts in the United States. Linchpin aims to persuade a wider range of donors and funders to support organizing and assists community organizing groups in effectively communicating the impact of community organizing. Go to: http://www.communitychange.org.


Publication of the Week -- Nonprofit Mergers Workbook Part I: The Leaders Guide to Considering, Negotiating, and Executing a Merger, by David La Piana

From the publisher: From assessing reasons and readiness, to finding a partner, to negotiating the best path, to budgeting and implementation, author David La Piana guides you through the maze of options with a steady hand. Based on experience with more than sixty mergers, this handbook is the perfect starting point for any nonprofit exploring a possible merger—and a basic resource for all nonprofit managers. You'll find:

• How to decide what kind of structure—from collaboration to merger—meets your goals
• What kind of merger best fits your goals, structure, and financial situation
• How to seek merger partners and objectively assess the pros and cons of each
• How to manage the board’s essential role in merger considerations
• How to exercise due diligence and write the merger agreement
• What you can do yourself, when to call in attorneys and consultants, and how to select them
• Typical roadblocks and how to beat them
• How to move past old history and build new traditions as you integrate staff, management, boards, systems, and corporate cultures
• How to budget for and raise funds to implement the merger

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week -- Resurgence in Social Justice Philanthropy

After a number of years of declining faith in the efficacy of social justice philanthropy, grantmakers and practitioners alike are showing renewed optimism, according to Social Justice Grantmaking II, a benchmarking study by the Foundation Center that provides an in-depth look at current attitudes and giving patterns of social justice philanthropists. Grantmakers and practitioners interviewed cite a changed political environment, the success of community organizing in the recent election, and new ideas and energy in the field among a number of factors reinvigorating a commitment to social justice philanthropy. To download report highlight or to order the full report, go to: http://foundationcenter.org.


Resource of the Week -- Community Organizing Fundraising Guide

In this guide, UNTAPPED: How Community Organizers Can Develop and Deepen Relationships with Major Donors And Raise Big Money, the authors examine how to apply the basics of community organizing to raising money from major donors. The guide begins with an overview of the potential and the challenges of major donor fundraising. The authors introduce findings from a survey of major donors and other sources of information. They go on to describe different types of major donors, how and where to find them, and some key things to keep in mind about major donor fundraising. At the heart of the guide is an examination of each of the five main findings from the survey and the implications for organizers, leaders, and those raising money for community organizing. Sample scenarios, talking points, organizing examples, reference information, and a list of other resources are included. To download a copy of the guide, go to: http://www.communitychange.org.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Keep a file on the Office 2007 Recent Documents List

An excellent new feature in Office 2007 which works in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access, is the ability to keep or “pin” a file in the Recent Documents list, here’s how:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button
• Click the pin icon beside the document you want to keep on the list
• The pin button changes to a push pin viewed from the top

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