Picks of the Week: December 13 - 19, 2009

Website of the Week -- IMPACT Arts

IMPACT Arts is a component of Animating Democracy’s Arts & Civic Engagement Impact Initiative which received initial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The initiative works to advance understanding of and help make the case for the social efficacy of arts-based civic engagement work. Animating Democracy is a program of Americans for the Arts. The website is organized around the following five areas:

• Get Grounded: Key concepts that relate to understanding types of social impact plus ways to get started in evaluating arts-based civic engagement work.
• Social Impact Indicators: Outcomes, indicators, and data collection methods for the most common social and civic outcomes aspired to and achieved through arts and cultural work.
• Evaluation in Action Tools: An annotated listing linked to selected evaluation tools and frameworks.
• Stories & Examples: Case studies, evaluation reports, and profiles that describe how real arts projects and programs have been evaluated and what they learned about impact.
• Theory: Papers, essays, and articles on topics related to documenting, measuring, and reporting impacts for civic engagement and social change through the arts.

Go to: http://impact.animatingdemocracy.org.

Publication of the Week -- The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World by John Elkington, Pamela Hartigan and Klaus Schwab

From the publisher: Through vivid stories, the authors identify the highly unconventional entrepreneurs who are solving some of the world's most pressing economic, social, and environmental problems. They also show how these pioneers are disrupting existing industries, value chains, and business models--and in the process creating fast-growing markets around the world. By understanding these entrepreneurs' mindsets and strategies, you gain vital insights into future market opportunities for your own organization. Providing a first-hand, on-the-ground look at a new breed of entrepreneur, this book reveals how apparently unreasonable innovators have built their enterprises, how their work will shape risks and opportunities in the coming years, and what tomorrow's leaders can learn from them. Start investing in, partnering with, and learning from these world-shaping change agents, and you position yourself to not only survive but also thrive in the new business landscape they're helping to define. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week -- Trends In Public Participation In The Arts

American audiences for the arts are getting older, and their numbers are declining, according to new research released by the National Endowment for the Arts. Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey features top findings from the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the nation's largest and most representative periodic study of adult participation in arts events and activities, conducted by the NEA in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. Five times since 1982, the survey has asked U.S. adults 18 and older about their patterns of arts participation over a 12-month period. The 2008 survey reveals dwindling audiences for many art forms, but it also captures new data on Internet use and other forms of arts participation. Although the 2008 recession likely affected survey responses, long-term trend analysis shows that other factors also may have contributed to lower arts participation rates. Key findings include:

• There are persistent patterns of decline in participation for most art forms. Nearly 35 percent of U.S. adults – or an estimated 78 million – attended an art museum or an arts performance in the 2008 survey period, compared with about 40 percent in 1982, 1992, and 2002.
• Aging audiences are a long-term trend. Performing arts attendees are increasingly older than the average U.S. adult (45). The aging of the baby boom generation does not appear to account for the overall increase in age.
• Educated Americans are participating less than before, and educated audiences are the most likely to attend or participate in the arts.
• The Internet and mass media are reaching substantial audiences for the arts.

To download a copy of the study, go to: http://www.arts.endow.gov.


Resource of the Week -- E-Advocacy for Nonprofits

More nonprofits are discovering the power of the Internet to promote their public policy agendas. This guide comprehensively addresses the laws governing Internet advocacy, from voter education websites to e-mail action alerts. E-Advocacy for Nonprofits answers many of the questions raised by activists about how the laws of nonprofit advocacy apply in cyberspace. It represents the best research and thinking available on how nonprofits can use the Internet for lobbying and electoral advocacy while staying within the law. Go to: http://www.afj.org.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Change the Number of Default Sheets in an Excel 2007 Workbook

• Click the Office button on the Ribbon
• Click the Excel Options button
• On the Popular tab, under When creating new workbooks, enter the number of sheets you want after the Include this many sheets option