Picks of the Week: August 22 - 28, 2010

Website of the Week – Virtual Arts Incubator Project

Arts Services, a division of the Fine Arts Fund, developed the Virtual Arts Incubator Project as a way to offer start-up nonprofit organizations advice, as well as links and access to some of the materials, forms and services they need along the way.. From "arts insights" to organization charts and financial models, the Virtual Arts Incubator is a resource for a wide variety of audiences including small arts organizations, board members and Fine Arts Fund volunteers to organizations of all sizes. A panel of volunteers in the nonprofit, legal and for-profit business fields collaborated to offer this resource guide along with access to many other sources of information. Go to: http://www.artsincubator.org.


Publication of the Week -- How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

From the publisher: Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives? The primary obstacle is a conflict that’s built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems—the rational mind and the emotional mind—that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort—but if it is overcome, change can come quickly. In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people—employees and managers, parents and nurses—have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results. In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – Continuing Impact of the Economy on Public Charities And Private Foundations

Some 40 percent of participants in GuideStar's first nonprofit economic survey for 2010 reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier. Another 28 percent said that contributions had stayed about the same, and 30 percent stated contributions had increased. "The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector: A June 2010 Survey" presents these results and more. Among the other findings:

• Eight percent of respondents indicated that their organizations was were in imminent danger of closing.
• In order to balance budgets, 17 percent of respondents reduced program services, and 11 percent laid off employees.
• More than 60 percent of participants reporting decreased contributions attributed the drop to a decline in both the number of individual donors and the size of their donations.
• Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions.
• About a third (32 percent) of organizations increased their reliance on volunteers, whereas 9 percent experienced a decline.

To download a free copy of the report, go to: http://www2.guidestar.org.


Resource of the Week – Nonprofit Risk Management Center

The Nonprofit Risk Management Center was established in 1990 to provide assistance and resources for community-serving nonprofit organizations. As a nonprofit, the Center is uniquely positioned to both understand and respond to questions with practical, affordable suggestions for controlling risks that threaten a nonprofit’s ability to accomplish its mission. The Center's mission is to help nonprofits cope with uncertainty by offering a wide range of services (from technical assistance to software to training and consulting help) on a vast array of risk management topics (from employment practices, to insurance purchasing to internal controls and preventing child abuse). The Center does not sell insurance or endorse organizations that do. Go to: http://www.nonprofitrisk.org.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Using the Excel 2007 Camera Tool

The Excel 2007 Camera tool lets you take a picture of a range of cells on a worksheet. Before you can use this tool you must first add it to the Quick Access Toolbar on the Ribbon.

To add the Camera tool to the Quick Access Toolbar:

• Click the Office button in the upper-left corner of the Ribbon Click the Excel Options button
• Click Customize
• In the Choose Commands From drop-down list, select Commands Not in the Ribbon
• Select Camera and double-click to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar
• Click OK to close the Excel Options dialog box

To use this tool:

• Select a range on your worksheet
• Click the Camera tool on the Ribbon
• Click where you want the picture to appear (In this workbook or even in another workbook)

A graphic is created of the range you selected. If you change the original data the picture also changes. You can even copy or move this picture to the clipboard and paste it into Word or PowerPoint if you need to. However, if you copy it into another program it will no longer update when the original is changed.