Monday, November 14, 2011

Picks of the Week: November 13 - 19, 2011

Website of the Week -- Online Compendium of NPO Regulations

This Web site provides a central resource for nonprofit organization (NPO) administrators, regulators and the interested public to find information about the laws and regulations controlling NPOs in the U.S. The site has three major sections: a set of informational pages about various general topics, a section of pages each dedicated to an individual jurisdiction (e.g. states) that describe the regulations of those jurisdictions, and a section devoted to current issues in NPO regulation and the efforts being made to minimize the regulatory burden that NPOs face. Go to: http://www.muridae.com/nporegulation.


Publication of the Week -- Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman

From the publisher: Blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other publishing platforms are giving everyone a "voice," including organizations and their customers. So how do you create the bold stories, videos, and blog posts that cultivate fans, arouse passion for your products or services, and ignite your business? Content Rules equips you for online success with a one-stop source on the art and science of developing marketing content that people care about. This coverage is interwoven with case studies of companies successfully spreading their ideas online-and using them to establish credibility and build a loyal customer base.

• Learn the art of storytelling and the science of journalism
• Find an authentic "voice" and craft bold content that will resonate with prospects and buyers and encourage them to share it with others
• Leverage social media and social tools to get your content and ideas distributed as widely as possible
• Boost your online presence and engage with customers and prospects like never before with Content Rules.

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – Computer and Internet Use at Home

Exploring the Digital Nation - Computer and Internet Use at Home updates and expands last year’s report, Exploring the Digital Nation: Home Broadband Internet Adoption in the United States, based on data from the Census Bureau’s most recent Current Population Survey (CPS) School Enrollment and Internet Use Supplement. Key findings include:

• As of October 2010, more than 68 percent of households used broadband Internet access service, up from 64 percent one year earlier
• Cable modem (32 percent) and DSL (23 percent) ranked as the most commonly used broadband technologies. Other technologies, including mobile broadband, fiber optics, and satellite services, accounted for a small, but growing, segment of households with broadband Internet access service.
• Over three-fourths (77 percent) of households had a computer – the principal means by which households access the Internet – compared with 62 percent in 2003. Low computer use correlates with low broadband adoption rates.
• Broadband Internet adoption, as well as computer use, varied across demographic and geographic groups. Lower income families, people with less education, those with disabilities, Blacks, Hispanics, and rural residents generally lagged the national average in both broadband adoption and computer use. For example, home broadband adoption and computer use stood at only 16 percent and 27 percent, respectively, among rural households headed by a Black householder without a high school diploma. Also, households with school-age children exhibited higher broadband adoption and computer use rates than other households (Section 4.1, Figure 7).
• The most important reasons households without broadband Internet or dial-up service gave for not subscribing were: (1) lack of need or interest (47 percent); (2) lack of affordability (24 percent); and (3) inadequate computer (15 percent)

For more information and to download the full report, go to: http://www.esa.doc.gov.


Resource of the Week – Tools for Capacity Building

The National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) has compiled an excellent collection of capacity building tools and resources for nonprofits. Go to: http://www.councilofnonprofits.org.


Tech Tip of the Week Using Date Functions in Excel 2007/2010

There are many ways to use the Date functions in Excel. Previous Tech Tips have included: Calculate a Person's Age in Excel; Calculate Remaining Days in the Year; and Calculate the Days, Months or Years between Dates in Excel.

A lesser known date function is NETWORKDAYS, which returns the number of work days between two dates. The format for this function is: NETWORKDAYS(start_date,end_date,[holidays]). Holidays is optional.

The following tutorials can help you learn to use of the Date functions in Excel:
Excel 2007 / 2010 Date Functions: Working with Dates in Excel from www.about.com.

Microsoft Excel 2007 to 2010: The Date Function in Excel from www.homeandlearn.co.uk.

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