Monday, May 13, 2013

Picks of the Week: May 12 - 18, 2013

Website of the Week --  FrameWorks Institute
The mission of the FrameWorks Institute is to advance the nonprofit sector's communications capacity by identifying, translating and modeling relevant scholarly research for framing the public discourse about social problems. FrameWorks designs, commissions, manages and publishes communications research to prepare nonprofit organizations to expand their constituency base, to build public will, and to further public understanding of specific social issues. In addition to working closely with social policy experts familiar with the specific issue, its work is informed by a team of communications scholars and practitioners who are convened to discuss the research problem, and to work together in outlining potential strategies for advancing remedial policies. FrameWorks also critiques, designs, conducts and evaluates communications campaigns on social issues. Its work is based on an approach called "strategic frame analysis," which has been developed in partnership with UCLA's Center for Communications and Community. Go to: www.frameworksinstitute.org

Publication of the Week -- Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use by Michael Quinn Patton PhD
From the publisher: Developmental evaluation (DE) offers a powerful approach to monitoring and supporting social innovations by working in partnership with program decision makers. In this book, eminent authority Michael Quinn Patton shows how to conduct evaluations within a DE framework. Patton draws on insights about complex dynamic systems, uncertainty, nonlinearity, and emergence. He illustrates how DE can be used for a range of purposes: ongoing program development, adapting effective principles of practice to local contexts, generating innovations and taking them to scale, and facilitating rapid response in crisis situations. Students and practicing evaluators will appreciate the book's extensive case examples and stories, cartoons, clear writing style, "closer look" sidebars, and summary tables. Provided is essential guidance for making evaluations useful, practical, and credible in support of social change.
 

Trend of the Week -- Mobile Fundraising Trends
Artez Interactive is a provider of web, mobile and social fundraising solutions for non-profits and charities around the world. Artez conducted a study to answer the questions: What's the impact of mobile technology on peer-driven fundraising campaigns? The firm examined the success of over 80,000 participants in a variety of fundraising campaigns to help answer this question. Key findings include:

15% of traffic to fundraising and donation pages comes from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

23% of participants in peer-driven events and campaigns choose to use mobile technology to help them fundraise for good causes.

Participants who use mobile technology to fundraise in a campaign raise up to 2.95x more than those who do not.

The percentage of donations made on mobile web browsers has grown 205% in the last 12 months.

Event participants using iPhones raise just slightly more than participants on Android devices.

To download the  research paper, go to: http://info.artez.com/mobile-fundraising-research-paper-2013

Resource of the Week –  Building Multiple Revenue Sources
The Compassion Capital Fund (CCF), administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provided capacity building grants to expand and strengthen the role of nonprofit organizations in their ability to provide social services to low-income individuals. Between 2002 and 2009, CCF awarded 1,277 grants, and the CCF National Resource Center provided training and technical assistance to all CCF grantees. Strengthening Nonprofits: A Capacity Builder’s Resource Library is born out of the expansive set of resources created by the National Resource Center during that time period, to be shared and to continue the legacy of CCF’s capacity building work. This guidebook provides an overview of fifteen different revenue sources, insight into how online tools can help support revenue development, a step-by-step guide to developing a new revenue source, and analysis tools to help you assess your organization’s strengths and limitations. After reading this guidebook, you will know how to evaluate, start, and sustain one or more new income or revenue sources. Ideally, the tools, resources, and knowledge included in this guidebook will enable you to raise more money through the development of a targeted strategy that caters to your organization’s stage of development, strengths, and community assets. To download the free guide, go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocs/revenue_sources.pdf

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