Picks of the Week: February 17 - 23, 2008

Website of the Week -- Center for Association Leadership

The Center for Association Leadership, founded by the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives (GWSAE), is an organization of people, resources and ideas focused on the future of associations. The site offers an extensive array of programs, knowledge resources and community networks including a Knowledge Resource section where you'll find association case studies, models and samples, articles and whitepapers, book reviews, the Ten Cool Ideas collection and expert recommendations covering all aspects of association management. Go to: http://www.asaecenter.org/AboutUs/GWNetwork.cfm?navItemNumber=15937


Publication of the Week -- Giving Back: Connecting You, Business, and Community by Peter Economy and Bert Berkley

From the Publisher: There is something exciting happening in businesses across the country. More business-people and more companies than ever are participating in charitable activities and are learning that giving back is not a slogan—it is a way of doing business and a way of life. Giving Back reveals how fundamental and lasting changes are being accomplished in communities and highlights highly effective organizations from a number of major metropolitan areas, including Kiva.org, Horizons for Homeless Children, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, LINC, Stonyfield Farm Profits for the Planet, and many more. You will be inspired by the stories, anecdotes, personal observations, experience, and advice of visionary leaders in business, including:

• Roger Brown and Linda Mason, cofounders of Bright Horizons Family Solutions
• S. Truett Cathy, founder and Chairman, Chick-fil-A®, Inc.
• Matt Flannery, cofounder of Kiva.org
• Gary Hirshberg, Chairman, President, and CEO of Stonyfield Farm
• Kent C. (Oz) Nelson, retired chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service

In each case, you will discover the positive benefits of becoming personally involved in your community and of affiliating your business with charities and nonprofits. These benefits include an increase in your bottom line and in your employees' morale, as well as a boost to your company's brand and reputation—all through giving back.

http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047016753X.html


Trend of the Week -- Civic Engagement Among Minority Youth

A report from the CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) authored by Karlo Barrios Marcelo, Mark Hugo Lopez, and Emily Hoban Kirby summarizes trends in civic engagement among minority youth. Minority youth are engaged in a wide variety of civic activities. Recent research suggests that there are differences in the nature and degree of civic engagement among young people by race and ethnicity. This research generally finds that African-American youth are among the most engaged politically, and Asian-American youth are among the most engaged in civic activities such as volunteering. In contrast, most work has found that young Latinos often lag behind every other group on traditional measures of engagement, especially in voting and volunteering. However, Latino youth are highly engaged in other ways, such as protesting. The report utilized data from the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey, and several other sources. Go to: http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/FS_07_minority_ce.pdf.


Resource of the Week -- Planned Giving: A Board Member’s Perspective

The purpose of this resource is to provide board members with an overview of the fundamentals of planned giving. Board members are critical to the success of a planned giving initiative, as they often can help set the stage with donors and support the staff in executing agreements. In fluid economic times, with volatile stock markets and income streams making unexpected swings, more organizations may rely on planned giving programs for meeting their financial goals. The need for maintaining and increasing the endowment ranks high on the agenda of most organizations. Few programs support this objective of long-term financial stability more effectively than planned gifts. Go to: http://www.grantthornton.com/staticfiles/GTCom/files/Industries/NotForProfit/planned%20giving.pdf.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Total Data in an Excel 2007 Table

New in Excel 2007, you can now total the data in a Microsoft Office Excel table by displaying a totals row at the end of the table. Here's how:

• Click anywhere in the table to display the Table Tools Design tab
• Click the Design tab
• In the Table Style Options group, select the Total Row check box
• In the total row, click the cell in the column you want to calculate a total for
• Click the drop-down list arrow that appears
• In the drop-down list, select the function you want to use to calculate the total