Picks of the Week: April 20 - 26, 2008

Website of the Week -- African American Nonprofit Network

The African American Nonprofit Network was founded in 2006 to strengthen diversity among the leadership of nonprofit organizations within the National Capital Region. By broadening the base of African American management and leadership, AANN helps nonprofits better understand and address the needs of the children, youth and families they serve. AANN achieves these results by helping nonprofit organizations in the National Capital Region identify:
• Experienced African American managers within the nonprofit sector to serve as president, executive director, CEO, COO, CFO, chief human services officer, and in other senior management capacities;
• Talented African Americas in other arenas, such as the for-profit sector and military service, that are interested in working in the nonprofit sector, and helping them to transition their careers; and
• African Americans with strong leadership skills that are interested in serving as board members, advisors, and mentors for board members. Go to: http://www.aannexchange.org.


Publication of the Week -- The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization by Peter F. Drucker and the Leader to Leader Institute

From the publisher: With Peter Drucker’s five essential questions and the help of five of today’s thought leaders, this little book will challenge readers to take a close look at the very heart of their organizations and what drives them. A tool for self-assessment and transformation, answering these five questions will fundamentally change the way you work, helping you lead your organization to an exceptional level of performance. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week -- Giving by U.S. Family Foundations Jumped 21 Percent in 2006

America's family foundations gave $17 billion in 2006, a 21 percent increase over 2005, according to the Foundation Center's new report, Key Facts on Family Foundations (2008 Edition). Since 1998 — the first year for which statistics on family foundations are available — giving by these grantmakers has more than doubled. The report identified 37,100 independent foundations with measurable donor or donor-family involvement. Among other key findings in the report:

• 67 percent of all family foundations have been established since 1990.
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ranked as the largest family foundation by giving and assets in 2006.
• Many family foundations are small, with 49 percent giving less than $50,000 annually.
• Education was the top funding priority of family foundations located in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, while health accounted for the biggest share among Western family foundations, largely due to the Seattle, WA-based Gates Foundation.

To download a copy of the report, go to: http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/keyfacts_fam_2008.pdf.


Resource of the Week -- Blue Avocado

Blue Avocado is a new online magazine whose aim is to engage and support the people of community nonprofits. Blue Avocado will publish on the 1st and 15th of every month—and is delivered via email newsletter, website, and RSS feed. Future issues will include
• Board Cafe for nonprofit board members
• Personal Finance column: making it work on nonprofit salaries
• Ask Rita in HR: A nonprofit-specific human resources advice column
• Consumer reviews of products
• Word on the Street . . . nonprofit people on the frontlines report on the sustainability movement, human services, funding for films, and more
• Strategies for Financial Sustainability, and more

The magazine is available at no charge. To subscribe, go to: http://www.blueavocado.org/node/21.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Remove Extra Space between Paragraphs in Word 2007

By default Word 2007 adds a space between paragraphs. You cannot delete this space by backspacing. To turn off the space between paragraphs, follow these steps:
• Click the Home tab
• In the Paragraph group, click the small arrow in the lower right corner to display the Paragraph dialog box
• Select “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style"
• Click OK

To remove the space between paragraphs already typed simply select the text and follow the above steps. This only affects the current document. To change this default for all documents, click the Default button in the Paragraph dialog box.