Picks of the Week: November 23 - 29, 2008

Website of the Week -- Office Depot Foundation

The Office Depot Foundation was created to support non-profit organizations around the world and to make a positive impact on many lives and communities. The Office Depot Foundation will focus on the following strategic priorities for the next five years. Known collectively as the “5 X 5 Program,” these initiatives exemplify the Foundation’s mission – Listen Learn Care:

• Helping children get ready for life and work.
• Helping non-profit (civil society) organizations become more professional and productive.
• Promoting global development
• Enhancing disaster relief and recovery.
• Strengthening local communities.

The website includes information and resources on the 5x5 program, philanthropic partnerships, community investments, and volunteerism as well as a number of publications and reports. Go to: http://www.officedepotfoundation.org/index.asp.


Publication of the Week -- Lunch and Learn: Creative and Easy-to-Use Activities for Teams and Work Groups by Carolyn Nilson

From the publisher: Lunch and Learn is filled with ready-to-use activities designed for full-time trainers, managers, team leaders, supervisors, and anyone else who acts as a trainer within their organization. The activities are on-the-job learning sessions that explore targeted topics relevant to almost any team or group. Each of the 25 sessions is a short 55-minute learning experience that is based on the best principles of discussion and reflection, creative thinking, problem solving, and action planning. All the book’s activities are organized in a step-by-step fashion and include everything a session leader needs to conduct a successful learning event, from discussion starters and activity handouts through suggestions for wrapping up the session. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week -- New Research on Corporate Citizenship

A new research study from Imagine Canada finds that the community investment initiatives of many of Canada’s largest corporations have moved beyond "check-book philanthropy" and are leveraging their assets in more ways than the public, or even the charities and nonprofits they support, might think. Corporate Community Investment Practices, Motivations & Challenges: Findings from the Canada Survey of Business Contributions to Community ─ puts a spotlight on 93 of Canada’s largest companies (annual revenues exceeding $25 million) and their community investment practices. "While the demand for these companies to give is persistent and increasing, they are doing more than just cutting a check for charities that have asked for help," says Dr. Michael Hall, Imagine Canada’s Vice President of Research. "What really stood out in the research is their strategic approaches to community investment and the ways in which they are engaging their employees and their broader stakeholder networks - clients, customers and suppliers - to leverage their philanthropy. They are putting a lot of thought into how and where they give, and are quite innovative in their approaches." While the research focuses on Canadian corporations, the findings mirror the pattern that has emerged in the US. For a summary of key findings, go to: http://www.imaginecanada.ca.


Resource of the Week -- The Resource Center for Effective Corporate-Nonprofit Partnerships

Mission & Market: The Resource Center for Effective Corporate-Nonprofit Partnerships, a service of Independent Sector, aims to provide the resources nonprofit and corporate executives need to help them build effective partnerships that enhance both mission and business goals—and serve to build the public trust for the nonprofit sector as a whole. In a marketplace of proliferating brands and products, corporations are constantly seeking innovative ways to differentiate their products and services in sustainable ways. And in a time of ever greater societal needs, nonprofit organizations are looking for new sources of revenue, enhanced visibility, expertise, and creative ways to promote their messages and advance their missions. As a result, there is a growing trend of companies and nonprofits creating a variety of partnerships that advance both the mission of the nonprofit organization and the business purpose of the company. This online resource includes:

• Expert Briefings and Model Guidelines
• "Lessons Learned" Partnership Profiles
• Types of Partnership Models
• Motivations for Partnering
• Glossary of Terms
• Tax and Legal Issues

Go to: http://www.independentsector.org/mission_market/index.html.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Worksheet Selection in Excel

If you have several worksheets in an Excel workbook, it can be time consuming to select the one you want to view. This shortcut can help you speed up the process.

• Right click on the sheet tab navigation arrows in the lower left of the worksheet
• A menu of worksheet tabs pops up
• Left click the worksheet you want to view

This tip works in Excel 2007 as well as earlier versions.