Picks of the Week: March 15 - 21, 2009

Website of the Week -- Youth on Board

Youth on Board prepares youth to be leaders and decision-makers in their communities Youth on Board offers consulting and coaching services to large and small institutions that believe in the power of youth voice and want to help young people move from the margins of their communities into the center. Using a collaborative approach that emphasizes strong relationships as the basis for meaningful change, Youth on Board provides trainings, design programs and curricula, develop policy, and publish resources that help organizations build youth voice into their operations and infrastructure. Go to: http://www.youthonboard.org.


Publication of the Week -- The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards by Murray Dropkin

From the publisher: This best-selling nuts-and-bolts workbook, now in its second edition, has become the gold standard for nonprofit managers and boards who must work through the budget cycle. The book offers practical tools and guidance for completing each step of the budgeting process. Designed to be comprehensive and easy to use, The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits provides everything budgeters and nonfinancial managers need to prepare, approve, and implement their own budgets. Includes new chapters on Zero-Based and Capital Budgeting as well as a CD with spreadsheets, worksheets and a new budget-building software, the CMS Nonprofit Budget Builder, designed to help you implement the concepts in the book. The software includes an expandable standard chart of accounts and will aid in building, organizing, tracking and planning budgets. Click here to preview the book on Amazon.com.



Trend of the Week -- Nonprofit Theaters Cutting Back

U.S. nonprofit theaters are cutting staff and expanding discounts as they anticipate disappointing ticket sales and fundraising, according to a new survey by the Theatre Communications Group (TCG). In a recent survey of 210 member theaters, TCG found 77 percent are revising expense projections for the coming year. Theaters with a budget of at least $10 million are cutting spending by an average of $750,000. More than half of those who completed the survey online expect year-end deficits and “cash flow problems.” About 10 U.S. theater companies in the U.S. have shut down recently or announced they’re in dire straits. Most of the theaters predict that ticket sales and fundraising from individuals and corporations will fall short of initial projections. Nearly a third said they’ll substitute small-cast shows for larger ones. More than half plan new ticket discounting. For a copy of the survey results, go to: http://www.tcg.org.


Resource of the Week -- Focus on the Economic Crisis

The Foundation Center has collected the most recent data available on U.S. foundation support in response to the economic crisis, offering a picture of how foundations are aiding nonprofits as they struggle with the fallout from the downturn. The Center has made this information publicly available in an interactive map on its web site. The map displays the data by state, county, city, ZIP code, or congressional district. New grants will be added to the map on an ongoing basis to provide the most current picture of foundation giving for programs and issues relating to the downturn. This mapping resource is part of the Center's broader initiative to provide the latest information, news, and research to shed light on the potential impact of the economic climate on the field of philanthropy. Visit "Focus on the Economic Crisis" at http://foundationcenter.org/focus/economy.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Add Totals to Datasheets in Access 2007

A new feature in Access 2007 makes it easy to add totals to datasheets. Here’s how:

• Open the Datasheet
• On the Home tab on the Ribbon, in the Records group, click the Totals button
• A Total row is created in your datasheet
• Click the field you want to total and select the type of summary