Picks of the Week: July 26 - August 8, 2009

Website of the Week -- The American Marketing Association Foundation

The American Marketing Association (AMA) Foundation's mission is to be an essential resource to nonprofits, helping them achieve greater success through effective marketing. As the nonprofit philanthropic arm of the American Marketing Association (AMA), the AMA Foundation achieves this goal through support of nonprofit marketing conferences and other training initiatives, scholarships, research, on-line and electronic resources. The Foundation works in partnerships and other strategic collaborations with the AMA, AMA chapters, marketing practitioners and academics, and scores of voluntary and community organizations. The Foundation also champions and supports excellence in marketing and diversity in the marketing profession. Go to: http://themarketingfoundation.org/index.html.


Publication of the Week -- The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook Part II: Unifying the Organization after a Merger by La Piana Associates

From the publisher: You've completed the merger agreement. Now, how do you make the merger work? Nonprofit Mergers Part II helps you create a comprehensive plan to achieve integration. It addresses large, strategic issues as well as small practical ones. Integration issues and how to handle them Section I: Going the Distance provides a broad view of integration, its challenges, and how to meet them. Topics include: The basic tenets of organizational change; What success looks like in a well-implemented merger; The purpose and content of an integration plan; How to address people issues through leadership and planning; The relationship between effective leadership, effective communication, and their combined contribution to integration success; How to create a useful integration plan Section II: Creating an Integration Plan takes you step-by-step through this essential process. You'll learn about: Integration of boards, cultures, management, staff and volunteers, programs, communications and marketing, and systems one by one, in detail; The steps needed to create each section of the plan; Common challenges, roadblocks, and crises that will arise, and how to respond when they do; Processes, procedures, and interventions likely to be most helpful and necessary; Software helps you create an organized plan Included with the book is a CD-ROM with a detailed integration plan template. Use it to keep your planning organized and on track. This useful guide also includes: Sample integration plans; Worksheets; Checklists; Tips and quotes from leaders of merged organizations; Nonprofit Mergers Part II is a must-read for anyone considering, embarking on, of just completing a merger!

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com


Trend of the Week -- Private and Community Foundation Trends

The Foundation Center has just released the Foundation Yearbook, 2009 Edition which provides an overview of the state of foundation giving in the current year and beyond, comparisons of foundation activities by foundation size, and breakdowns of foundation resources by geographic location and grantmaker type. The 2009 edition's key findings include:

• Overall foundation giving rose by an estimated 2.8 percent in 2008 to $45.6 billion
• Foundation assets dropped an estimated 21.9 percent in 2008, setting a record
• Estimated 2009 foundation giving will decrease by 8 to 13 percent

To download the report highlights, go to: http://foundationcenter.org.


Resource of the Week -- Giving Circles

Giving circles are one of the fastest growing and most varied of giving models. Giving circles can range from extremely informal settings such as four or five donors seated around a kitchen table deciding how to allocate their “coupon money” to extremely sophisticated, structured and formal programs. The concept behind giving circles, no matter what the composition or disposition, is that pooled giving has greater impact on making a difference in the community. New Ventures in Philanthropy, a program of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, has developed a comprehensive web site on initiating and managing a giving circle. For more information about giving circles, go to: http://www.givingforum.org.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Create Duplicate Slides in PowerPoint 2007

Here's how to create duplicate slides in PowerPoint 2007:

• In Normal view or Slide Sorter view make sure the slides you want to duplicate are selected
• From the Home tab on the Ribbon in the Slides group click the small arrow beside New Slide
• From the drop-down menu select Duplicate Selected Slides

The new slides are inserted after the current slide. If you use Slide Sorter view you can select and duplicate more than one slide at a time.