Picks of the Week: October 4-10, 2009

Website of the Week -- FrameWorks Institute

The mission of the FrameWorks Institute is to advance the nonprofit sector's communications capacity by identifying, translating and modeling relevant scholarly research for framing the public discourse about social problems. FrameWorks designs, commissions, manages and publishes communications research to prepare nonprofit organizations to expand their constituency base, to build public will, and to further public understanding of specific social issues. In addition to working closely with social policy experts familiar with the specific issue, its work is informed by a team of communications scholars and practitioners who are convened to discuss the research problem, and to work together in outlining potential strategies for advancing remedial policies. FrameWorks also critiques, designs, conducts and evaluates communications campaigns on social issues. Its work is based on an approach called "strategic frame analysis," which has been developed in partnership with UCLA's Center for Communications and Community. Go to: http://www.frameworksinstitute.org.


Publication of the Week 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't by Center for Association Leadership

From the publisher: A historic study focused on getting to the heart of what makes a remarkable nonprofit organization, 7 Measures of Success contains knowledge that will assist association executives in planning the future of their organizations. Based on 15 years of data and original, objective research tailored to the association community's needs 7 Measures of Success provides empirical data and seven success factors common among visionary nonprofits. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week -- The Role of Women's Funds

Accelerating Change for Women and Girls: The Role of Women's Funds, a report by the Foundation Center and the Women's Funding Network, examines giving patterns and trends among larger private and community foundations and the distinctive contributions of women's funds to philanthropy. The report finds that foundation giving targeted to benefit women and girls climbed 223 percent between 1990 and 2006 (after adjusting for inflation), compared to an overall giving increase of 177 percent. Other key findings of the study include:

• The nation's private and community foundations increased their giving for activities targeting women and girls from an estimated $412.1 million in 1990 to nearly $2.1 billion in 2006.
• The over 145 member funds of the Women's Funding Network provide an estimated $60 million a year in grants and leverage millions more through their wider relationships and connections.
• Women's funds take a comprehensive approach to social change, focusing their giving on human rights, health, and economic empowerment.
• In contrast, foundation giving for women and girls is primarily focused on health. Close to half of grant dollars targeted to women and girls support health-related activities.
• Women's funds are guided by the principle that women catalyze and lead the way to change in neighborhoods and communities; 98 percent of the women's funds surveyed indicated that achieving social change was a high priority for their fund.

To download a summary of report highlights, to go: http://foundationcenter.org.


Resource of the Week -- The Smart Chart

The Interactive Smart Chart is based on the Spitfire Strategies Smart Chart 3.0 – a planning tool that helps nonprofits make smart choices and develop high-impact communications strategies. This online version of the Smart Chart offers an interactive approach to the planning process. As you work your way through the Chart, you'll have several opportunities to evaluate your answers and ensure you are making the smartest choices. You can also stop and save your answers at any time, and come back and finish later. This allows you to finish the planning process in your own time – and gives you maximum flexibility so you can get input on your choices from staff, board members or other outside resources as needed. At the end of the process, you will have a fully completed Smart Chart that links your organization's goals to the many strategic decisions necessary for a successful communications effort. Go to: http://www.smartchart.org.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Cheat Sheets for Office 2007

An excellent resource for learning Office 2007 is a set of Cheat Sheets published by ComputerWorld.

Whether you’re just making the switch to 2007 or a seasoned user, you’re certain to find many useful tips and tricks.

Word 2007 Cheat Sheet

Excel 2007 Cheat Sheet

PowerPoint 2007 Cheat Sheet