Picks of the Week: May 30 - June 5, 2010

Website of the Week – WomenOnCall.Org

WomenOnCall.Org is a unique online network that connects women with specific volunteer opportunities that allow them to share their professional skills and expertise with nonprofits. Through on-site and virtual volunteer opportunities, WomenOnCall.org members provide short, high-impact, skills-based service, making giving back realistic and efficient. In 2005, Margot Pritzker developed the idea for a web-based organization that eased the difficulty of matching the right volunteer with professional skills with the right non-profit that needed them. In addition, the organization had to emphasize how much could be done in one hour – maximizing both the non-profit’s and volunteer’s valuable time. Thus, WomenOnCall.org was born. While there are many volunteer match sites, none focus specifically on the high-impact method of utilizing professional skills and short-term commitments that WomenOnCall.org emphasizes. In addition, many of the volunteer opportunities can be completed virtually–during a busy woman’s lunch hour or in the evening. Go to: http://www.womenoncall.org/about.cfm.

Publication of the Week -- The Executive Director's Guide to Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader, 2nd Edition by Mim Carlson and Margaret Donohoe

From the publisher: The Executive Director's Guide to Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader not only clearly and concisely identifies the most critical issues of nonprofit leadership, but it also provides the resources and answers to those challenges. It will be required reading for both the most seasoned executive as well as the emerging leader. The Executive Director’s Guide was developed to provide nonprofit Executive Directors and CEOs — and those who work with them — tools, resources, and insights to strengthen the individual, the profession, and the entire nonprofit sector. The Executive Director’s Guide provides practical insights to help Executive Directors navigate the complex position they are in, and find practical ways to deal with some of the obstacles they are most likely to face along the way. this book will increase Executive Director’s resilience, help them explore new ways of managing and leading their unique organizations, find their own path to personal and organizational balance, and thrive fully as nonprofit leaders. It is a highly readable and practical road map for success. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – 2009 Household Charitable Giving Down Five Percent from 2008

Individual charitable giving in 2009 amounted to $217.3 billion, a decline of $11.2 billion or 4.9 percent from the estimated $228.5 billion total in 2008, according to the latest report by researchers at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College and published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. This 5% decline is in addition to the 6 percent decline that the Center calculated in 2008. For 2010, the researchers project annualized individual giving totals (also known as household giving) will range between approximately $222 billion and $227 billion, an increase between 3 and 4.5 percent over the estimated total for 2009. The projected growth is based on analysis of the first two quarters according to scenarios that assume relatively low and high economic growth. The full report, will be published in the July/August 2010 issue of Advancing Philanthropy, the magazine of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The report's findings are based on estimates produced quarterly by the Individual Giving Model developed and housed at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. For more information, go to: http://www.bc.edu.


Resource of the Week – BoardSource E-Books

BoardSource free electronic books are a compilation of publications that BoardSource has found popular through the years, and has chosen to offer as an electronic resource to the nonprofit sector. BoardSource offers these selected free e-books for the public and for BoardSource members only. Titles available to the public at no charge include: All Hands on Board, Starting a Nonprofit Organization, History of Nonprofit Boards, To Go Forward, Retreat. Other titles are available to BoardSource members. Go to: http://www.boardsource.org.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Turning Photos into PowerPoint 2007 Slide Shows

To turn your digital pictures into PowerPoint 2007 slide shows:

• Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon
• In the Illustrations group, click Photo Album
• On the Photo Album dialog box, click the File/Disk button to Insert pictures
• Click the Create button