Picks of the Week: May 22, 2011

Website of the Week – Nonprofit Capacity Building Learning and Resource Center

The purpose of the Center for Community Partnership's (CCP) Nonprofit Development Program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside is to strengthen nonprofit organizational effectiveness. The Nonprofit Development Program seeks to build the capacity of local nonprofits by offering training, workshops, professional development, networking, technical assistance and community-based learning projects. It also connects nonprofits to a variety of resources, especially those available at UW-Parkside, other area higher education institutions, and government and community organizations. Nonprofit programs, services and opportunities are centralized in the Nonprofit Capacity Building Learning and Resource Center. It includes conferences and workshops, forms for nonprofit organization start-up, tools and resources, professional network, technical assistance, professional development, funding information, volunteer sources, professional associations, and nonprofit employment opportunities. Go to: http://www.uwp.edu.


Publication of the Week -- Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals by Darian Rodriguez Heyman

From the publisher: A comprehensive handbook for leading a successful nonprofit. This handbook can educate and empower a whole generation of nonprofit leaders and professionals by bringing together top experts in the field to share their knowledge and wisdom gained through experience. This book provides nonprofit professionals with the conceptual frameworks, practical knowledge, and concise guidance needed to succeed in the social sector. Designed as a handbook, the book is filled with sage advice and insights from a variety of trusted experts that can help nonprofit professionals prepare to achieve their organizational and personal goals, develop a better understanding of what they need to do to lead, support, and grow an effective organization.

• Addresses a wealth of topics including fundraising, Managing Technology, Marketing, Finances, Advocacy, Working with Boards
• Contributors are noted nonprofit experts who define the core capabilities needed to manage a successful nonprofit
• Author is the former Executive Director of Craigslist Foundation

This important resource offers professionals key insights that will have a direct impact on improving their daily work. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – Social Justice Grantmaking Trends

According to Key Facts on Social Justice Grantmaking (2011 Edition), social justice giving accounted for more than 14 percent of grant dollars awarded by the largest U.S. foundations in 2009. The top 25 social justice funders gave 70 percent of the total in the latest Foundation Center's annual grants sample. Foundations’ social justice giving spans all areas of activity, from human rights to environmental justice to the arts. Consistent with past trends, the biggest share of social justice grant dollars awarded in 2009 (29 percent) went for economic and community development, followed by health care access and affordability (17 percent), and human rights and civil liberties (13 percent). To download the free report, go to: http://foundationcenter.org.


Resource of the Week – Participatory Action Research

In many evaluations, program beneficiaries are rarely involved. Participatory action research provides a way to do so, engaging all parties in all aspects of an evaluation, from defining the problem to gathering and analyzing data to preparing recommendations. In this guide, part of a series on evaluation techniques prepared by GrantCraft, you will learn about a unique evaluation method and how contributors have used it to evaluate programs in agriculture, early childhood development, and immigration. Highlights include:
• Ensuring a rigorous approach and objective results
• Developing trusting partnerships as part of an evaluation
• Building the conditions for a successful participatory action research evaluation
• Two mini-case studies

Downloading this guide and other learning tools takes a brief one-time registration. From there on all materials may be downloaded without cost. Go to: www.grantcraft.org. A companion slide show is available at http://www.grantcraft.org/?pageid=1263.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Embed a Video in a PowerPoint 2010 Presentation

PowerPoint 2010 makes it easy to embed a video from a file directly into your presentation. Here’s how:

• In Normal view, select the slide you want to embed the video in
• Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon
• In the Media group, click the arrow under Video
• Click Video from file
• In the Insert Video dialog box, locate and select the video that you want to embed
• Click Insert

You can also click the Video icon in a content layout to insert a video.