Picks of the Week: June 5-11, 2011

Website of the Week – Institute for Social Entrepreneurs

The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs provides education, training and consulting services for social entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad. The website includes introductory resources to social entrepreneurship, a glossary, bibliography, links to other useful websites and more. Go to: www.socialent.org.


Publication of the Week -- The Search for Social Entrepreneurship by Paul Charles Light

From the publisher: Research on social entrepreneurship is finally catching up to its rapidly growing potential. In The Search for Social Entrepreneurship, Paul Light explores this surge of interest to establish the state of knowledge on this growing phenomenon and suggest directions for future research. Light begins by outlining the debate on how to define social entrepreneurship, a concept often cited and lauded but not necessarily understood. The subsequent section examines the four main components of social entrepreneurship: ideas, opportunities, organizations, and the entrepreneurs themselves. The copious information available about each has yet to be mined for lessons on making social entrepreneurship a success. The third section draws on Light s original survey research on 131 high-performing nonprofits, exploring how they differ across the four key components. The fourth and final section offers recommendations for future action and research in this burgeoning field. Paul C. Light is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at New York University. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – Social Media Reaching African Americans and Hispanics

Nearly one in three African American adults (30%) and four in ten Hispanics (39%) say they are more likely to support a cause or social issue online than offline today—both significantly higher percentages than Caucasians (24%), according to the new Dynamics of Cause Engagement study. Jointly conducted in late 2010 by Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, the study examined trends in cause involvement and the roles of a variety of activities in fostering engagement with social issues among American adults age 18 and over. Other key findings include:

• African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely to believe that they can help get the word out about a social issue or cause through online social networks.
• African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely than Caucasians to look to social media as an additional source of information.
• African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely than Caucasians to be involved in several key issues, including diabetes, domestic violence, bullying, childhood obesity, Haiti relief and HIV/AIDS.

For more information, go to: http://csic.georgetown.edu.


Resource of the Week – Key Elements of Effectiveness: Bridgespan’s Organization Wheel

High performing nonprofits think about their organizations as much more than the boxes and lines on an “org chart.” The Bridgespan Group finds that truly effective organizations exhibit strengths in five key interrelated areas: leadership, decision-making and structure, people, work processes and systems, and culture. Effective organizations pay attention to 10 key characteristics across these five areas. For example, effective leadership requires having a clear vision that is translated into well understood priorities, and supported by a cohesive and aligned leadership team. For more information on these important capacity building framework, go to: http://www.bridgestar.org.

Tech Tip of the Week -- Apply Artistic Effects to Pictures in PowerPoint 2010

You can apply artistic effects to a picture in PowerPoint 2010 to make it look more like a sketch, drawing, or painting. Only one effect can be applied at a time. Applying a different artistic effect will remove the previously applied effect. Here's how:
• Click the picture you want to apply an artistic effect to
• Click the Picture Tools Format tab on the Ribbon
• In the Adjust group, click Artistic Effects
• Click the effect that you want to apply
• Click Artistic Effects Options to fine tune the artistic effect