Picks of the Week: September 25 - October 1, 2011

Website of The Week -- Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) is a national network of young people professional s and people involved in the work of organized philanthropy. EPIP's mission is to support and strengthen the next generation of grantmakers in order to advance social justice philanthropy. Go to: http://www.epip.org/index.php.


Publication of the Week -- Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time by Claire Diaz-Ortiz

From the publisher: As recent events in Japan, the Middle East, and Haiti have shown, Twitter offers a unique platform to connect individuals and influence change in ways that were unthinkable only a short time ago. In Twitter for Good, Claire Diaz Ortiz, Twitter’s head of corporate social innovation and philanthropy, shares the same strategies she offers to organizations launching cause-based campaigns. Filled with dynamic examples from initiatives around the world, this groundbreaking book offers practical guidelines for harnessing individual activism via Twitter as a force for social change.

• Reveals why every organization needs a dedicated Twitter strategy and explains how to set one
• Introduces the five-step model taught at trainings around the world: T.W.E.E.T. (Target, Write, Engage, Explore, Track)

Author @claired is the head of corporate social innovation and philanthropy at Twitter, collaborating with organizations like Nike, Pepsi, MTV, the American Red Cross, charity:water, Room to Read, the Gates Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, the Case Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Kiva, the United Nations, Free the Children, Committee to Protect Journalists, Partners in Health, FEMA, Ushahidi, The Acumen Fund. With more than 200 million users worldwide, Twitter has established itself as a dynamic force, one that every business and nonprofit must understand how to use effectively. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – High Levels of Civic Engagement Builds Economic Resilience of Communities

A report released today by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) finds that states with higher levels of civic engagement are more resilient in an economic downturn. The report identifies five measures of civic engagement – attending meetings, helping neighbors, registering to vote, volunteering and voting – which appear to protect against unemployment and contribute to overall economic resilience. Of these five civic health indicators, working with neighbors was the most important factor in predicting economic resilience, as an increase of one percent in neighbors working together to solve community problems was associated with a decrease of .256 percent in the unemployment rate. Public meeting attendance emerged as the second most important factor, followed by volunteering and registering to vote as top important predictors of unemployment change. The NCoC report found that of the states with the highest rates of volunteering and working with neighbors, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and South Dakota had the smallest increase in unemployment between 2006 and 2010. Of the states with the lowest rates of volunteering and working with neighbors, Alabama, California, Florida, Nevada and Rhode Island had the highest increase in unemployment. The report calls on community and business leaders to use these findings to inform a public discussion of how civic health can help improve the economy. For more information, go to: http://www.ncoc.net/unemployment-release.


Resource of the Week –Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impact (TRASI)

TRASI is a project of the Foundation Center, developed in partnership with McKinsey & Co. and with input from experts in the field, to address the growing interest in measuring impact. The TRASI database of tools and resources includes information on approaches to impact assessment, guidelines for creating and conducting an assessment, and ready-to-use tools for measuring social change. You can browse over 150 tools, methods, and best practices in the TRASI database. Sort by name, sponsor, or approach type. For a complete overview of an approach, click on its name. For more information, go to: http://trasi.foundationcenter.org/browse.php.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Compress Pictures in PowerPoint 2010

If you’ve ever tried to email a PowerPoint presentation containing several pictures, you have probably discovered that the file size can be quite large. There is a way to reduce the file size. Here’s how:
• Select a picture to display the Picture Tools Format tab
• In the Adjust group, click the Compress Pictures button to display the Compress Pictures dialog box
• If you want ALL pictures compressed make sure the Apply only to this picture box is NOT selected
• In the Target Output section there are three compression options
• Choosing the last option, Email (96 ppi), will result in the smallest file size
• Click OK to apply the settings and close the dialog box

Remember that the more you compress the pictures the less quality there is for printing. But if you just want to share these photos online, give it a try. The procedure in PowerPoint 2007 is nearly identical.