Picks of the Week: January 8 - 14, 2012

Website of the Week -- Stanford Social Innovation Review

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has re-launched its website. Stanford Social Innovation Review is an award-winning magazine and website that covers cross-sector solutions to global problems. SSIR is written for and by social change leaders in the nonprofit, business, and government sectors who view collaboration as key to solving environmental, social, and economic justice issues. Published at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at Stanford University, SSIR bridges academic theory and practice with ideas about achieving social change. SSIR covers a wide range of subjects, from microfinance and green businesses to social networks and human rights. Its aim is both to inform and to inspire. Go to: http://www.ssireview.org.


Publication of the Week -- Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference by Antony Bugg-Levine and Jed Emerson

From the publisher: This is the first book to chart the catalytic path of this new industry, explaining how it is and can be a positive disruptive force. It shows how impact investing is a transformational vehicle for delivering "blended value" throughout the investment spectrum, giving a single name to a set of activities previously siloed in enclaves, revealing how they are linked within what is becoming a new field of investing. Written by two leaders in the growing field of impact investing, the book defines this emerging industry for participants on all sides of the funding equation (investors, funders and social entrepreneurs).

• Filled with illustrative examples of impact investing success stories
• Reveals how the field can expand in order to address the most critical so social and environmental issues of our day
• Explores the wide-ranging applications of impact investing as well as entrepreneurial opportunities

The authors do not take a normative approach to argue how investors should behave like an investment guide might but show how entrepreneurial people and institutions are already offering an integrated alternative.

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – Key Predictions and Trends for the Nonprofit Sector in 2012

Convio announced its key predictions and expected trends that will have the biggest impact on the nonprofit sector in 2012: social and mobile continuing to mature; peer-to-peer engagement having greater influence; and donors dictating terms of interaction. Key Predictions and Trends for the Nonprofit Sector in 2012 include:

• Online fundraising was up 40 percent from 2009. Online will continue as the fastest growing giving channel.
• Online's influence outside of transactions is growing as older donors engage in web-based communications and advocacy.
• Acceleration in new media channels and devices (social and mobile) will have significant increase in material importance for nonprofits.
• Direct communications by nonprofit organizations will have less impact on the giving decisions of donors than in years past.
• Donors will increasingly rely on referrals and guidance from friends, family and co-workers to make decisions, particularly the younger generations.
• Nonprofits will want to tap their most vocal and loyal supporters to be active promoters.
• Information overload will continue as individuals receive mail, email and other communications from marketers with increasing intensity, making it challenging for nonprofits to have their messages heard.
• Text messages, RSS feeds, tweets and Facebook posts only compound the problem.
• Tailored communications that resonate with donors will be critical.
• Nonprofit supporters want to be able to define and customize how they are communicated to (e.g. go paperless, set frequency of emails and filter for content).
• The burden of expectation for nonprofits is being set by the for-profit sector.

For more information, go to: http://www.convio.com.


Resource of the Week – GrantWatch.com

GrantWatch.com posts federal, state, city, local and foundation grants on one website, categorized by type and updated daily. All our grants are current and expired grants are archived daily. Members can sign up for free to receive a weekly email of new grants posted. Members can also tour archives for free. To view complete details of new and current grants, including the complete application, there is a low subscription rate. All posts on GrantWatch.com include the important grant information, full applications, deadlines and contact person information. Go to: www.GrantWatch.com.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Change Text Case in Word

To change the case of text in Word, try this:

• Select text
• Press Shift + F3 until it changes to the desired case style

Pressing Shift + F3 toggles the text case between sentence case, UPPERCASE, lowercase, and capitalize each word. Be sure to hold down the Shift WHILE you press F3. Also, it works in all versions of Word. However, if you include text with punctuation at the end, it will skip the option to capitalize each word. You can also try this in PowerPoint.