Picks of the Week: April 1 - 7, 2012

Website of the Week -- Unreasonable Institute

The Unreasonable Institute works to solve the world’s biggest problems by arming the entrepreneurs who can take them on with the mentorship, capital, and network to make it happen. Each year, the Institute unites 25 entrepreneurs from every corner of the globe to live under the same roof for six weeks in Boulder, Colorado. These entrepreneurs receive training and build long-term relationships with 50 world-class mentors, ranging from the former Managing Director of Investments at Google.org, to the CTO of HP, to an entrepreneur who’s enabled over 19 million farmers to move out of poverty. In the process, they also form relationships and build their businesses with 20 investment funds, receive legal advice & design consulting, and pitch to hundreds of potential investors and partners. You can view a 3-minute trailer to get an inside peak and read on to learn how the process works. Go to: http://unreasonableinstitute.org.

Publication of the Week -- The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change by Jennifer Aaker, Andy Smith, and Chip Heath

From the publisher: Many books teach the mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to compete in business. But no book addresses how to harness the incredible power of social media to make a difference. The Dragonfly Effect shows you how to tap social media and consumer psychological insights to achieve a single, concrete goal. Named for the only insect that is able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, this book
• Reveals the four "wings" of the Dragonfly Effect-and how they work together to produce colossal results
• Features original case studies of global organizations like the Gap, Starbucks, Kiva, Nike, eBay, Facebook; and start-ups like Groupon and COOKPAD, showing how they achieve social good and customer loyalty
• Leverage the power of design thinking and psychological research with practical strategies
• Reveals how everyday people achieve unprecedented results-whether finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, raising millions for cancer research, or electing the current president of the United States

The Dragonfly Effect shows that you don't need money or power to inspire seismic change. Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.


Trend of the Week – Volunteerism and Charitable Giving Trends

To explore volunteer behavior in the United States, the Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund fielded a telephone survey of 15 minutes in length conducted by Harris Interactive of Princeton, N.J. from October 21 - 25, 2009. A total of 1,005 respondents were polled with an essentially equal proportion of men and women. Key findings include:

• People are volunteering in the U.S. but cynicism exists.
• Volunteers donate significantly more money to nonprofits than non-volunteers and many contribute both time and money.
• Most adults believe true philanthropy means the gift of time and money and are not looking for rewards.
• Many volunteer because it is the right thing to do or to support a cause they care about. The mission of an organization and serving local community needs top the list of choosing where to volunteer.
• Recent economic downturn has made volunteering time more appealing than giving money.
• Some adults are optimistic about increasing their donations in 2010 – especially those under 35.
• Time is the main barrier to volunteering, but trouble finding the right fit is also cited by 3 in 10 adults.

For more information, go to the executive summary at:
http://www.fidelitycharitable.org/docs/Volunteerism-Charitable-Giving-2009-Executive-Summary.pdf.


Resource of the Week – Philanthropic Capacity Building Resources

The Philanthropic Capacity Building Resources (PCBR) database contains 453 descriptions of capacity-building programs being carried out by U.S. foundations. From this database, you may obtain program profiles and conduct searches for programs under one or more search categories, as defined below. The PCBR also contains 32 profiles of intermediary organizations that serve as bridges between foundations and nonprofits. These intermediaries provide capacity-building assistance to nonprofits, supported financially by foundations and others. The PCBR database entered its ninth year of continuous operation in 2011. A complete system upgrade was completed in June 2010, to complement regular updates done annually, mostly recently in August 2011. The system upgrade included staff review of every profile, and direct contact with the sponsoring foundation to update any profiles that required it. To access the database, go to: http://www.humaninteract.org/reports/pcbrdatabase.asp.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Run PowerPoint 2010 Slide Show in a Window

Have you ever wanted to be able to run a PowerPoint slideshow in a window? This can be done by adding a button to the Quick Access Toolbar. Here’s how:

• Click the File tab on the Ribbon
• Click the Options button at the bottom
• Click Quick Access Toolbar in the left pane
• Under Choose commands from, select Commands Not in the Ribbon
• Scroll down and select Slide Show in a Window
• Click Add to add this button to the Quick Access Toolbar
• Click OK

To run a slideshow in a window simply click the "easel" button on the Quick Access Toolbar.