Picks of the Week: July 29 - August 4

Website of the Week -- Institute for the Future of Aging Services
Welcome to the Institute for the Future of Aging Services, a policy research institute housed within the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. Our mission is to create a bridge between the practice, policy and research communities to advance the development of high-quality health, housing and supportive services for America’s aging population. The Institute provides a forum for professionals, policymakers and the public to explore and foster policies and programs that will meet the needs of an aging society through the development of healthy aging communities. http://womenshealth.gov.

Publication of the Week --  Managing Nonprofit Organizations by Mary Tschirhart and Wolfgang Bielefeld
From the publisher:  This essential resource offers an overall understanding of nonprofits based on both the academic literature and practitioner experience. It shows how to lead, manage, govern, and structure effective and ethical nonprofit organizations. Managing Nonprofit Organizations reveals what it takes to be entrepreneurial and collaborative, formulate successful strategies, assess performance, manage change, acquire resources, be a responsible financial steward, and design and implement solid marketing and communication plans.
Click topreview this book on Amazon.com.

Trend of the Week – Nonprofit Trends

Nonprofit Trends is a blog by Steve MacLaughlin and covers a wide range of topics around the nonprofit sector with a focus on the trends shaping the nonprofit sector. Steve is the Director of Internet Solutions at Blackbaud and is responsible for leading how the company provides online solutions for its clients. Steve has spent more than 14 years building successful online initiatives with a broad range of Fortune 500 firms, government and educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations across the world. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and events including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association (DMFA), Institute of Fundraising, National Association of Independent School (NAIS), Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), and other nonprofit organizations. Go to: http://www.nptrends.com/about-nonprofit-trends.html.

Resource of the Week –  Annie E. Casey Foundation Knowledge Center

The purpose of the Knowledge Center is to provide advocates, policymakers, practitioners, the media, researchers, and community members with a range of Foundation resources developed either by Casey or one of our grantees. These resources capture the experience and learning of the Foundation in our efforts to improve outcomes for vulnerable children, youth, families, and communities  The Annie E. Casey Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the nation, with assets of more than $2.3 billion. The Foundation provides about $190 million in grants each year and is ranked among the top philanthropies for charitable giving. Established in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of UPS, the Foundation’s primary mission is to foster public policies, human services, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of vulnerable children and families. Go to: http://www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter.aspx.


Tech Tip of the Week -- Using Screenshot in Office 2010
Screenshot -- a new feature in Office 2010 -- allows you to capture images from your screen.

·         Click the document that you want to add the screenshot to

·         Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon
·         In the Illustrations group, click Screenshot
·         To add the whole window, click the thumbnail in the Available Windows gallery
·         To add part of the window, click Screen Clipping, and when the pointer becomes a cross, press and hold the left mouse button to select the area of your screen that you want to capture
·         If you have multiple windows open, click the window you want to clip from before clicking Screen Clipping. When you click Screen Clipping, the program you are working in is minimized and only the window behind it is available for clipping
·         After adding a screenshot, you can use the tools on the Picture Tools tab to edit and enhance the screenshot

You can use Screenshot in Word 2010, PowerPoint 2010 and Excel 2010

Picks of the Week: July 15 - 28, 2012

Website of the Week --  Management Assistance Group (MAG)
The Management Assistance Group (MAG) strengthens visionary social justice organizations, leaders, and networks to create a more just world. For thirty years, MAG has strived to meet its mission by: (1) evolving and utilizing innovative approaches to strengthening organizations, leaders, and networks, (2) conducting research on critical organizational issues faced by social justice organizations, and (3) sharing insights and experiences with the social justice sector and the nonprofit organizational development field. Since 1980, MAP has partnered with thousands of organizations, leaders, networks, movements, and funders to create powerful social justice efforts and lasting change. Go to: http://www.managementassistance.org.

Publication of the Week --  Organization of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies, and Insights on Managing in a New Era

From the publisher:  The world has changed dramatically since the best-selling The Organization of the Future was published in 1999. More than ever before, organizations and leaders need guidance for meeting the challenges of today's complex environment in order to thrive in the future. Filled with wisdom and insight on the most important issues facing organizations today, the twenty six chapters in The Organization of the Future 2 offer the wisdom of some of the most recognized thought leaders of our day. These experts share their unique vision of what the organization of the future should look like and what organizational leaders must do to survive in the tumultuous twenty-first century. The contributors offer varied and diverse views on the organization of the future—for entrepreneurs to large corporations, nonprofits, and universities—including three different yet complementary approaches to inclusion, integration, and horizontal organization. The final section of the book focuses on the leaders of the organizations of the future and shows how they can make a critical difference in the success of their enterprises.

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.

Trend of the Week – Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates
Giving by U.S. foundations totaled an estimated $46.9 billion in 2011, surpassing the $46.8 billion pre-recession peak recorded in 2008. Yet, after accounting for inflation, contributions by the nation's more than 76,600 foundations were down slightly from 2010. According to Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates (2012 Edition), if the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were excluded from the totals, 2011 giving would actually have gone down by roughly 3 percent after inflation. Key 2011 findings include: 
·         Independent and family foundations — which represent the vast majority of U.S. foundations — increased their charitable contributions by less than 2 percent to $33.1 billion before inflation.
·         Corporate foundation giving rose 6 percent to $5.2 billion before inflation, surpassing other types of foundations.
·         Community foundation giving declined slightly and totaled $4.2 billion before inflation

To download the report at no charge, go to: http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/fgge12.pdf

Resource of the Week – Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP)

Wegner CPAs, based in Wisconsin is partnering with The FMA Institute to bring CNAP (Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional), an on-line training course, to nonprofit financial professionals. The Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP) is sponsored by member firms of the National Association of Nonprofit Accountants & Consultants (NPAC). CNAP is a national initiative developed by the member firms of NPAC designed to recognize excellence in the nonprofit industry through comprehensive qualification, training, and examination. Through a minimal time commitment, nonprofit financial managers will receive intensive training from individuals dedicated to serving nonprofit organizations. They do not have to be a CPA to achieve this designation. The CNAP on-line training will be offered for 7 sessions beginning on September 27, 2012. Each session will be held from 1:00 pm to 2:45 pm CST. All the details about the training and registration information can be found at: www.wegnercpas.com/CNAP.pdf.

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.

Picks of the Week: July 8 - 14, 2012

Website of the Week -- Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families
The Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families (AASCF) is a membership association of agencies providing services to children and families in Alberta. The AASCF formed in 1967 as a network of agencies with common interests. The Association has compiled an extensive resource library for non-profit resources applicable to agencies, organizations and associations in the Human Service sector. You can access these resources at www.aascf.com. The link to the resource library is in the left margin.

Publication of the Week --  Do More Than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World by Leslie R. Crutchfield, John V. Kania, and Mark R. Kramer

From the publisher:  How donors change the world through the six catalytic practices of high-impact philanthropy. Do More Than Give provides a blueprint for individuals, philanthropists, and foundation leaders to increase their impact. Based on Forces for Good, this groundbreaking book demonstrates how the six practices of high-impact nonprofits apply to donors aiming to advance social causes. Rather than focus on the mechanics of effective grantmaking, reporting, or evaluation, this book instead proposes that donors can become proactive catalysts for change by rising to meet the challenges of our increasingly interdependent world. Key principles include: going beyond check writing/traditional volunteering; advocating for change; leveraging business; forging peer networks; empowering individuals; leading adaptively; and developing learning organizations.
·         Contains robust case studies depicting every type of philanthropy (corporate, community, operating, specialized, and large private and family foundations)
·         Includes easy to use "Key Takeaways" tailored for donors at the "beginner" and "experienced" levels of catalytic philanthropy
·         Authors are internationally-acclaimed philanthropic, nonprofit, and corporate social responsibility strategy experts who frequently speak and train on high-impact philanthropy

Click topreview this book on Amazon.com.

Trend of the Week – Growth in Giving Slows

American philanthropic giving rose in 2011 to more than $298.4 billion, up from a revised estimate of $286.9 billion in 2010, reflecting gains across the economy, according to Giving USA 2012, the annual report on philanthropy released by the Giving USA Foundation and its research partner, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Key findings include:

·         Individual giving increased by 0.8 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. Personal, disposable income rose 0.7 percent from 2010 compared to a 2 percent increase between 2009 and 2010. Individuals gave an average of 1.9 percent of their disposable income each year over the past two years, indicating that people generally remain committed to philanthropy despite possible fluctuations in personal income.

·        In inflation-adjusted dollars, foundation giving fell 1.3 percent largely due to reduced asset growth resulting from the continuing American housing market weakness, European debt crisis, rising oil prices and other various economic and political factors.

·      Corporate giving remained flat compared to 2010 levels. Corporate pre-tax profits only rose 4.2 percent in 2011, compared to a 25 percent increase in the previous year. The S&P 500 index also experienced a 3 percent decline in real dollars after two consecutive years of growth (10.9 percent in 2010 and 23.8 percent in 2009).

For more information, go to: http://www.givingusareports.org/


Resource of the Week – Continuity Of Operation Plan For Nonprofit Human Services Providers

This document is intended to be a guideline for developing a Continuity Of Operation Plan (COOP) plan for nonprofits. It is strictly a template to guide one through the steps needed to begin the process of developing a comprehensive COOP plan for the organization. Much of this template model can be attributed to Miami-Dade County’s Office of Emergency Management’s Guidelines for Developing an All Hazards Continuity of Operations Plan for Businesses, the Bay Area Emergency Preparedness Coalition for Seniors & People with Disabilities, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Sample Emergency Plan. Go to: http://www.virtualcap.org/downloads/US/IT_Plan_for_Emergencies.pdf


Tech Tip of the Week -- Saving your PowerPoint 2010 Presentation as a Video
There are a number of new features in PowerPoint 2010 which allow you to enhance your presentations with video, images and animations.  Create a Video is one of these new features. Here’s how it works

·         Create your presentation

·         Save the presentation
·         Click the File tab
·         Click Save & Send in the left pane
·         Under File Types, click Create a video
·         Make changes in the right pane, if necessary
·         Click the Create Video button

·         After you create a video, you can share it with others by:

·         Sending it as an e-mail attachment
·         Burning it to a DVD disc
·         Uploading it to a video sharing Web site such as YouTube
·         Posting it on your website or other shared location

Picks of the Week: July 1 - 7, 2012

Website of the Week -- GiveMN
GiveMN was designed and launched by the Minnesota Community Foundation in 2009 in partnership with 14 other funders. They were inspired by trailblazing e-philanthropy ventures such as Kiva and DonorsChoose that were using technology to create powerful, personal giving experiences for donors. GiveMN’s founders wanted to leverage technology to increase giving in Minnesota. In just two years, GiveMN has dramatically changed charitable giving in Minnesota. Since its launch in November 2009, GiveMN has facilitated more than $48 million in donations to 6,100 Minnesota nonprofits. Nearly half of all Minnesota nonprofits report that GiveMN is their primary online giving vehicle. And in GiveMN’s 2010 donor survey, 68% of donors reported that online giving was their preferred method of giving compared to 46% in 2009. The same survey showed that the percentage of those preferring to give by check dropped from 83% to 30%. GiveMN is now one of the nation’s leading web portals for charitable giving, actually outpacing the amount of donations made on Facebook Causes. Although there are many national online giving platforms for people to choose from, GiveMN is unique. GiveMN believes that its success is not in spite of the fact that it is local but rather because it is local. Go to: http://givemn.razoo.com

Publication of the Week --  Give Smart: Philanthropy that Gets Results by Thomas J. Tierney and Joel L. Fleishman

From the publisher:  A decade ago, Thomas J. Tierney cofounded The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit focused on helping donors and nonprofit leaders to develop and execute strategies to accelerate social change. In Give Smart, Tierney pools his hands-on knowledge with Duke professor Joel L. Fleishman’s expertise to create a much-needed primer for philanthropists and the nonprofit organizations they support. Drawing from personal experiences, research spanning twentieth- and twenty-first-century philanthropy, contemporary interviews, and Bridgespan’s extensive field work, Give Smart presents the definitive guide to engaged philanthropy.

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com.

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Trend of the Week – Involving Millennials in Nonprofits
The third annual Millennial Impact Report has just been issued and it is full of important data. The report is issued by Achieve and Johnson Grossnickle Associate and funded by the Case Foundation. The data used to develop the report is quite extensive and drawn from over 6500 surveys completed and focus groups of “Millennial Professionals”aged 20 – 35. 95% of the participants were college graduates. The goal of the study is to develop a better understanding of successful strategies for nonprofits to engage Millennials. Because it included both surveys and focus groups in Indianapolis, Seattle, and Washington D.C it has both breadth and depth. Each section features “Takeaways” Here are some key overall findings and assessments from the report: Millennials want to be taken seriously as donors, volunteers, and leaders for causes they care about. Young donors are fully immersed in technology, but they are also invested in timeless values. They want to give and to serve. They want involvements that engage their minds as well as their hands. Most important they are interested in building authentic, personal relationships with nonprofits. Millennials have high expectations o for themselves and the nonprofits they support. To download the full report, go to: http://themillennialimpact.com

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Resource of the Week – Grantsmanship Center Magazine Archive of Articles
The Grantsmanship Center, Inc. (TGCI) was founded in 1972 to offer grantsmanship training and low-cost publications to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. At first a local project in Los Angeles, TGCI expanded rapidly and today, TGCI conducts some 200 workshops annually in grantsmanship, enterprise development and fundraising. TGCI is also active in publishing. The Grantsmanship Center Magazine is mailed to the staff of 200,000 nonprofit and government agencies in the U.S. and 58 other countries. An archive of articles organized into 10 categories is accessible at no charge at http://www.tgci.com/magazine.shtml.


Tech Tip of the Week -- View Formulas that Reference a Cell in Excel
Last week we covered how to view cells referenced by a formula.  Another useful tool when debugging a worksheet is doing the reverse -- viewing formulas referenced by a cell.  Here’s how:

·         Select the cell

·         Press Ctrl + ] (Ctrl + close square bracket)
·         Excel moves the to the first formula that references the cell
·         Each time you press Enter the selection moves to the next formula that references the cell

This tip appears to work in the new Office 2007 or 2010 as well as earlier versions.