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.