Monday, February 11, 2013

Picks of the Week: February 10 - 16, 2013

Website of the Week --  The Communications Network
Formed nearly 20 years ago as a membership association, the Communications Network today is a stand-alone nonprofit organization that promotes the use of consistent, strategic communications as an integral part of effective philanthropy. The Network connects communications professionals working in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector to each other for guidance and mentoring and regularly sponsors learning and networking opportunities through webinars and the annual conference. Today, the Network’s membership represents a wide range of foundation communications leaders and consultants who work to advance communications strategies and practices in all mediums. Go to: http://www.comnetwork.org.

Publication of the Week -- Building a Rock-Solid Partnership With Your Board: A Real-Life, Practical Guidebook for Nonprofit and Public CEOs by Doug Eadie
From the publisher:  In Building a Rock-Solid Partnership With Your Board, author Doug Eadie draws on his work with hundreds of nonprofit and public organizations of every size and purpose to explain how board-savvy CEOs effectively manage the human dimension of the governing board-CEO relationship. Using real-world case studies, he outlines five keys to builidng a rock-solid partnership between the organization's CEO and its board of directors: 1.) bring the right mindset to the governing arena; 2.) make the board chair a close ally; 3.) turn board members into strong owners; 4.) make the board's work more interesting and enjoyable; and 5.) put in place a well-designed CEO evaluation process. CEOs who want their nonprofit organizations to thrive in difficult times will learn how to create an empowered board that collaborates effectively with the chief executive in such key areas as strategic and operational planning; performance monitoring; and external relations. Readers will learn to harness the extensive knowledge, experience and outside connections that governing boards can bring to the organization's Strategic Governing Team, helping to assure the nonprofit's long-term success and job security for the board-savvy CEO.

Click to previewthis book on Amazon.com

Trend of the Week – Most Facebook Users Have Taken a Break From the Site, Survey Finds
A new survey by the Pew Research Center‘s Internet and American Life Project, conducted in December, found that 61 percent of current Facebook users admitted that they had voluntarily taken breaks from the site, for as many as several weeks at a time. The main reasons for their social media sabbaticals were not having enough time to dedicate to pruning their profiles, an overall decrease in their interest in the site, and the general sentiment that Facebook was a major waste of time.  About 4 percent cited privacy and security concerns as contributing to their departure. Although those users eventually resumed their regular activity, another 20 percent of Facebook users admitted to deleting their accounts. Of course, even as some Facebook users pull back on their daily consumption of the service, the vast majority — 92 percent — of all social network users still maintain a profile on the site. But while more than half said that the site was just as important to them as it was a year ago, only 12 percent said the site’s significance increased over the last year — indicating the makings of a much larger social media burnout across the site. The survey teases out other interesting insights, including the finding that young users are spending less time overall on the site. The report found that 42 percent of Facebook users from the ages of 18 to 29 said that the average time they spent on the site in a typical day had decreased in the last year. A much smaller portion, 23 percent, of older Facebook users, those over 50, reported a drop in Facebook usage over the same period. Go to: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Coming-and-going-on-facebook.aspx

Resource of the Week –  Jargon Finder
The Jargon Finder is an online collection of foundation and nonprofit jargon. Click on any word to see it defined and discussed. Most of the examples are excerpted from Tony Proscio's three book-length essays on jargon that were originally published by The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation: In Other Words, Bad Words for Good, and When Words Fail. To access the Jargon Finder, Go to: http://www.comnetwork.org/category/jargon.


Resource of the Week –  Jargon Finder


The Jargon Finder is an online collection of foundation and nonprofit jargon. Click on any word to see it defined and discussed. Most of the examples are excerpted from Tony Proscio's three book-length essays on jargon that were originally published by The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation: In Other Words, Bad Words for Good, and When Words Fail. To access the Jargon Finder, Go to: http://www.comnetwork.org/category/jargon.

 

Tech Tip of the Week -- Add a Watermark to a Word 2007/2010 Document

Watermarks are text or pictures that appear behind the text. They can add interest or identify the document's status, marking a document as a draft, for example. You can use graphics or text as watermarks.

·         Open a new, blank document, or open an existing document.
·         Click the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon
·         In the Page Background group, click Watermark
·         Click a design in the gallery or create a custom watermark
·         Select the Picture, if you are creating a Picture watermark
·         Enter the Text, if you are creating a Text watermark
·         Use Print Layout view to view a watermark as it will print

The watermark displays on the background of each page

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