Picks of the Week: March 3 - 9, 2013

Website of the Week --  Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
IRP is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan. It is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As one of three National Poverty Research Centers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it has a particular interest in poverty and family welfare in Wisconsin as well as the nation. The Institute was established in 1966 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison by the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, the organization given responsibility for reducing poverty in America. In the years since then, the Institute's affiliates, who represent a variety of disciplines, have formulated and tested basic theories of poverty and inequality, developed and evaluated social policy alternatives, and analyzed trends in poverty and economic well-being. Go to: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/index.htm.

Publication of the Week -- Charity Case: How the Nonprofit Community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World

From the publisher:  Virtually everything our society has been taught about charity is backwards. We deny the social sector the ability to grow because of our short-sighted demand that it send every short-term dollar into direct services. Yet if the sector cannot grow, it can never match the scale of our great social problems. In the face of this dilemma, the sector has remained silent, defenseless, and disorganized. In Charity Case, Pallotta proposes a visionary solution: a Charity Defense Council to re-educate the public and give charities the freedom they need to solve our most pressing social issues.

·         Proposes concrete steps for how a national Charity Defense Council will transform the public understanding of the humanitarian sector, including: building an anti-defamation league and legal defense for the sector, creating a massive national ongoing ad campaign to upgrade public literacy about giving, and ultimately enacting a National Civil Rights Act for Charity and Social Enterprise
·         From Dan Pallotta, renowned builder of social movements and inventor of the multi-day charity event industry (including the AIDS Rides and Breast Cancer 3-Days) that has cumulatively raised over $1.1 billion for critical social causes
·         The hotly-anticipated follow-up to Pallotta’s groundbreaking book Uncharitable

Grounded in Pallotta’s clear vision and deep social sector experience, Charity Case is a fascinating wake-up call for fixing the culture that thwarts our charities’ ability to change the world.

 

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com

Trend of the Week – Demographics of Social Media Users

A late 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that young adults are more likely than others to use major social media. At the same time, other groups are interested in different sites and services. Internet users under 50 are particularly likely to use a social networking site of any kind, and those 18-29 are the most likely of any demographic cohort to do so (83%). Women are more likely than men to be on these sites. Those living in urban settings are also significantly more likely than rural internet users to use social networking. Key findings include:

 

·         Facebook remains the most-used social networking platform, as two-thirds of online adults say that they are Facebook users. Women are more likely than men to be Facebook users, and Facebook use is especially common among younger adults.
·         The percentage of internet users who are on Twitter has doubled since November 2010, currently standing at 16%. Those under 50, and especially those 18-29, are the most likely to use Twitter. Urban-dwellers are significantly more likely than both suburban and rural residents to be on Twitter.
·         Pinterest, the online pinboard, has attracted 15% of internet users to its virtual scrapbooking. Whites, young people, the well-educated, those with higher income, and women are particularly likely to use the site. Pinterest is equally popular among those 18-29 and 30-49 (19%). Women are about five times as likely to be on the site as men, the largest difference in gender of any site featured in this report.
To download the full report, go to: http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_SocialMediaUsers.pdf

Resource of the Week – Free Complete Toolkit for Boards
Developed by Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, this toolkit covers many topics such as board roles and responsibilities, recruiting members, evaluating the board, and much more. In addition to the articles on this current page, also see there are two blogs that have posts related to this topic: the Boards of Directors Blog and the  Library's Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog. Go to: www.mapnp.org/library/boards/boards.htm

Tech Tip of the Week -- Move or Copy Sheets between Workbooks in Excel 2007/2010

·         Open the sheet you want to move or copy

·         Click the Home tab on the Ribbon
·         In the Cells group, click Format 
·         Under Organize Sheets, select Move or Copy Sheet
·         Choose where you want the sheet to be copied or moved to
·         Be sure to select the create a copy box if you do not want your sheet moved