Picks of the Week: April 14 - 20, 2013

Website of the Week --  Catalog of Nonprofit Literature
The Catalog of Nonprofit Literature is a searchable database of the literature of philanthropy. It incorporates the unique contents of the Foundation Center's five libraries and contains more than 24,900 full bibliographic citations, of which more than 17,000 have descriptive abstracts. It is updated daily. The Catalog was formerly known as Literature of the Nonprofit Sector (LNPS). Go to: http://cnl.foundationcenter.org

Publication of the Week -- Online Fundraising Essentials by Scott C. Stevenson
From the publisher: Originally published by Stevenson, Inc., this practical resource provides nonprofit organizations and professionals with strategies for generating more online contributions and leveraging websites for fundraising. It is filled with ways to engage visitors, communicate with donors, and add  interactivity, revenue-generating online events and funding opportunities to an organization’s website.  Important topics covered include: Integrating fundraising into websites, Social media, Building lists, Online tools, Online donor engagement, Blogs, Online events, Online surveys, Online giving, Attracting prospective donors, and Community building.

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

Trend of the Week -- Volunteering in the US 2012

In a supplement to the September 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the US volunteer rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 26.5 per cent for the year ending in September 2012. About 64.5 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2011 and September 2012. The decline in the volunteer rate in 2012 followed an increase of one-half of a percentage point in 2011. Key findings include:

• The volunteer rates for both men and women (23.2 and 29.5 percent, respectively) changed little in the year ending in September 2012. Women continued to volunteer at a higher rate than did men across all age groups, educational levels, and other major demographic characteristics.
• By age, 35- to 44-year-olds were most likely to volunteer (31.6 percent). Volunteer rates were lowest among 20- to 24-year-olds (18.9 percent). For persons 45 years and over, the volunteer rate tapered off as age increased. Teens (16-to 19-year-olds) had a volunteer rate of 27.4 percent.
• Among the major race and ethnicity groups, whites continued to volunteer at a higher rate (27.8 percent) than did blacks (21.1 percent), Asians (19.6 percent), and Hispanics (15.2 percent). Of these groups, the volunteer rate for whites fell 0.4 percentage point in 2012, driven by a decline in the volunteer rate of white women. Among blacks, the rate edged up 0.8 percentage point.

For more information, go to: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/volun.pdf

Resource of the Week –  Building Healthy And Effective Nonprofit Leadership Teams

This report builds upon previous work on the HR consulting firm Dewey & Kaye on nonprofit leadership competencies and development, as well as continuing work with assessing organizational capacity and financial health. This report incorporates the lessons learned in working with hundreds of nonprofit clients as well as data and comments from surveys and interviews conducted as part of this research. Along with key findings and recommended “remedies,” the report provide a self-diagnostic tool that nonprofit organizations can use as a first step in building healthier and more effective leadership teams. Go to: http://www.deweykaye.com/buildinghealthyteams.pdf

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