Picks of the Week: October 20 - 26, 2013

Website of the Week -- The Goodman Center

The Goodman Center was launched in 1998 as a company with a singular mission: to help good causes reach more people with more impact. Over time, The Goodman Center became known for its workshops in storytelling, presenting, strategic communications and more. In 2008 The Goodman Center partnered with Lipman Hearne, one of the nation’s leading marketing and communications firms, to develop online versions of workshops and create a virtual school “where do-gooders learn to do better.” Today all of The Goodman Center activities are consolidated under one name and can be found on its website. Go to: http://www.thegoodmancenter.com/

Publication of the Week --  Managing Leadership Transition for Nonprofits: Passing the Torch to Sustain Organizational Excellence by Barry Dym, Susan Egmont and Laura Watkins

From the publisher: For nonprofits leadership transitions are a time of exceptionally high risk. Here, three internationally-respected experts show how to systematically identify, introduce, support, and monitor leaders in ways that enhance rather than undermine their performance. They explain why leadership transitions are so challenging for nonprofits, and show how to replace chaos and crisis with proven, sustainable leadership transition plans. Writing for all nonprofit board members, leaders, aspiring leaders, and stakeholders, the authors demonstrate how to:

• Maintain organizational momentum, continuity, and credibility through the transition
• Find leaders who align well with your organizational values and its evolving culture
• Avoid fighting, rumors, accusations, and the common mistakes that derail nonprofit leadership transitions
• Build a sturdy bridge between departing and incoming leaders
• Set appropriate expectations for both boards and leaders, and guide them to complement each other successfully
• Plan succession and continuity for the long-term
• Use transitions to advance the organization’s mission

Click to preview this book on Amazon.com

Trend of the Week --  Donor Retention a Growing Problem for Small Organizations

From The Urban Institute, an examination of anonymous records of donations by 1.8 million people shows that many organizations that rely on public donations to achieve their missions experience very high turnover rates in their donor rolls. According to the survey of 2342 nonprofits, only 43% of donors who gave to an organization in 2009 gave to the same organization in 2010. This doesn't mean that donors stopped giving but that many of them gave to other organizations. This pattern leads to high costs of fundraising for some organizations. Other groups, though, see much higher rates of retention year after year, suggesting that it is possible for more organizations to trim costly acquisition campaigns and the loss of potential long-term supporters. Donor Retention Matters reports on some key findings from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. Continuing research will explore in more detail the underlying trends and patterns that affect this measure of nonprofits' connections with the communities they serve. For more information, and to download the report, go to: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412731-Donor-Retention-Matters.pdf

Resource of the Week –  Social Enterprise Alliance Toolkit

This guide is a toolkit for those involved in state policy, such as governors, legislators, legislative

aides, and state government officials, as well as advocates, nonprofit organizations, foundations, lobbyists, and others. It is designed to provide the best available and current information, including policy suggestions, successes to date, policy trends, and resources to anyone interested in promoting social innovation, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, and cross-sector collaboration in their state. The guide will prove particularly useful for those who want to:

• Propose or further develop state social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and social enterprise initiatives;
• Encourage state agencies or entities to support and fund innovative social solutions, including social enterprise;
• Remove barriers to social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and social enterprise; and/or
• Simply learn more about social innovation, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, and cross-sector collaboration.

This Social Enterprise Alliance toolkit was developed in collaboration with Root Cause. To download a copy of the toolkit, go to: http://rootcause.org/documents/SEAToolKit.pdf

Tech Tip of the Week -- Run PowerPoint 2010 Slide Show in a Window

Have you ever wanted to be able to run a PowerPoint slideshow in a window?  This can be done by adding a button to the Quick Access Toolbar.  Here’s how:

• Click the File tab on the Ribbon
• Click the Options button at the bottom
• Click Quick Access Toolbar in the left pane
• Under Choose commands from, select Commands Not in the Ribbon
• Scroll down and select Slide Show in a Window
• Click Add to add this button to the Quick Access Toolbar
• Click OK

To run a slideshow in a window simply click this button on the Quick Access Toolbar