Weekly Picks

2005 Publications of the Week

December 18 - 31, 2005

Human Resource Policies and Procedures for Nonprofit Organizations by Carol L. Barbeito

From the publisher: Learn about organizational policies and procedures, nondiscrimination/affirmative action, recruitment, hiring, termination, compensation, supervision, employment conditions, administration, and volunteer policies--the framework for developing a comprehensive human resource management system for paid employees, volunteer workers, and outsourced work. This practical guide has handy features like a customizable CD-ROM full of sample policies, procedures, and forms that can be easily adapted to individual nonprofit organizations of any size, and it uses checklists extensively, enabling you to perform a step-by-step implementation of a complete, up-to-date human resource management system. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

December 11 - 17, 2005

The Public Participation Handbook: Making Better Decisions Through Citizen Involvement by James L. Creighton

From the publisher: Internationally renowned facilitator and public participation consultant James L. Creighton offers a practical guide to designing and facilitating public participation of the public in environmental and public policy decision making. Written for government officials, public and community leaders, and professional facilitators, The Public Participation Handbook is a toolkit for designing a participation process, selecting techniques to encourage participation, facilitating successful public meetings, working with the media, and evaluating the program.  The book is also filled with practical advice, checklists, worksheets, and illustrative examples. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

December 4 - 10, 2005

Mission-Based Management: Leading Your Not-For-Profit in the 21st Century by Peter C. Brinckerhoff

From a review by Shelterforce Online: Peter C. Brinckerhoff's new book, Mission-Based Management – Leading Your Not-For-Profit into the 21st Century, provides an excellent overview of nonprofit management practices that should be useful to both new and experienced CBO managers. Brinckerhoff begins his book by defining nine key components of a successful nonprofit. The author devotes one or two chapters to each of these components. He lays out clear definitions of each and simple strategies for attaining them. In his chapters on boards, for example, he lucidly describes the key functions of a board, the types of individuals who join boards and their reasons for doing so, and how to mobilize their talents to benefit your organization. Scattered throughout the book are examples illustrating Brinckerhoff's points and "hands on" exercises. In addition to the book, Brinckerhoff has also written an "Organizational Self-Assessment" tool. This brief pamphlet provides questions, based on the book's chapters, that groups can use to analyze their own organizations. If you've read the book carefully, however, you should be able to put together your own assessment tools based on the items and concerns identified in the book. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

November 27 - December 3, 2005

Sarbanes-Oxley for Nonprofits : A Guide to Building Competitive Advantage by Peggy M. Jackson, Toni E. Fogarty

From the publisher: The first book to discuss the implications of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation as it relates to nonprofit organizations, Sarbanes-Oxley for Nonprofits is an essential guide for all nonprofit executives and boards who want to know how the new legislation can enhance their organization's mission. According to the authors, by establishing a "platinum standard" of operations and governance within nonprofit organizations, executives and board members will be better equipped to attract high-quality staff and board members, as well as the attention of donors and other potential funding sources. Sarbanes-Oxley for Nonprofits presents the best practices that have emerged from the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act (Sarbanes-Oxley) in a manner that explains their source and value to the nonprofit organization. Written for both small and large nonprofits, Sarbanes-Oxley for Nonprofits includes: sample documents, forms, and checklists to introduce these best practices into any nonprofit organization and much more. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com

November 20 - 26, 2005

Streetsmart Financial Basics for Nonprofit Managers by Thomas A. McLaughlin

From the publisher: Explains, in plain English, how to use financial information to effectively run nonprofit organizations. Concentrates on how to read, interpret and use financial data from bookkeepers and accountants to make management decisions that ensure the ongoing financial future of your organization. The book is organized into four distinct parts--analysis, accounting, operations and control--and features more than 50 easy-to-read charts, tables, checklists and instructive sidebars as well as lots of real-world examples based on the author's experience as a manager, consultant, and instructor. Includes a diskette with handy financial templates for financial reports, checklists, sample documents and other handy tools that you can copy, modify, and use.  Go to: Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

November 13 - 19, 2005

Meeting the Collaboration Challenge Video Package: Developing Strategic Alliances Between Nonprofit Organizations And Businesses by Peter F Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit

In his book, The Collaboration Challenge, James Austin of Harvard Business School demonstrated how nonprofits and businesses can work together to improve results. Now, in Meeting the Collaboration Challenge, the Drucker Foundation provides specific guidelines to help nonprofits of every size put collaboration into practice. This video package includes a video that chronicles five successful collaborations and a workbook that, when used with either the video or Austin's book, will help readers asses their organizations readiness for collaboration, identify what they have to offer to private sector organizations, begin to identify organizations they might partner with, and take the first steps toward successful collaboration. Go to: Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

November 6 - 12, 2005

The Executive Director's Survival Guide by Mim Carlson and Margaret Donohoe

From the publisher: The Executive Director's Survival Guide provides new insight, inspiration, and tools to meet the real life challenges and rewards of leading a nonprofit organization--and to thrive in this big job. Written by Mim Carlson and Margaret Donohoe, experienced nonprofit professionals and consultants on nonprofit leadership, this vital resource will give you the help you need to develop and strengthen personal, interpersonal and organizational effectiveness. It is filled with practical advice for succeeding in the position and offers a reader-friendly question and answer format. The book contains vital information on leadership and provides insights on when to lead, when to manage, and when to follow others. It also explores when it's time to leave and offers ideas for creating a smooth transition for yourself and your organization. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

October 30 - November 5, 2005

Losing Your Executive Director Without Losing Your Way by Carol Weisman and Richard I. Goldbaum

October 23 - 29, 2005

Generating and Sustaining Nonprofit Earned Income: A Guide to Successful Enterprise Strategies edited by Sharon M. Oster, Cynthia W. Massarsky, and Samantha L. Beinhacker

From the publisher: In collaboration with the Yale School of Management-The Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures, this comprehensive guide identifies best practices for generating a reliable income stream and ultimately reducing nonprofit organizations' dependence on traditional sources of funding. Edited by renowned scholar and consultant Sharon Oster and Cynthia Massarsky and Samantha Beinhacker, deputy directors of The Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures, Generating and Sustaining Nonprofit Earned Income: A Guide to Successful Enterprise Strategies will teach readers sound business planning strategies that can significantly benefit their organization's internal capacity and financial health.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

October 16 - 22, 2005

The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit by Ellis M.M. Robinson

 From the publisher: Step-by-step, The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit shows how to create, manage, and sustain a dynamic membership program that will help a social change organization thrive. Written for both new and well-established social change organizations, this book is grounded in proven marketing techniques. It gives managers and executive directors the information and tools needed to understand their current members and attract new ones, and it walks organizations through the process of linking program goals with membership goals. The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit includes a wealth of illustrative examples and sample membership publications. Schedules for typical membership tasks keep organizations on track, and the easily reproducible worksheets and checklists and the companion Web site help readers design a program that can be adapted to meet the unique needs of their individual organization. The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit will help executive directors, development directors, staff and board members, and other volunteers involve the community, build program effectiveness, and diversify and strengthen their organization's funding base.   Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

October 9 - 15, 2005

The Resilient Sector: The State of Nonprofit America by Lester Salamon

From the publisher: The Resilient Sector makes available in an updated form the concise overview of the state of health of America’s nonprofit organizations that Johns Hopkins scholar Lester Salamon recently completed as part of the “state of nonprofit America” project he undertook in cooperation with the Aspen Institute. Contrary to popular understanding, Salamon argues, America’s nonprofit organizations have shown remarkable resilience in recent years in the face of a variety of difficult challenges, significantly re-engineering themselves in the process. But this very resilience now poses risks for the sector’s continued ability to perform the tasks that we have long expected of it. The Resilient Sector offers nonprofit practitioners, policymakers, the press, and the public at large a lively assessment of this set of institutions that we have long taken for granted, but that the Frenchman Alexis de Toqueville recognized to be “more deserving of our attention” than almost any other part of the American experiment.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com

October 2 - 8, 2005

The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management by Robert D. Herman, & Associates

The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management offers a comprehensive and in-depth description of the most effective leadership and management practices that can be applied throughout a nonprofit organization. This second edition of the best-selling handbook brings you:

	Current knowledge and trends in effective practice of nonprofit organization leadership and management.
	A thoroughly revised edition based on the most up-to-date research, theory, and experience.
	Practical advice on: board development, strategic planning, lobbying marketing, government contracting, volunteer programs, fund-raising, financial accounting, compensation and benefits programs, and risk management.
	An examination of emerging topics of interest such as strategic alliances and finding and keeping the right employees.
	Contributions from luminaries such as John Bryson, Nancy Axelrod, and Peter Dobkin Hall, and the best of the new generation of leaders like Cynthia Massarsky.

Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

September 25 - October 1, 2005

Fieldstone Nonprofit Guide to Forming Alliances: Working Together to Achieve Mutual Goals by Linda Hoskins, Emil Angelica

From the publisher: In Forming Alliances, authors Hoskins and Angelica help you understand and strategically form alliances that work at a lower level of intensity. This concise guide will help you recognize the wide range of ways that you can work with others; decide what kind of alliance you should create given your circumstances and needs; plan and start an alliance; and, strengthen an existing alliance. As with other Fieldstone Alliance publication, the book is filled with examples and worksheets.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

September 18 - 24, 2005

A Breezy and Brief Fundraising Guide by Mal Warwick 

From the publisher: Mal Warwick's easy to read style makes The Mercifully Brief Real World Guide to…Raising $1,000 Gifts By Mail a guide for all readers -- practiced fundraisers and beginners alike. Warwick's book approaches direct mail fundraising in a unique and surprisingly direct fashion; confronting what he calls the nonprofit sector's "obsession about fundraising's cost as opposed to its cost effectiveness." Warwick aims to debunk this theory, showing the reader how to toss this idea out the window and start from a new perspective. Consultant, author, and public speaker Mal Warwick has taught fundraising on six continents to nonprofit executives from more than 100 countries. He is the founder and chairman of Mal Warwick & Associates, Inc. (Berkeley, Calif.), a fundraising and marketing agency that has served nonprofit organizations since 1979. This is Warwick's 17th book. His previous works include the standard texts, Revolution in the Mailbox and How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters, both of which are classics in the field.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

September 11 - 17, 2005

Private Sector Strategies for Social Sector Success by Kevin P. Kearns

 Recipient of the Terry McAdam Book Award for 2001. From the publisher: This practical guide offers a realistic approach to strategic management, while borrowing from the most helpful and relevant business ideas, allows the public or nonprofit organization to achieve success without compromising its unique mission or constituency. Executives, managers, and policymakers will find key principles for everyday application, including how to: identify trends that will most affect programs and services; assess the organization's core strengths and competencies; select strategies that advance the mission while building operational success; explore opportunities for collaborations with other organizations; and encourage a culture of strategic thought and action. Throughout this innovative guide, there are numerous illustrations and examples of how to apply the most appropriate technique to a particular need or goal. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

September 4 - 10, 2005

Play to Win: The Nonprofit Guide to Competitive Strategy by David LaPiana

From the publisher: Play to Win offers nonprofit leaders the help they need to develop their organization’s unique competitive advantages and to use the power of competitive strategies to build their organization’s capacity for advancing its mission. This book offers a clear description of competition and discusses its practical, ethical, and political ramifications within the nonprofit sector. It demonstrates how, by being a more effective competitor, a nonprofit can enhance its chances for both programmatic and financial success. Play to Win is filled with practical tools for assessing a nonprofit’s position in the marketplace and developing winning competitive strategies.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

August 28 - September 3, 2005

The Nonprofit Board Member's Guide To Lobbying And Advocacy by Marcia Avner

From the publisher: The Nonprofit Board Member's Guide to Lobbying and Advocacy shows board members how to use their power and privilege to move their organization's work forward. The book includes:

	Concepts, principles, and strategies specific to board members of 501 (c)(3) charities
	First-person success stories and from-the-field advice from board members across the U.S.
	Information about the laws that govern lobbying by nonprofits
	Detailed worksheets that lead readers through critical processes
	An appendix of lobbying tips, tactics and resources

The Nonprofit Board Member's Guide to Lobbying and Advocacy is second in a series of books on the topic from the Wilder Publishing Center. The first book, The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations, is aimed at nonprofit executives, managers, and lobbyists. A third book, written especially for funders, is in development. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

August 21 - 27, 2005

Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient, and Rewarding for All by Robert Egger

Begging for Change is the recipient of the 2005-2006 Terry McAdam Book Award For Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Nonprofit Management. From the publisher: In Begging for Change, Robert Egger looks back on his experience and exposes the startling lack of logic, waste, and ineffectiveness he has encountered during his years in the nonprofit sector, and calls for reform of this $800 billion industry from the inside out. In his entertaining and inimitable way, he weaves stories from his days in music, when he encountered legends such as Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, and Iggy Pop, together with stories from his experiences in the hunger movement. He asks for nonprofits to be more innovative and results-driven, for corporate and nonprofit leaders to be more focused and responsible, and for citizens who contribute their time and money to be smarter and more demanding of nonprofits and what they provide in return. Instead of asking the "who" and "what" of giving, he leads the way in asking the "how" and "why" in order to move beyond our 19th-century concept of charity, and usher in a 21st-century model of change and reform for nonprofits. Enlightening and provocative, engaging and moving, this book is essential reading for nonprofit managers, corporate leaders, and, most of all, any citizen who has ever cared enough to give of themselves to a worthy cause. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com  
 

August 14 - 20, 2005

Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity  by Susan Kenny Stevens

From the publisher: Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity weighs in with a developmental perspective on nonprofit capacity and its relationship to increased organizational performance.  Offering practical insights and thought-provoking case illustrations, this book presents seven nonprofit lifecycle stages and the predictable tasks, challenges, and inevitable growing pains that nonprofits encounter and can hope to master on the road to organizational sustainability. More than ten thousand nonprofit and foundation officers have attended the Growing-Up Nonprofit TM seminars in which Susan Kenny Stevens originally introduced the hands-on wisdom of lifecycle theory.  Now, as foundations and nonprofits seek to understand the principles of capacity and capacity-building activities, Stevens again showcases the lifecycle approach she pioneered more than two decades ago, and has since served as the cornerstone of her own successful consulting practice. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

August 7 - 13, 2005

Fundraising in Times of Crisis by Kim Klein

From the publisher: In today's uncertain environment, where nonprofits find themselves grappling with the continued downturn in the economy, the ongoing war on terrorism, government's cutbacks in social services, and a wave of organizational scandals--groups everywhere are straining to keep up with the increased demand for their services while struggling to generate funding. Fundraising in Times of Crisis draws on renowned consultant Kim Klein's more than twenty-five years of fundraising experience. This much-needed resource shows troubled groups how to identify what is really going on and how to assess the damage. Fundraising in Times of Crisis helps executive directors and development professionals of nonprofit organizations plan for both the short and long term and explains how to evaluate the success of their efforts. Checklists, tips, action steps and a wealth of examples walk you through the process of self-assessment and map out a road to recovery. No matter what your particular crisis--the sudden loss of an executive director, a public scandal, a major donor attrition, or a daunting increase in the demand for services--this book will show you how to survive and thrive in tough times. The publication received honorable mention in this year’s Terry McAdam Book Award program. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

July 24 - August 6, 2005

Nonprofit Stewardship: A Better Way to Lead Your Mission-Based Organization by Peter C. Brinckerhoff

From the publisher: Stewardship is a paradigm-shifting way to view your role, your board, your staff, your funders, and yourself. Understanding that the nonprofit is rooted in its ownership by the community helps break the boundaries of turf and fragmentation that prevent sustainable impacts. Author Peter Brinckerhoff—internationally known expert at helping not-for-profits get more mission for their money—explains why stewardship is the smart thing to do and how you can use it to transform your organization. … Comprehensive, passionate, and practical

Dozens of real-world examples make this book relevant. Specific applications of stewardship concepts make it hands-on and immediately useful. First-person stories from the author's considerable experience make it authoritative and reassuring. End-of-chapter discussion questions reprise key points and reinforce important ideas. Nonprofit Stewardship is recommended for leaders of all types of not-for-profit organizations serving individuals, the local community, the state, the nation, or the world. Also recommended for donors, grantmakers, government agencies, and others who fund your work.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

July 17 - 23, 2005

The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Conducting Community Forums: Engaging Citizens, Mobilizing Communities by Carol A. Lukas and Linda Hoskins

From the publisher: Community forums are powerful tools for educating the public, building consensus, focusing action, and influencing public policy. The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Conducting Community Forums provides step-by-step instructions to plan and carry out effective community forums with lasting results. It's based on the authors' experience with more than 70 community forums on a wide variety of topics. The proven models and best practices provided in this book will help readers: Clarify goals and decide whether a forum is the best way to achieve them, Select the best type of forum to meet your goals, Develop a timeline, create a budget, and recruit sponsors, Engage an audience early, Manage the logistics of event planning and execution, Prepare for pitfalls, unexpected requests, and challenging situations, and Sustain the results and bring about lasting, desired changes.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

July 10 - 16, 2005

Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards by Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan, Barbara E. Taylor

From the publisher: A new framework for helping nonprofit organizations maximize the effectiveness of their boards. Written by noted consultants and researchers attuned to the needs of practitioners, Governance as Leadership redefines nonprofit governance. It provides a powerful framework for a new covenant between trustees and executives: more macrogovernance in exchange for less micromanagement. Informed by theories that have transformed the practice of organizational leadership, this book sheds new light on the traditional fiduciary and strategic work of the board and introduces a critical third dimension of effective trusteeship: generative governance. It serves boards as both a resource of fresh approaches to familiar territory and a lucid guide to important new territory, and provides a road map that leads nonprofit trustees and executives to governance as leadership. Governance as Leadership was developed in collaboration with BoardSource, the premier resource for practical information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership development for board members of nonprofit organizations.  Click to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

July 3 - 9, 2005

The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook by David D. Chrislip

From the publisher: When the landmark book Collaborative Leadership was first published in 1994, it described the premise, principles, and leadership characteristics of successful collaboration. The book outlined an innovative way of building partnerships to solve the civic problems too big for anyone to solve alone as well as a new type of leadership that brings together diverse stakeholders to solve a community's problems. While that book provides a much-needed framework for working together, The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook offers nonprofit practitioners, community leaders, and public officials a practical, hands-on resource. It presents the tools needed for applying the lessons learned, powerful approaches that get results, and guidance for solving complex community problems. In clear and concise terms, the Fieldbook presents a wide range of tools and concepts that can be readily applied. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

June 26 - July 2, 2005

The Best of the Board Café: Hands-on Solutions for Nonprofit Boards by Jan Masaoka

From the Publisher: Now, the most-requested articles and best thinking of its nearly 30,000 subscribers are gathered together in The Best of the Board Cafe. This complete guide offers a menu of ideas, information, opinion, news, and resources for nonprofit boards—all short enough to read over a cup of coffee! You’ll find a wide range of useful of topics. To spark discussion, the articles in this unique guide are formatted as handouts so they can be easily shared. The author is Jan Masaoka, executive director of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a leading consulting and training firm for nonprofit organizations based in California. Nonprofit Times has named her one of the "Fifty Most Influential People" in the nonprofit sector nationwide. Masaoka has been the editor/chef of the Board Cafe newsletter since its inception in 1997 and is also coauthor (with Mike Allison) of Why Boards Don't Govern, published by the University of Indiana Press. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

June 19 - 25, 2005

Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit by J. Gregory Dees, et al

From the publisher: This publication offers a complete set of tools for applying entrepreneurial strategies and techniques to your nonprofit. As a follow-up to their book Enterprising Nonprofits, the authors of Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs provide a full set of practical tools for putting the lessons of business entrepreneurship to work in your nonprofit. The book offers hands-on guidance that helps social sector leaders hone their entrepreneurial skills and carry out their social missions more effectively than ever before. This practical and easy-to-use book is filled with examples, exercises, checklists, and action steps that bring the concepts, frameworks, and tools to life. Detailed explanations of all the tools and techniques will help you personalize and apply them to your nonprofit organization–making it stronger, healthier, and better able to serve the needs of our communities. All of the royalties from this book will be used by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to support continuing work on social entrepreneurship.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

June 12 - 18, 2005

Fundraising on the Internet: The ePhilanthropyFoundation.org's
Guide to Success Online, 2nd Edition by Mal Warwick (Editor)

 From the publisher: In this second edition of the popular Fundraising on the Internet, Mal Warwick, Ted Hart, Nick Allen, and a sterling group of experts in the field have completely rewritten the first-ever hands-on guide for navigating the ever-changing world of fundraising on the Internet. This no-nonsense book gets beyond the hype and hyperbole, and takes into account the new realities of the post dot.com crash marketplace to offer solid advice on how to use technology to raise funds. Read a review of this title on Charity Channel at: charitychannel.com  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

June 5 - 11, 2005

The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook by David D. Chrislip

From the publisher’s website: When the landmark book Collaborative Leadership was first published in 1994, it described the premise, principles, and leadership characteristics of successful collaboration. The book outlined an innovative way of building partnerships to solve the civic problems too big for anyone to solve alone as well as a new type of leadership that brings together diverse stakeholders to solve a community's problems. While that book provides a much-needed framework for working together, The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook offers nonprofit practitioners, community leaders, and public officials a practical, hands-on resource. It presents the tools needed for applying the lessons learned, powerful approaches that get results, and guidance for solving complex community problems. In clear and concise terms, the Fieldbook

	Presents a wide range of tools and concepts that can be readily applied
	Provides a comprehensive guide to collaboration from conception to implementation
	Describes how to establish effective civic leadership development programs to support collaborative efforts
	Contains stories and examples that clearly illustrate the book's concepts and tools
	Helps readers find-quickly and easily-what they need for their specific situations

Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

May 29 - June 4, 2005

The Strategic Board: The Step-by-Step Guide to High-Impact Governance by Mark Light

How do you mold highly talented individuals with diverse backgrounds, limited time, and no governance expertise into an effective board? The Strategic Board provides the answer. Drawing on more than twenty years of nonprofit experience, Mark Light outlines a practical model that overcomes the built-in deficiencies of nonprofit boards and guides them to strategic effectiveness.

The Strategic Board™ model of governance is a step-by-step, easy-to-implement, multilevel course of action that enables a board to craft a comprehensive Governance Plan™ consisting of four elements:

	Leadership Plan that determines "Where to go tomorrow?"
	Delegation Plan that specifies "Who does what?"
	Management Plan that decides "What gets done today?"
	Vigilance Plan to answer the question "Did it happen?"

Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

May 22 - 28, 2005

Fundraising for Social Change by Kim Klein

Fundraising for Social Change provides organizations that have budgets of less than $1 million (including much less than that) with the information they need to establish, maintain and expand a successful community-based fundraising program. From the back cover: Fundraising for Social Change is one of the most widely used books on fundraising in the United States. Fundraising practitioners rely on it for hands-on, specific, and accessible fundraising techniques, and it has become a required text in dozens of college courses around the country. This fourth edition takes Fundraising for Social Change to new levels of usefulness, with added chapters on the relationship of the Development Director and Executive Director, using the Internet, and making a career of social change fundraising. There are also expanded chapters on the topics that have made this book a classic: asking for money, planning and conducting major gifts campaigns, using direct mail effectively, conducting capital and endowment campaigns for small groups, and much, much more.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com

May 15 - 21, 2005

Breakthrough Thinking for Nonprofit Organizations: Creative Strategies for Extraordinary Results by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal

The authors show nonprofits of every size how to tap into creativity and transform that creativity into innovation. The book includes practical advice, exercises drawn from the authors’ successful workshops, and examples of best practices from companies such as 3M, Hallmark and Microsoft as well as from the most innovative organizations in the nonprofit world.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

May 8 - 14, 2005

Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, Second Edition by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye

This thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded edition provides expert knowledge and tools you need to develop and implement strategic plans. It including worksheets, checklists, and tables—in print and on the companion CD-ROM—along with a book-length case study that lets you observe strategic planning in action. Topics covered include: developing a clear mission, vision, and set of values, conducting SWOT analyses and program evaluations, assessing client needs and determine stakeholder concerns, setting priorities and develop core strategies, goals, and objectives, and much more. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com

May 1 - 7, 2005

Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations: Shaping Public Policy at the State and Local Level by Marcia Avner

This guide, published by the Amherst Wilder Foundation,  gives detailed, step-by-step instructions for developing an effective advocacy and plan and putting it into action. Topics covered include: the link between lobbying and your mission, how to initiate, support, or defeat bills, developing effective lobbying skills, how to use the media effectively, how to comply with state and federal regulations, and much more. Includes extensive worksheets and planning guides.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

April 24 - 30, 2005

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, Edited by Peter M. Senge, Art Kleiner and Charlotte Roberts

Over 15 years ago, Peter Senge's best-selling The Fifth Discipline introduced many to the concept of the “learning organization”: The Fieldbook continues to be the best resource for people wanting step-by-step guidance on building "learning organizations" of their own. Organized as a workbook, it includes almost 150 pieces of writing 70 authors: success stories, exercises and techniques. The offerings can be read in any order; browsing is aided by handy margin icons.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

April 17 - 23, 2005

Nonprofit Book Answer Book and Nonprofit Board Answer Book II: Beyond the Basics by Robert C. Andringa

Both of these books offer clear and practical information on a wide range of common questions about nonprofit boards and how they should work. The authors cover a wide range of topics: how a board should be structured, what is the chief executive's role in training a board, launching a for-profit subsidiary, re-branding your organization, surviving a merger, dealing with risk management issues, conflict of interest, performance problems, and much more Although some answers are too basic to serve every kind of board, the information is useful for the average board and its members. Topics are explored in an easy-to-follow, question-and-answer format.  Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com

April 10 - 16, 2005

Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations, Revised and Updated by Bryan Barry

There are a number of good publications on strategic planning in nonprofit organizations. If I had to pick just one to recommend, it would have to be Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations by Bryan Barry.  First published in 1997 by the Amherst Wilder Foundation, the workbook combines a clear and thorough explanation of the strategic planning process, with examples and detailed worksheets for each step of the process.  Highlights include guidance on preparing to plan, benefits and limitations of planning, strategic planning with multiple organizations and communities, a bibliography of other resources and publications, and much, much more. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com
 

April 3 - 9, 2005

Forging Nonprofit Alliances: A Comprehensive Guide to Enhancing Your Mission Through Joint Ventures & Partnerships, Management Service Organizations, Parent Corporations, and Mergers by Jane Arsenault

As the rather lengthy subtitle suggests, the book covers the range of nonprofit alliance options. Strengths include conceptually linking strategic planning to the exploration of alliance and restructuring options, detailed guidance on negotiating and implementing agreements as well as extensive tools and charts that will help to clarify choices and aid in conducting due diligence and alliance decision-making. One of the best resources is the “Discussion Tool for Allocation of Power between Parent and Subsidiary”. The Appendix also includes an outline for a request for proposals to use in conducting a partner search, a worksheet for constructing a response policy to review proposals from interested potential partners, a sample letter of intent to explore an alliance, and questions for a focus group to learn about the organizational culture of a potential alliance partner. Click here to preview this book on Amazon.com