Nonprofit Literature Blog

Nonprofit Literature Blog

Please note that the Nonprofit Literature Blog has been incorporated into the GrantSpace blog.

For book reviews written by Foundation Center staff and other experts in the field, visit Philanthropy News Digest's (PND) Off The Shelf page. Reviews may also be posted on Foundation Center regional blogs in Atlanta, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

If you would like your book reviewed, please contact PND staff.

"Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

The newly redesigned Philanthropy News Digest (PND) is a compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide. In PND's Off the Shelf feature, you'll find reviews of books on a variety of topics ranging from fundraising to nonprofit management.

Here are excerpts from two recent book reviews, both of which are available at Foundation Center libraries.

Cause for Change: The Why and How of Nonprofit Millennial Engagement
Derrick Feldmann, Kari Dunn Saratovsky (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013)

"According to Saratovsky and Feldmann, the "why" of millennial engagement is simple: nonprofits can't afford not to engage millennials on millennials' own terms if their organizations are to thrive. In part, that's because millennials boast $62.7 billion in discretionary spending power and, perhaps more importantly, are in line to inherit some $41 trillion in wealth from their parents and grandparents. What's more, Saratovsky and Feldmann argue, millennials insist on being actively engaged, as opposed to simply solicited, and are driven by personal relationships based on trust.

The "how" is more complicated. Saratovsky and Feldmann propose a "Millennial Engagement Platform" comprised of four "operational and cultural components" "leadership inviting" (i.e., inviting and empowering millennials to connect with the organization's decision makers); transparency; social connectivity; and a solution-inspired environment." Read more...

The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations
Brett E. Egan, Michael M. Kaiser (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2013)

"Kaiser is big on proactivity. He thinks of institutional marketing "as a proactive tool for healthy organizations as much as...a remedial approach for troubled ones." Moreover, no organization, no matter how successful, can afford to become complacent at any stage of the cycle. The cycle is not self-perpetuating; each element fuels the element that follows, for better or worse. If an organization neglects to maintain the engine, the engine will stall.

It's an approach that's evident not only in the book's emphasis on long-term planning, but also in its focus on the critical role of the board and donor stewardship. Raising an organization's profile through effective institutional marketing is critical to recruiting effective board members, Kaiser writes, but at the same time board members must be actively managed and engaged — for example, by being asked to "adopt" specific projects. Arts managers also should audit the board periodically to evaluate board members' productivity and replace those who no longer meet the organizations' evolving needs. Although it may surprise some readers, Kaiser tells us that, when working to save Alvin Ailey [American Dance Theater], he asked eighteen of the dance company's thirty-six board members to relinquish their seats — and that 'seventeen did so happily and remained actively engaged with the organization.'" Read more...

 

"Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Philanthropy News Digest (PND), a daily news service of the Foundation Center, is a compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide. In PND's Off the Shelf feature, you'll find reviews of books on a variety of topics ranging from international philanthropy to nonprofit management. Here are excerpts from five reviews published in the first half of 2013.

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster
Jonathan M. Katz (New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013)

"if we really want to help developing countries like Haiti after a disaster, Katz writes, more money has to flow to local governments and businesses. "[E]fforts to give aid directly to local governments, and the goal of building local institutions that operate independently of foreign control, will go exponentially further than cargo planes of tarps and bottled water." Read more...

Why Philanthropy Matters: How the Wealthy Give, and What It Means for our Economic Well-Being
Zoltan J. Acs (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013)

"Acs acknowledges that while the creatively destructive nature of American-style capitalism has served to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among Americans, it has also enabled a significant concentration of wealth in the hands of a relative few. And it is only 'through philanthropic investments — in particular through the organized, large-scale networks of what I call philanthropic entrepreneurialism — [that] the imbalance inherent in capitalist growth [can] be corrected to create a self-sustaining process in which wealth creation is supported alongside social innovation and opportunity.'" Read more...

The Fundraiser's Guide to Irresistible Communications: Real-World, Field-Tested Strategies for Raising More Money
Jeff Brooks (Medfield, MA: Emerson & Church, 2012)

"[Brooks] also shines when he discusses the psychological reasons behind some of the 'low-tech, high-touch' techniques, such as always using a 'P.S.' in letters. He delves into why seemingly blunt techniques such as underlining, highlighting, suggesting specific dollar amounts, and repeating 'the Ask' several times in a letter are often more effective than more nuanced approaches." Read more...

The Art of Doing Good: Where Passion Meets Action
John Sedgwick, Jeffrey Solomon, Charles Bronfman (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012)

"In short, the Art of Doing Good is a great resource for social entrepreneurs just getting started, nonprofit leaders interested in sharpening their management skills, and anyone with a passion to the change the world who is looking for a little inspiration and some very practical advice." Read more...  

Twenty Ways to Make a Difference: Stories from Small Foundations
Andy Carroll (Washington, DC: Association of Small Foundations, 2012)

"The book sets forth twenty strategies, ranging from the very general ('Think big') to the financially sophisticated ('Make loans and other program related investments') to the almost-trivial ('Provide meeting and event space to grantees and local nonprofits'). It's a motley list, and standing alone, it may not seem enough to inspire small foundations. But each strategy is illustrated with examples, and this is where Twenty Ways shines." Read more...

--Rob Bruno
Catalog/Reference Librarian
Foundation Center
New York, NY

"Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Philanthropy News Digest (PND), a daily news service of the Foundation Center, is a compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide. In PND's Off the Shelf  feature, you'll find reviews of books on a variety of topics ranging from international philanthropy to nonprofit management. Here are excerpts from five reviews published in the second half of 2012.

The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change
Roger Thurow (New York, New York: PublicAffairs, 2012)

"As Thurow tells it, Andrew Youn, One Acre's co-founder and executive director, believes East Africa's food insecurity problem is primarily economic rather than agricultural, and he has come up with an innovative business model to address the high rates of malnutrition, depleted soils, lack of access to information, and crop price fluctuations that are characteristic of the region." Read more...

Changing Business From the Inside Out: A Treehugger's Guide to Working in Corporations
Timothy J. Mohin (San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler, 2012)

"...corporate responsibility programs aren't making the world any worse, and, at their best, they may be contributing to change within corporate cultures and doing some good. But whether multinational corporations can actually drive greater social change than the activists, nongovernmental organizations, and governments that have been pushing them to adopt a responsibility agenda for decades remains to be seen." Read more...

Charity Case: How the Nonprofit Community Can Stand Up for Itself and Change the World
Dan Pallotta (San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 2012)

"Pallotta argues that executive compensation and overhead expenses cannot be considered in isolation when gauging an organization's effectiveness or efficiency. On the contrary, embracing the tools of capitalism (competitive salaries, advertising, lobbying, etc.) may be the best way for charities to maximize their donations and ultimately deliver superior services and programs." Read more...

A Memoir of the Ford Foundation: The Early Years
Evelyn C. Walsh, Verne S. Atwater (New York, NY: Vantage Press, 2012)

"Less a comprehensive history of the Ford Foundation than an impressionistic behind-the-scenes account of what it was like to work at the foundation as it rose to international prominence, 'A Memoir of the Ford Foundation: The Early Years' is a splendid addition to the growing literature about twentieth-century philanthropy and ably demonstrates that philanthropy, while an inherently personal endeavor, has the potential to exceed even our grandest expectations." Read more...  

The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking
Eli Broad (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012)

"Broad credits his parents, who owned a five-and-dime and were always generous with their time and the resources they had, with teaching him the importance of giving back. Following their example, he and [his wife] Edythe have adopted a hands-on approach to their philanthropy, which Broad believes is a 'more meaningful way to give back.' The Broads are actively involved in the work of their foundations and are famous for asking three questions before making a philanthropic investment: Will the grant make a difference in twenty years? Will the project happen without our support? And are the right people in place to make it happen?" Read more...

You can read highlights of reviews from the first half of 2012 here. For all Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

--Rob Bruno
Catalog/Reference Librarian
The Foundation Center--NY

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Philanthropy News Digest (PND), a daily news service of the Foundation Center, is a compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide. In PND's Off the Shelf  feature, you'll find reviews of books on a variety topics ranging from philanthropy to nonprofit management. Here are excerpts from four reviews of books published this year:

Foundations of the American Century: The Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller Foundations in the Rise of American Power

Inderjeet Parmar (Columbia University Press, 2012) 

"Parmar uses three case studies to argue that these [elite knowledge] networks, supported by the foundations' programs and activities during the Cold War era, were geared not to promote humanitarian causes but 'to penetrate foreign societies, economies, and polities and draw them into the American orbit.'" More

Us Before Me: Ethics and Social Capital for Global Well-Being
Patricia Illingworth (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) 

"Where Illingworth has succeeded, however, is in challenging some of our most entrenched notions about morality, equality, and liberty. In doing so, she is nudging us to rethink our preconceptions about reciprocity and trust..." More

The Non Nonprofit: For-Profit Thinking for Nonprofit Success 
Steve Rothschild (New York, NY: Jossey-Bass, 2012)

"...[Rothschild's] aim is nothing less than to shift the nonprofit management conversation from an obsession with costs to a discussion of benefits; from a narrow focus on inputs and outputs to an embrace of outcomes; from short-term fixes to long-term solutions; from philanthropy to investment." More

How to Raise $500 to $5000 From Almost Anyone; The Board Member's Easier Than You Think Guide to Nonprofit Finances
Andy Robinson and Nancy Wasserman (Medfield, Massachusetts: Emerson & Church, 2012)

(on How to Raise) "For almost every volunteer and many staff members, making "the ask" is hugely nerve-wracking. Robinson stages it in four acts and offers a script for the reader to adapt." More

(on The Board Member's Easier Than You Think Guide) "The starting assumption of Robinson and Wasserman's nintey-page guide ... is that board members, more than anything, must be effective at connecting money to mission." More

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

--Rob Bruno
Catalog/Reference Librarian
The Foundation Center--NY

Shifting and Resetting in Today's Connected World

It seems like every week there is another book or article about social media and technology for nonprofits, with many of them falling into the "how to" category, or focusing on one particular application (like Twitter). However, if you want to step back and see the big picture Brian Reich’s Shift & Reset: Strategies for Addressing Serious Issues in a Connected Society (Wiley, 2011) is worth a look. Reich waxes philosophical about how today’s hyperconnected society is affecting the way we behave and relate to each other, and how social media and other technologies are changing old paradigms of business and productivity.

Throughout the book, Reich offers principles, solutions, and must-read resources on how we can "shift and reset" our attitudes toward education, language, and mobilization efforts, as well as improve our overall game plan in supporting social issues important to us.

In the chapter "Shift Your Education" he cites a Sesame Street experiment that used cell phones to educate children; one reason Sesame Street has maintained its success is that it has kept a disciplined approach to childhood education in the face of significant changes in technology, occupying a state of perpetual "beta" in which they are always willing to experiment with new developments.  Reich also talks about Zappos (in "Shift Your Language") an online shoe/clothing retailer which is highly regarded because of its excellent customer service and relationships. The company has figured out what people expect and what they respond to, leading to a successful business strategy that focuses on the culture (i.e. language) of buying shoes and building loyalty rather than on blind metrics or efficiency standards.   

Reich also describes what the nonprofit sector should stop doing, namely the same old stale and “correct” things. He feels it would be wise if the sector stop creating new organizations and instead find groups that are operating successfully and help them instead; stop (over) using social media, since it alone is not enough for engagement and mobilization; and ignore those case studies, because by and large the success stories they convey aren’t transferable.

Many of the book's ideas and stories are designed to get you out of your comfort zone, which is often the best way to see new solutions. Shift & Reset is available at the Foundation Center’s New York, DC, San Francisco and Atlanta libraries under call no 676 REI.  

Rob Bruno
Catalog/Reference Librarian
The Foundation Center--New York

Here is a Google Books preview:

New Book on Online Marketing

Title: Connected Causes: Online Marketing Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Walter Wymer and Stacy Grau
Publisher: Lyceum Books
Year published: 2011

This incredibly detailed resource may be the only book you need to bring you up to date on the rapidly changing and expanding online marketing and networking landscape.

For instance, if your nonprofit is looking to expand its online social presence beyond Facebook and Twitter, a chart in the chapter “Tools for Stakeholder Engagement” lists over 50 alternative microblogs and social networks. The authors define these tools as well, and highlight what they are most effective at accomplishing.

The book is also prescient: it was published before the January 25 uprising in Egypt, but contains a “Chapter Insight” article that provides a look at how activists in that country have used Facebook to organize and protest.  It notes that about one million Egyptians—11 percent of the population—use Facebook.

One of the more difficult undertakings that a nonprofit organization faces today is creating a social media content strategy.  Chapter 4 covers this topic in detail, introducing managers to the world of social media and outlining its implications for nonprofit organizations.  It also suggests ways to make a content strategy work

The chapter “Online Advocacy and Activism” describes how to use the Internet for grassroots activism and collaborate with other advocacy groups.  It also provides advice on creating and sending e-mail “action alerts,” which are commonly used by activist organizations to get people to act on behalf of their issues.

Additional chapters cover branding, web site design and functionality, volunteer recruiting, and online fundraising. 

In all, “Connected Causes” is highly recommended for nonprofit managers and leaders looking to expand and optimize their online presence.

Walter Wymer has written numerous articles on the subject of nonprofit marketing, many of which are available at Foundation Center libraries.  Stacy Grau has written articles on cause-related marketing and corporate social responsibility. Find more works on these topics by searching our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.

You can find “Connected Causes” in the library under call number 680 WYM CON.

 

Robert Bruno

Catalog/Reference Librarian, The Foundation Center

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Here are excerpts from Philanthropy News Digest's Off the Shelf book reviews:

Best Practices in Grant Seeking: Beyond the Proposal.

Saadia Faruqi (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2010) 

"...Faruqi's approach encompasses not just the grant writer or development professional, but the executive director, board members, program and public relations staff, volunteers, and even clients..." More

How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist: 330 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Home, Community, and World - at No Cost!

Nicole Bouchard Boles (Workman Publishing Company, 2009) 

"...A self-described "expert in no- and low-cost philanthropy," Boles' message is that you don't need to be Bill Gates or Warren Buffet to make a difference in the world; you just need dedication, a little time, and some know-how..." More

The Power of Legacy and Planned Gifts: How Nonprofits and Donors Work Together to Change the World.

Kevin Johnson (Jossey-Bass, 2010) 

"...Johnson presents stories from the field along with practical knowledge, tactics, and strategies designed to help small and mid-size nonprofits create a gift-planning program sure to bring success..." More

Nonprofit Guide to Going Green.

Ted Hart, Adrienne D. Capps, and Matthew Bauer (John Wiley, 2009) 

"...the authors...make it clear that 'green' is an opportunity for nonprofits to further their mission of making the world a better place — environmentally as well as by directing savings into core programs — while also bolstering their fundraising efforts..." More

Designing for the Greater Good: The Best in Cause-Related Marketing and Nonprofit Design.

Peleg Top and Jonathan Cleveland (Collins Design/Harper Collins, 2010) 

"...a handsome book and a good reference tool for graphic designers looking for inspiration and/or new ideas from the world of cause-related design..." More

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Here are excerpts from Philanthropy News Digest's Off the Shelf book reviews:

Give a Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World.

Wendy Smith (Hyperion, 2009) 

"...[Smith is] out to show how little donations add up and, to that end, presents specific and often stunning data that underscore how small, everyday donations can save lives..." More

Small Change: Why Business Won't Save the World.

Michael Edwards (Demos, 2010) 

"...Almost two years after making a splash with Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism, Michael Edwards returns with Small Change to remind everyone about the dangers of introducing market forces and business thinking into social change work..." More

Globalization, Philanthropy, and Civil Society: Projecting Institutional Logics Abroad.

David C. Hammack, Steven Heydemann (Indiana University Press, 2009) 

"...At a time when an emergent global civil society is advancing the idea of universal standards with respect to governance and accountability, one of the key questions about global philanthropy is when, how, or even whether foundations can be effective agents in strengthening civil society abroad..." More

The Guide to Intelligent Giving: Make a Difference in the World — and in Your Own Life.

Joanna L. Krotz (Hearst Books, 2009) 

"...Krotz scatters clarifying and thought-provoking questions throughout the book and includes sample forms for managing grant requests and site visits as well as a chart comparing the various costs and tax implications of donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, and private foundations..." More

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Here are excerpts from Philanthropy News Digest's Off the Shelf book reviews:

The Influential Fundraiser: Using the Psychology of Persuasion to Achieve Outstanding Results. Bernard Ross and Clare Segal (Wiley, 2008)
"…The Influential Fundraiser delves into every form in which language is expressed — spoken, written, and nonverbal — to provide advice and specific tips designed to help fundraisers use it with maximum impact..." More…

Seeing Through a Donor's Eyes: How to Make a Persuasive Case for Everything from Your Annual Drive to Your Planned Giving Program to Your Capital Campaign. Tom Ahern (Emerson & Church, 2009)
"…Seeing Through a Donor's Eyes is perfect for the time-strapped nonprofit staffer (and who isn't?) who wants to create consistent, compelling messages that will make it past the filters of equally time-strapped donors..." More…

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.