I just found an excellent article on washingtonpost.com concerning the ways that HUD policy actually fed and aided the current housing mortgage crisis.  You can find the article here.

Google for Nonprofits has just started a google group and also a YouTube Channel. If you would like to join the group, please follow this link. If you do not want to receive messages from the google group, but just the announcements, please use this link.

Also, they just started a Google for Nonprofits channel on Youtube. I’ve embedded the first video from the channel at the end of the post. The video is a testimony from representatives of Casa of Washtenaw County, Michigan how they used a variety of google tools (reader, docs, etc.) to enhance their mission and performance as an organization.

I am almost done with an excellent nonprofit management book, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits. The book is written by Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant. I’ve read a number of nonprofit and management books in the last few years, but this book is to me, one of the best out there. The writers examine the common practices of 12 high-impact nonprofits:. Share our Strength, YouthBuild, Self-Help Credit Union, and Habitat for Humanity are some of the organizations examined in the book. I would also say that they way each chapter is organized is also easy for the reader to refer back to the book on a later date for research or to incorporate some of the principles in one’s own nonprofit.

Below is audio and video resources where the Heather talks about the book and its implications for the social sector. Happy Reading!

What Makes Great Nonprofits Great?

I listen to the podcast 501c3 Cast for Nonprofits, which is an excellent resource for the nonprofit professional.  Podcaster Cory does an excellent job in linking you to a variety of fundraising, nonprofit management and technology resources.  Recently, he highlighted a site called 501 videos where Christopher Davenport interviews development directors about strategies they use to overcome fund raising hurdles.  You can sign up by going to their website and watch the short interviews for free!!

If you are looking for local and state information on how the subprime disaster will affect your state or local community, please take a look at research done by the Center for Responsible Lending. Back in December 2006, the center completed a report on the subprime crisis called Losing Ground, which was updated in January 2008, which provides a comprehensive analysis on the subprime crisis.

This page will give you stats and information about the impact the subprime mortgage will have not only on neighboring homes but also on the tax base of local communities. The results are staggering. The Center believes that 600,000 foreclosures could be saved if the ban on court-supervised loans modifications is lifted.

Finally, I also would suggest reading a report compiled by the Pew Charitable Trusts titled,  Defaulting on the Dream: States Respond to America’s Foreclosure Crisis

I met with one of the folks in Advancement as we are in the process of increasing scholarship opportunities for students in our social work program. In this discussion, we talked about the use of wealth screening as a tool to leverage funds for the university. There are now (or has been for those of you that eat and drink fund raising trends) software where nonprofits can screen and identify donors in their database.

Because tax and asset holdings are public information, nonprofits can strategically determine which donor relationships can be enhanced.  One of the companies that provides wealth screening software is Kintera where nonprofits can identify donors for planned giving, annual funds and capital campaigns. Another company that provides such software support is Growthdesign.

Here are some others to check out:

Qbase

AskAnalyzer

Blackbaud Analytics

WealthEngine

WealthPoint

There are criticisms of this software. Some think that this tool is not cost-effective in the long run. Others state that while it provides an understanding of donor assets and wealth, donors ultimately need to loyal to your organization in order to increase their giving.

HUD is offering free grant writing training through the Art and Science of Grant Writing workshops. All in all, 60 free grant writing workshops will be held in different parts of the country.  These workshops are organized and sponsored by HUD’s Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

The award-winning documentary series Speaking of Faith produced by American Public Media recently aired a fascinating conversation on evangelical political involvement between 3 different “types” of evangelicals: Chuck Colson, Rev. Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne. It is interesting to see the variety of opinions and perspectives of the positives and limitations of evangelical political involvement. This program was also highlighted on Jim Wallis’ blog called God’s Politics here.

If you would like to obtain the podcast for the Speaking of Faith series, follow this link.

The Chalmers Center for Economic Development will offer their “Foundations and Principles of Holistic Ministry” distance learning course twice this fall. The first offering is scheduled for August 18 - September 13, 2008 and the second for October 20 - November 15, 2008. The fall offering of the follow up course, “Principles and Practices of Christian Microfinance and Microenterprise Development,” has one remaining seat; however, it will be offered again in Spring 2009. fall-foundations-announcement

I recently spoke (April 16th) at a Taylor University chapel. If you would like to listen to my talk here — “What is Shaliom?”. The chapel was well received by students and colleagues on campus.