Weekend Link Roundup (June 26 - 27, 2010)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Communications/Marketing

On her Getting Attention blog, Nancy Schwartz announces the launch of the 2010 Nonprofit Tagline Awards competition.

Diversity

On the Philanthropy Potluck blog, Minnesota Council on Foundations fellow Tawanna Black asks if difference is everywhere, "what difference does difference make?" Writes Black: "Years ago, in our efforts to create a color-blind, gender-blind society, we worked to erase difference....Today, we're starting to realize that difference can make a positive difference, if we allow it to."

After learning that the Associated Grant Makers Diversity Fellowship and the ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellowship Program are ending, Rosetta Thurman wonders on her Leading Edge blog whether this is the beginning of a decline in leadership development opportunities for nonprofit professionals of color.

Environment

Although BP will be required to create a $20 billion fund to help compensate victims of the Gulf oil spill, the Greater New Orleans Foundation argues that donations to its Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund are still needed.

Sandra Miniutti shares a new video on the Charity Navigator blog in which Steve Weisman, author of The Truth About Avoiding Scams, shares tips on how to avoid oil spill charity scams.

Philanthropy

In conjunction with the 2010 World Cup tournament, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has launched a Beyond the Games blog as a vehicle for its South African grantees to reflect on "the nation's past, present and future."

Foundation Center president Brad Smith, who currently is a featured "changemaker" at Ashoka's Web site, responds to questions related to giving during the recession in a new podcast on YouTube.

Poverty Alleviation

On the GiveWell blog, Holden Karnofsky takes a close look at a USAID report which found that it's "rare and unrealistic" for microfinance institutions in the developing world to "focus on [supporting] people under the "extreme poverty line."

Social Media

"Social media and philanthropy share this," writes Daniel Ben Horin, CEO of TechSoup Global, in a guest post on the Tactical Philanthropy blog. "They are, at the core, about people."

In a recent post, Allison Fine, co-author (with Beth Kanter) of the new book The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change, shares some of the "stickiest" ideas from the book.

In a related post, Philanthropy 2173's Lucy Bernholz offers a positive review of Fine and Kanter's book after explaining why the word "'Network' is a long overdue buzzword."

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org and have a great week!

-- Regina Mahone