BUILDING CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS
Special Feature Page 6

Simon, Judith Sharken. The Five Life Stages of Nonprofit Organizations: Where You Are, Where You're Going, and What to Expect When You Get There. St. Paul, Minn.: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 2001.

The life stage concept of organizational assessment is a great tool for objectively observing where your nonprofit is and where it might be headed. This book includes the Wilder Nonprofit Life Stage Assessment to assist with evaluation and numerous examples from each stage to compare your organization with.

Building a Successful Team: A Guide to Nonprofit Board Development. Videocassette. Washington, D.C.: BoardSource, 2002. 32 min.

This 32-minute video and user's guide are valuable tools for governance committees to put together a board with a wide range of expertise and commitment. Features interviews and planning suggestions for locating and recruiting potential board members.

Grobman, Gary M. The Non-Profit Internet Handbook. Harrisburg, Pa.: White Hat Communications, 1998.

From finding useful information on the Internet to providing that information through an organization Web site, this guide is the place to look. Includes information on grant-seeking as well as effective fund-raising online.

Grobman, Gary M. The Nonprofit Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Startup and Run Your Nonprofit Organization.  Harrisburg, Pa.: White Hat Communications, 2002.

This excellent reference tool and guidebook features law, policy, issues, practical advice on start-up and maintenance, and additional print and electronic resources for further information on nonprofit organizations. Extremely informative reading for anyone interested in running a nonprofit in the U.S.

Kahn, Si. Organizing: A Guide for Grassroots Leaders. Rev. ed. Silver Spring, Md.: National Association of Social Workers, 1991.

It is author Si Kahn’s belief that ordinary citizens can have profound effects by organizing themselves. His insight and direction for doing this are featured in this book designed for those interested in grassroots projects.

Ruegg, Debra L. Bookkeeping Basics: What Every Nonprofit Bookkeeper Needs to Know. St. Paul, Minn.: A.H. Wilder Foundation, 2003.

It is rare to find a nonprofit that has a professional bookkeeper on staff. For those who come to the position with little or no accounting training, this book provides a wealth of information in plain language for keeping track of your organization’s financial activity and safeguarding its assets.

Cumfer, Cynthia. The Oregon Nonprofit Corporation Handbook. 3rd ed. Portland, Ore.: Technical Assistance for Community Services, 2001.

This handbook, though geared toward nonprofits in the state of Oregon, has tools that managers, lawyers, accountants, consultants and board members of nonprofit organizations everywhere will find extremely useful. Dealing with the changes in the funding and management environments in the nonprofit industry, it will prove an invaluable tool for new as well as long-established nonprofit organizations.

Behar, Sharon. Program Organizing Guide. Montpelier, Vt.: River Watch Network, 1995.

River Watch Network put together this handbook to help citizen water quality monitoring groups design successful, long-term organizational structures for their programs. A step-by-step process is laid out to help users design a program tailored to their objectives, local water quality issues, manpower and financial resources.

Lakey, Berit M. et al. Grassroots and Nonprofit Leadership.  Philadelphia, Pa.: New Society Publishers, 1995.

Theory and practice mingle in this tool kit for helping leaders deal with a wide range of organizational issues. Its engaging text and clear analogies will help leaders in any sort of nonprofit improve themselves and their organizations.

Barry, Brian W. Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations. Rev. ed. St. Paul, Minn.: A.H. Wilder Foundation, 1997.

This practical and straightforward guide walks nonprofits through the process of creating a strategic plan to address problems, improve communication, and work around funding cuts and increased competition for federal money. Includes a detailed sample of an actual nonprofit’s three-year plan.

Bobo, Kimberley A. Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists. 3rd ed.  Santa Ana, Cal.: Seven Locks Press, 2001.

Grassroots organizers working at the local, state, or national level will find this guidebook one of the most comprehensive and useful for organizing and creating an impact. Resources for every minutiae of organizational success are included in an appendix which also contains an index and rallying songs!