Gottlieb uses her considerable 10+ years as a nonprofit consultant to help readers brainstorm the characteristics that board members must have; offer stories, checklists, forms, and charts; and debunk plenty of entrenched dogma about the board-member recruitment process....

Beginning with the definition of a major gift, Fredricks goes on to discuss how to start a major gifts program, preparation of the gift proposal, making the ask, thanking and recognizing donors, and tracking of prospect activities and gifts; she also includes three case studies....

Robinson believes that whatever their similarities, nonprofits differ dramatically in terms of scale and structure, organizational history and cultural traditions; particularly useful in this context is her differentiation of the board's role into three "dimensions" — legal, functional, and symbolic....

Using charts and diagrams, Axelrod lays out her model for turning one-time donors into lifelong donors by getting to know them individually and learning what motivates them to give and what it would take to have them give more....

All families possess human, intellectual, social, and financial wealth to some degree, Collier argues, and assessing the nature and extent of each type of wealth is a necessary precursor to deciding how (or whether) to formalize a structure for expressing a family's philosophy and values through philanthropy....

PND's Mitch Nauffts reviews a collection of essays, articles, and literary artifacts that traces the development of multimedia over the past 150 years by authors ranging from Vannevar Bush, Norbert Wiener, and Tim Berners-Lee, to Richard Wagner, John Cage, William Burroughs, and Nam June Paik....

Community Works is a diverse collection of essays that can be read like a textbook by those new to the concept of civil society or, for the professional or academic, illustrates its political and social applications, including the debate over what role the federal government plays in nurturing or undermining civil society....

Voltaire's observation that "The more things change, the more they stay the same" is a central theme in Baker's twin theses: 1) the Internet is not a "new world" but rather a potentially valuable additional tool for nonprofits in the "real" world; and 2) a nonprofit's online presence should be a component of an overall marketing plan, not a technological island divorced from the rest of the organization's strategy....

The authors take the reader through the process of conceptualizing, developing, and implementing a public school foundation, often using a plausible question-and-answer format to communicate concepts and steps in an almost conversational way....

The author provides a clear understanding of the struggles church leaders face, suggests specific changes, and lays the burden for change directly on the shoulders of those leaders — changes that range from practical cost-cutting measures to involving more lay people in worship, prayer, and service, to focusing on religious goals rather than physical goals....