Nonprofit News » Reviews: Books

Foundation Management, by Ellsworth and Lumarda

Michael Gilbert — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:14:46 +0000

Frank Ellsworth and Joe Lumarda have written a book that, were I in the business of giving away money, I would want to own. Given what is covered in Foundation Management: Innovation and Responsibility at Home and Abroad, I have no hesitation recommending it to funders. But I have to confess that when I read [...]

Thich Nhat Hanh on Harmonious Community Building

Michael Gilbert — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:33:40 +0000

I have long had an interest in the extraordinary sustainability and harmony of monastic communities, particularly contemporary ones that don’t rely on coercion or a relationship with the state (or a great lord) for its membership. Unlike large scale cults that may recruit entire families and encourage them to breed, monastic communities rely entirely on [...]

Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea

Michael Gilbert — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:28:40 +0000

I think most of us in the nonprofit sector, myself included, routinely misuse the word “strategy”. It ends up with a much broader and less useful meaning than it could. I try to correct this by clearly delineating between strategy and tactics in my teaching and consulting work. I do this in part to help [...]

Wall Street, by Doug Henwood: A (Now) Free Book that Many of Us Need to Read

Michael Gilbert — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:29:35 +0000

People who work in civil society are not immune to the personal and political delusions about wealth that permeate our culture. Those delusions, combined with the service vs change dynamic in our sector, means that we often embrace “change” strategies that reinforce the status quo — whether it’s in our personal lives, organizational lives, or [...]

2008 State of the World: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy

Michael Gilbert — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:29:49 +0000

I read the WorldWatch Institute’s State of the World report every year. The 2008 Edition, subtitled Innovations for a Sustainable Economy deserves special mention. Even if you don’t think of your work as directly related to the environment, I encourage you to consider its connection to the current fate of the earth. In fourteen chapters [...]

Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data

Michael Gilbert — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:21:07 +0000

Stephen Few’s book Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data is an attempt to do for dynamic displays what Edward Tufte has done with static displays. Although I have some misgivings about the fact that his methods are not oriented toward action and workflow, I think this lovely book comes close to its [...]

Programming Collective Intelligence

Michael Gilbert — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:47:52 +0000

The more I reflect on Toby Segaran’s book on Programming Collective Intelligence, the more strongly I want to recommend it to those who pursue a long term, system oriented vision of civil society. When you think about civil society, democracy, economics, and other structural expressions of social will, the more you realize that a large [...]

Tools for Radical Democracy: How to Organize for Power in Your Community

Michael Gilbert — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:45:53 +0000

If the title of Joan Minieri and Paul Getsos’ book: Tools for Radical Democracy, sounds a little like Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals to you, then you’re probably someone who will want this book. Like Alinsky’s classic text, this book is a practical manual on community organizing, updated for the 21st century. The book’s chapters include: [...]

Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think

Michael Gilbert — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:31:16 +0000

I recall my early days in college, when I was first exposed to two disciplines: community organizing and computer programming. I was always attracted to the aesthetics in both and felt that beauty had something to teach us about effectiveness. Not the superficial prettiness of gorgeous (but unread) pamphlets or fancy (but unused) interfaces. Rather, [...]

The Challenge of Change by Philip Coltoff

Michael Gilbert — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:36:42 +0000

Philip Coltoff’s book, The Challenge of Change, delivers on its subtitle – “Leadership Strategies for Not-For-Profit Executives and Boards”. Far too often we use the word “strategy” when what we are really talking about is tips or tactics, but Coltoff doesn’t fall into that trap. Nor does he just recycle for-profit corporate practices with a [...]