Nonprofit Meetings, Minutes & Records: How to Run Your Nonprofit Corporation So You Don’t Run Into Trouble, Second Edition
by Anthony Mancuso
This book offers some good insights for anyone who serves on the board of a nonprofit organization, especially the board secretary. If the board of directors ignores its bylaws and state nonprofit laws, the organization could lose its tax-exempt status. Director liability is another concern.
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The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Fourth Edition
by David Meerman Scott
David Meerman Scott is an experienced marketing executive who says that interruption-based marketing techniques are ineffective. “I’ve done it the old way. It doesn’t work anymore.” Under the new rules, marketers publish their own content and speak directly with buyers.
“The Internet has made public relations public again… Your newsroom is for your buyers, not just the media… By building a media room that targets buyers, you will not only enhance those pages as a powerful marketing tool but also make a better media site for journalists.”
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Big Data Marketing: Engage Your Customers More Effectively and Drive Value
by Lisa Arthur
“Why don’t you know your customers better?” Lisa Arthur’s diagnosis: “Your data is fragmented.”
“Today’s marketers must engage buyers and prospects with conversations, solicit and act on customer feedback, and deliver experiences that are personalized, timely, and relevant.” Big data marketing makes this possible.
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The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization
by Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) et al
This book offers a strategic planning framework for nonprofit organizations. It can help board members set the direction by asking five questions.
What is our mission? The mission must reflect opportunities, competence, and commitment. Drucker cautions, “Never subordinate the mission in order to get money. If there are opportunities that threaten the integrity of the organization, you must say no.”
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Content Marketing: Think Like a Publisher—How to Use Content to Market Online and in Social Media
by Rebecca Lieb
“Instead of advertising, the shift is toward publishing… Companies are sharing: knowledge, expertise, and how-to. They know customers who might not have 30 seconds to spend on watching one of their ads might gladly surrender 30 minutes to dive into truly useful content.”
Continuing the ‘think like a publisher’ theme, an editorial calendar “ties that broader schedule together with specifics such as holidays, trade shows, company announcements, events (such as webinars), or new product launches… The editorial calendar also serves as an invaluable map for repurposing content.”
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The Art Forger
by B.A. Shapiro
The Art Forger is a novel inspired by a Hollywood-style art museum robbery that took place in Boston in 1990. It is about a struggling artist who is offered a lot of money and a career-changing opportunity if she will create a forgery from one of the stolen paintings.
She takes possession of an original Degas painting in her studio. Or does she? As she studies details of the painting, she begins to doubt its authenticity. Is she forging a forgery?
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An Insider’s Guide to Publishing
by David Comfort
An Insider’s Guide to Publishing is a well-researched dose of reality for aspiring novelists looking to get their work published. Although not mentioned on the cover, the content is specifically for writers of fiction. It is organized into 58 short chapters grouped in 13 parts, making it convenient to read in small increments of spare time. David Comfort demonstrates a sense of humor in his own writing and his selection of quotes from others.
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Six Thinking Hats
by Edward de Bono, M.D.
The Six Thinking Hats offers “an alternative to the argument system, which was never intended to be constructive or creative.” The emphasis is on “how we design a way forward—not on who is right and who is wrong.”
A major benefit is time savings. De Bono claims that ABB reduced their multinational project team discussions from 21 days to two days using the Six Hats method. “In the United States, managers spend nearly 40 percent of their time in meetings… Instead of rambling, ego-driven meetings, meetings are now constructive, productive, and much faster.”
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Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others
by Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas
“You’ve heard about people who talk too much. You never heard about a person who listens too much.”
Power Questions is about the productive use of questions in a variety of contexts. Co-authors Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas are experts on client loyalty and fundraising, respectively.
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The 1% Windfall: How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow
by Rafi Mohammed
Rafi Mohammed is an economist who consults on pricing strategy. The 1% windfall refers to the large impact on operating profits resulting from small adjustments to price. “A study by McKinsey & Company of the Global 1200 found that if they increased their prices by just 1%, and demand remained constant, on average each company’s operating profits would increase by 11%.” The book is about creating a portfolio of pricing options to appeal to as many customers as possible, thus maximizing profit.
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The Key Point 