Organizations Books

This book is a quintessential guide for hiring a new director and, if methodically followed, results in strengthening your organization in the process. Each chapter opens with its own synopsis. The responsibilities of the search committee are thoroughly outlined & fully enumerated in subsequent chapters. This comprehensive tutorial is followed by appended chapters that reinforce the process with Checklist/Reminders. This book is just about the best "How To: book I have encountered.

This well written and informative book is a godsend to those involved in the difficult job of hiring and keeping top people in the nonprofit world; my many years of doing executive search would have been made much easier had I had this book; Gilvar is great on both concept and details- -a much needed guide for a critical task . Mary K. Eliot

As a current non-profit board chair and veteran of two executive searches, I can attest to the value of Ms. Gilvar's book. Written in a clean, crisp, highly organized style and encompassing both big picture ideas as well as the mechanics of the search process (as well the preparation stage and post(transition) stage), this book provides invaluable guidance to anyone responsible for or interested in a non-profit executive search.

This book by Marc A. Pitman should be read by everyone who is involved in any way with fundraising. It provides a step by step method to ask for funds that is not only effective, but also removes much of the fear that is attributed to fundraising. I enjoyed Marc's perspective and personal stories to make his points. I also learned important techniques from it. Especially in the area of potential donor research. It is easy to read and implement. "Ask Without Fear" is on my must read list.

Since I first met Marc in 1998, I have witnessed a constant champion for the entire fundraising community. Able to relate his experiences in practical ways to inspire others, he's a tremendous asset to the industry.

Bringing his web and consulting presence to your bookshelf, Marc has provided a great resource for beginning volunteers and seasoned professionals in "Ask Without Fear." I plan to purchase several copies for my office to loan out to others. (I won't be surprised when they aren't returned.)

From reminders of what makes you passionate about your organization to helpful ideas that draw others to your cause, Marc's succinct wisdom captured here is worthy for all - trustees, volunteers, staff.

I've been reading and recommending Marc Pitman' s "Ask Without Fear" blog to fellow fundraisers and clients for years, and now I'm doing the same for his new book. It's an excellent, pithy, common sense guide to asking for money. I like how Marc breaks it down to a series of practical steps that anyone can understand and implement. And how he includes practical examples of strategy and language. Most of all, I like his writing style -- he models the kind of enthusiasm that I think is at the heart of effective fundraising. He makes it seem not only doable, but fun!
- Mitch Teplitsky, fundraising filmmaker and consultant (http://www.soyandina.com)

An outstanding reference for stewardship work. This book explores the role of money in the parish, why it's so difficult to talk about, and what needs to change.

A very good and comprehensive review of where stewardship in the church is in the last ten years. This will take you through motivation, understanding, and give you insights into how to resolve your stewardship dilemas. People who are strugling with stewardship will find this book most informative and helpful. You may not like all that is said but all needs to be said and thought about. Most thought provoking and insightful.

Without a doubt, this is THE best stewardship book I've ever read! Like you, I've endured many a stewardship campaign, technique, and gimmick--only to find it unsatisfying, ultimately. This book examines everything that has been done under the sun in stewardship (be it mainline Protestant, evangelical Protestant, or Roman Catholic), and discusses, rationally, why it is counterproductive in the long run. While it is a big book and does discuss research, it is easily accessible to all. Interestingly enough, I found it hard to put down--it is that good! Buy this one now.

The godliness of living a Gospel life when it comes to The Rule of St. Benedict, the nature of the author's intentions and set of mind, the understandings of The Rule itself, are a few of the rewards one gets from Terrence G. Kardong's, "Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary." One thesis of Father Kardong's is, "...the Rule teaches a dynamic spirituality." A book for those interested in living a Gospel life, some areas touched upon by this book include, "progress and growth" in the religious and spiritual life, what's referred to as ongoing conversion in the life of faith, and humility.

The book suggests looking towards continued reading of "...the teaching of the Bible and Fathers." This last a recommendation of the Rule, and the book "Benedict's Rule" an endorsement and recommendation of St. Benedict's little book for beginners.

A reader interested in St. Benedict's Rule will find this 600 plus page work, published by The Liturgical Press a scholarly work. It can be used as a text for reading, as in study, or as a reference work (so I think). The book speaks of St. Benedict's sense of moderation, and his humility, an earmark of the book about the Rule itself, and a hallmark of the author who is a monk and priest.

Father Kardong writes at the very beginning of the book in a dedication that the work is, "To my brothers of Assumption Abbey who taught me how to be a monk and who freed me for the work of writing this commentary on the Rule of Benedict." This is a book for monks in the monastery, and also for lay people and Oblates of St. Benedict. This is a book for church goers. This is a book for people who practice the work of God, the daily office.

One needs to have patience and perseverance to read it. One needs to take this book as it comes, not hurry it along, and in many places reread both the Rule as translated by Father Kardong, and his commentary. A retired Episcopal priest, who used to give retreats for the laity introducing The Rule of St. Benedict, suggested that I read the book without a sense of time or looking towards the end of it. He thought the work a book to be savored.

Father Kardong has many good thoughts and suggestions; certainly his commentary is beneficial for the interested reader. That is not a statement too obvious to be made, for this is a worthy book by a wise and educated monk.

I will find a good quote from Terrence G. Kardong's writings, but first this description of the book from the preface by Father Kardong says he has produced "...a double-deck commentary with detailed philological material in notes and discursive material in the overviews." This is his interpretation of the Rule. He notes that much is experiential. For me, this added merit to the book. His commentary is part of his life experience and work. An attribute that adds to the authenticity and authority of, "The Rule: A Translation and Commentary."

The famous words of the Rule begin, "Listen, O my son, to the teachings of your master, and turn to them with the ear of your heart." After all, the Rule is a religious book, and religion is for the heart. These words for the heart have been around 1,500 years. What is meant by these few words of the Rule is made commentary in another quotation: "Let us open our eyes...is a possible allusion to the Transfiguration, where the drowsy disciples are startled by the shining forth of Christ, and instructed by the voice from heaven (Luke 9:32)."

At a preached retreat in Big Sur, California USA, at Immaculate Heart Hermitage, Brother Bede explained that the Rule is a holy book, an illuminated work that keeps on giving, like the Bible. I remembered his instruction when approaching "Benedict's Rule" and considered that the writer Father Kardong also approached it as such. This itself is an important point, for the work presented is exemplary.

In his commentary on the last part of the Rule, he writes, "...that observance of the Rule [Biblical theme of the Rule] itself is not enough; the Rule, like the Law, is to be `fulfilled.'" Though many believe the Rule is a way to perfection, and asks for that perfection, a serious consideration is that the Rule is also a book of love. Kardong believes it is mainly a book about love.

A major theme of the last chapter, love is described in the commentary: "...for the love that is preached in the penultimate chapter is essentially communal and public...selfless love for the other is a better way to end the Rule than the theme of `perfection.'"

It is the love in community; love for and of one another, the love that God offers and gives, that is central to living the Rule of St. Benedict. This alone is worth the price of admission. For as the monastery is a school for living, so the Rule offers a school for living the Gospel in ongoing conversion in one's life. "The Rule of St. Benedict" is a book inspired by the Gospel and written by a great holy man, Benedict of Nursia (St. Benedict).

--Peter Menkin, Easter 2007

The Rule of St. Benedict itself is a fairly short book - it can be done as a pocket-sized edition. It is a good example of the statement, 'good things come in small packages'. The rule is a guide of life, but not 'a rigid, brutal structure imposed legalistically'. Benedict was fully aware of human frailty, as true 1500 years ago as it is today. This frailty requires much to be done to give the person strength, and so Benedict's Rule is designed for an ever-increasing self-discipline which is supported by community worship and practice.

Benedict's Rule for life includes worship, work, study, prayer, and relaxation. Benedict's Rule requires community -- even for those who become hermits or solitaries, there is a link to the community through worship and through the Rule. No one is alone. This is an important part of the relationship of God to the world, so it is an integral part of the Rule.

Benedict's Rule was set out first in a world that was torn with warfare, economic and political upheaval, and a generally harsh physical environment. This Rule was set out to bring order to a general chaos in which people lived. This is still true today, and men and women all over the world use Benedict's 'little rule for beginners' as a basic structure for their lives.

The first word of the rule is Listen. This is perhaps the best advice for anyone looking for any guidance or rule of life. While Benedict's Rule is decidedly Christocentric and hierarchical (though not as hierarchical as much popular ideas about monastic practice would have one think), it nonetheless can give value to any reader who is looking to construct a practice for oneself.

Benedict's establishment of a monastery was in fact the establishment of a school for spirituality. In his prologue to the Rule, Benedict even states this as his intention. 'In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.' He sets forth in this brief rule a guide to individual life within community that will bring one ever closer to the divine.

Benedict explores the issues of charity, personality, integrity, and spirituality in all of his rules. From the clothing to the prayer cycle to the reception of guests, all have a purpose that fits into a larger whole, and all have positive charges and negative warnings. Benedict is especially mindful of the sin of pride, be it pride of possession, pride of person, pride of place -- he strives for equality in the community (as a recognition that all are equal before God).

Hundreds of thousands of pages have been written over the last millenium and a half on the Rule of St. Benedict, but it all comes down to this brief collection, which can be read easily in an hour, yet takes a lifetime (or perhaps more!) to master.

Open it for yourself to see what riches it may hold for you.

This particular version by Kardong includes the original Latin text (with minor editing and updating) as well as extensive translation notes and commentary. The Rule itself is very short, and can be (and has been) printed in 80 small pages; the fact that this volume is over 600 pages should give an good indication of the richness of the commentary. Good things do come in small packages, but the notes and additional material here is not to be missed, not to mention the interesting aspect of reading the text in the original language.

Over the past 16 years, I've become personally involved with Benedictine spirituality through regular retreats to the monastic cloister. Kardong's book has given me the historical perspective and linguistic insight into that deep well, "The Rule of St. Benedict", the life source of Benedictine monasticism. Through his scholarly exegesis of "The Rule", I've gained understanding of this way of life, and thus have better lived my own life and faith. I have referred again and again to "Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" in the writing of my own commentary on "The Rule" for parents, "The Family Cloister: Benedictine Wisdom for the Home". I am currently working on a companion volume, "The Family Cloister Workbook: 52 Benedictine Activities for the Home", and have continually opened the pages of Kardong's book to better understand certain chapters and phrases in "The Rule". Besides the monks themselves who daily live the Rule, Kardong's commentary is one of the most complete expositions of Benedict's Rule I've found.

Any small to mid-sized nonprofit that requires funding cannot afford to be without Andy Robinson's book. In a nutshell, he demystifies major donor fundraising and makes it accessible to busy board and staff members. In short, direct chapters he helps remove people's natural fear of the process and instills the sense that asking for money is not only honorable but also incredibly rewarding.

Robinson has written an excellent and pithy introduction to the art of soliciting gifts - it's a relief to have the advice written in a clear and concise manner that's just right for the board member who has any trepidation at all about asking for money but wants a quick primer on how to make a significant difference in their fundraising skills.

What I like most about this book is that it's so practical and seems so doable. I know that most ordinary citizens would probably choose a root canal over the prospect of having to ask someone for a big ($500 to $5000) donation, even for a cause they really care about. But with the help of this book, you'll feel confident that you could really do the things that the author, Andy Robinson, is suggesting. Why? Because Andy de-mystifies the process of fundraising by breaking it down into easily conceivable steps. And, you feel like you can trust him because he seems like a regular guy, not a superhero. If he's done it, then you can too. I like that he shares what's worked for him. An added benefit -- you can read this enjoyable book in less than an hour. (Of course, you'll want to pick it up again and again for its handy advice.)

This is a book that Gary Frye - husband - provided information for but I found it useful because schools are always need more ways of getting funds into campuses to meet NCLB. Since I'm the one who always orders Gary had the follow comments: Working with Stan over the years has given me insights into the need for developing other system for getting funds into school districts. This book is GREAT and helped me think of new always that can use my school district's foundation and development office. Stan has provided another great service to public education by providing folks with a reason why a development/fundraising office it needed.

What a wonderful resource! Dr. Levenson's book is a valuable guide for helping find sources of grants and for better understanding the process of grant writing.

I particularly liked the examples of grant opportunities for K-12 schools and the list of 101 foundations and corporations interested in giving to K-12 schools. The examples of awarded grant proposals provided in the book show you the proper formats and various writing styles for a winning grant.

As a technology education teacher, I feel the section on writing mini-grants will be very helpful in obtaining future grants to further expand my program.

Having actually applied for and been awarded five mini-grants this year, I feel that Dr. Levenson's book will help me take my grantsmanship to the next level. He provides a blueprint for creating successful school grant writing teams and for obtaining major grants to meet larger needs.

As the new fundraising director within a new fundraising organization within a very old chicago public school, i needed to ramp up extremely quickly. I had no NFP fundraising experience whatsoever. I largely credit this book with taking us from zero to $150,000 in the course of several months. I have no affiliation with the author (I'm always supicious of glowing reviews), and in fact was on this page to recommend it to another school that's just kicking off their fundraising efforts. It's comprehensive, has a wonderful collection of docs and support materials, and I continue to pass our two copies around to new members of our team. Seriously, buy this book.

Vitalism is a profoundly science-ejected concept, though many CAM or 'natural health' cabals falsely claim that vitalism survives scientific scrutiny.

One of my favorite passages from this book:

"the achievements of molecular biology in the twentieth century proved conclusively that it is not necessary to propose that life processes arise from some nonmaterial vital principle and cannot be explained entirely as physical and chemical phenomena. [E.g.] biological neural networks are created by nature, and the laws of nature should be applicable to them [p.003]."

-r.c.

Karl A. Greene in the foreword asserted that after reading this book, one will never look at neurobiology and the human brain quite the same again, and I fully concur. Baev introduces a modular framework that fuses neurobiology with control theory and opens the portals for artificial intelligence to enter. Unleashing the powers of hierarchical modeling, his monograph presents a thoroughly conceptualized and truly captivating approach to understanding the functioning of the human brain. Two thumbs up, I had to read this book five times to fully understand it, but I enjoyed it every single time.

Karl A. Greene in the foreword asserted that after reading this book, one will never look at neurobiology and the human brain quite the same again, and I fully concur. Baev introduces a modular framework that fuses neurobiology with control theory and opens the portals for artificial intelligence to enter. Unleashing the powers of hierarchical modeling, his monograph presents a thoroughly conceptualized and truly captivating approach to understanding the functioning of the human brain. Two thumbs up, I had to read this book five times to fully understand it, but I enjoyed it every single time.

Without a doubt, John Saillant has done a service to American History in general and Christian History in particular. By rediscovering the depth and insight of Lemuel Haynes and dispensing this information with clarity and scholarship, Saillant has given to us one of our lost and brilliant intellectual and theological heroes. Lemuel Haynes was a post-revolutionary African-American pastor in New England. The sharpness of his mind was only matched by his zeal for the truth and its application to America at her most needful time. His words to his generation were prophetic, and through the thorough and scholarly work of Saillant, we can hear the voice of Rev. Haynes and see just how true his thought and heart were to the God he loved and the people he served. If you want to see how the passionate, theological Puritan mind addressed the issue of slavery and the true American responsibility, take up and read Black Puritan, Black Republican. You will not be disappointed - challenged and enlightened - but not disappointed.

John Salliant's research has uncovered the riches of a buried historical treasure. Lemuel Haynes' life and thought has often been neglected, but no longer. "Black Puritan" is a catching and appropriate title. Rev. Haynes was a theologian, writer, pastor, and educator. He pastored a bi-cultural congregation long before "multi-culturalism" was a buzz word. And, he defended the historic Christian faith against the rising New England tide of universalism. His self-written epitaph is worth the price of the book alone, as it summarizes well his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends.

This book is not just for students of black history. Introduced to Lemuel Haynes by its pages, I left this book very inspired. In fact, I wanted more, and I have since sought out works by Rev. Haynes. His vision was prophetic. Rev. Haynes was a Republican in the classic sense, desiring equality for all in a democratic society. As a Calvinist, he trusted a Sovereign God's words of liberation and justice would come to fruition. Reading Haynes' words, I was struck by how far ahead of his time he was. Later anti-slavery advocates often still looked upon minorities as inferior. Many advocated freed slaves be returned to Africa. Haynes advocated equality in a manner powerfully foreshadowing a dream that would not be repeated until voiced by Martin Luther King. This book is a fascinating read for those interested in democracy, religion, philosophy, race issues, or history.

Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food, Safety, And The Environment by Thomas R. DeGregori (Professor of Economics, University of Houston) is a thoroughly "reader friendly" introduction and analysis of how modern technology has drastically affected our environmentally based, technology enhanced food supply. Exposing myths and presenting extensive, meticulous research on the history of pesticides, pollution, organic agriculture, and much more, Bountiful Harvest is a very highly recommended, fact-filled primer, which will provide the non-specialist general reader an invaluable instructional background with respect to what really is served up on the dinner plate.

Thomas R. DeGregori knows his food technology. A professor of economics at the University of Houston, DeGregori has written an excellent defence of modern agriculture and biotechnology.

I would recommend this book as an antidote to the frightening biotechnology-gone-mad scenarios painted by organisations such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

This book is a welcome addition to the biotechnology debate.

Radical environmentalists and nature-first types beware! Dr. Tom DeGregori dares to controvert your bluster, and has the courage not to "think small." DeGregori, a Professor of Economics at the University of Houston Central Campus, has long played the "Devil's Advocate" to Barry Commoner's "Runaway Technology Thesis." For a minimum of thirty years, he has steadily proffered logical counterpropositions to the knee-jerk anti-science of modern ecological Luddites.

In his wonderful new book, aptly entitled BOUNTIFUL HARVEST: TECHNOLOGY, FOOD SAFETY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, DeGregori carefully integrates human evolution, reason, art, writing, and manufacture as the prerequisites and components of technology. As he has done elsewhere, DeGregori once again promotes the humanity of technology, which is both a phenomenon and process, in defiance of those who would spurn it as a materialistic vice. Early on, he declares that without technology, we pitiful humans would have had to adapt to our environments "by the much slower adaptive process known as speciation [the evolution of different species]." Technology, which is unique to the human species, saved us eons of evolution and gave us to ability to maneuver and develop throughout the world.

DeGregori reminds us that anti-technology evolved "with, and probably before, Plato," who argued that with the creation of the alphabet (and writing), the young would be urged not to rely on their own memory. This in turn founded a viewpoint that we, as humans, somehow "lose something" with every technological advance. He unmasks the insanity (and inanity) of such sophistry in his chapters on food safety, where he cleverly refutes the would-be superiority of "organic foods." Indeed, we created artificial substances to fend off the very toxicities and incapacities, which organic farming reintroduces. The author boldly asserts that a return to purely organic farming might feed one-fifth of the current world population, involving farm output losses of 53 to 100 percent. Moreover, organic fertilizers often are accompanied by graveolent diseases that have been long since stymied, or eliminated, by technological countermeasures. DeGregori is best when he scoffs at the "whole foods" fad, which encourages well-to-do (and well-fed) customers to buy potentially fecally contaminated foods at a 57 percent mark-up!

The fact is that human beings never have, and never will, live in "harmony" with nature because "by nature" humans must transform or, at the very least, disturb environments to make the regions habitable. Without technology, our physically inferior species could only survive in tropical or, at best, subtropical environments. Even the simplest of farmsteads, say, a swidden plot, at least temporarily clears natural vegetation to make way for crop cultivation. The fact is that it is only through the implementation of suitable technologies that humans can minimize the disturbance and the dangers to themselves and their environments.

As Dr. DeGregori has reminded us for decades: never before have so many of us lived such long and such relatively healthy lives. The shortest lived and least healthy among us, as in Africa South of the Sahara, are comparatively miserable precisely because they do not have the technology to meet their needs. It is the ultimate irony that the anti-technologists, who oppose irradiated, genetically altered, and biotechnological foods, are harming the very people--whom they blatantly otherwise claim to defend--who most need the potential bounty of that advanced nutrition. Already bypassed by the Green Revolution, Africans can ill afford to miss the coming revolution in food technology.

Always stimulating and controversial, Dr. DeGregori once again takes up the cross of sensibility against those who make the headlines and only occasionally make sense. BOUNTIFUL HARVEST should be read by economists, geographers, anthropologists, ecologists, and any and all who value their fellow human beings and their environment. Highest rating*****!

I'm still laughing at this book. I swear I've been in these office's and worked for the managers he described before. A must read for anyone hitting the workforce.

Dianna Wells Shire, author "The Ordinary Life of a Military Woman".

This book is a real hoot for those in the corporate world! It says all the things you'd want to, but can't because you would get fired. The boring, the ridiculous, the impossible -- the demands and expectations of the shirts and ties on the little folks who do all the work. It is so Dilbert. You gotta love it. A great gift, (but you may have to use an AKA. )

The author has a great sense of humor and must have had a blast writing this. You will have fun reading it. I have no doubt that every reader will recognize a work-place situation or someone they know. There's something between these pages for anyone who has ever held a job.