Releases

Find out what foundations fund in the Foundation Center’s 1997/98 Grant Guides. The series of books breaks down foundation grants by subject and geographic areas, recipient and types of projects. Thirty-two different subject areas are available, including two new categories this year—Human/Civil Rights and Program Evaluation Grants. Foundation Center, Dept. NR11, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003-3076. Call: 800/424-9836 or 212/807-3690. Fax: 212/807-3677. Cost: $75 prepaid plus $4.50 shipping and handling for first book and $2.50 for each additional book.

Building Caring Communities, published by the Trillium Foundation/La Fondation Trillium, suggests that solutions to societal problems often point to the community for answers. Yet, for a community to be able to solve a problem it must have five "capacities," such as the ability to adapt and a willingness to welcome newcomers. The essay suggests that by doing ten things, like supporting leaders and encouraging public discussion, funders can maximize these capacities. The Trillium Foundation, 21 Bedford Road, 3rd floor, Toronto, Ontario, MSR 2J9. Call: 800/263-2887. E-mail: shirji@web.net. Free.

The second edition of the American Civil Liberties Union guide, The Rights of the Poor, blames much of the increase in American poverty on cutbacks in federal social programs that existed when the first edition was written 20 years ago. Says the introduction, "The war on poverty…has instead become a war on the poor, who are routinely blamed for the nation’s social problems." Southern Illinois University Press, P.O. Box 3687, Carbondale, IL 62902-3697. Call: 618/453-6633. Fax: 618/453-1221. Cost: $39.95 cloth, $9.95 paper.

The Fannie Mae Foundation’s first-ever book,Understanding Homelessness: New Policy and Research Perspectives, discusses the causes and nature of homelessness, and explains how families and individuals may respond to the budget cuts in social programs in the long-term. Fannie Mae Foundation, 4000 Wisconsin Avenue NW, North Tower, Suite One, Washington, DC 20016-2804. Call: 202/274-8061. Free.

Sustaining Civil Society: Strategies for Resource Mobilization, a publication of CIVICUS, names 11 ways for civil society organizations to find funding, such as revenues from earned income, venture capital and debt conversion. Includes case studies. CIVICUS, 919 18th Street NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20006. Call: 202/331-8518. Cost: $20 for members, $30 for nonmembers, plus shipping and handling.

Funders concerned with teen pregnancy prevention programs involving young men will find help on targeting message to audience and examples of programs that have worked across the country in the Urban Institute’s book, Involving Males in Preventing Teen Pregnancy. The report finds that young men are surprisingly receptive to using contraceptives. Urban Institute, 2100 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037. Call: 202/857-8687. Cost: $5.00.

Many of Massachusetts’ prison inmates serving drug-related sentences have no record of violence, says a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded report, Profile of Anti-Drug Law Enforcement in Urban Poverty Areas in Massachusetts. The study, done by Harvard Medical School Research Fellow William N. Brownsberger, argues that mandatory sentencing laws waste prison resources on nonviolent, low-level offenders. Brownsburger Report, c/o Burness Communications, Suite 1340, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. Free.

The American Bar Association’s Nonprofit Governance: The Executive’s Guide gives advice on the most common problems nonprofit directors and boards might encounter. It includes step-by-step guidelines, useful checklists, and sample forms and letters. The association also offers Guidebook for Directors of Nonprofit Corporations, a book written for everyone who works with nonprofits. The guidebook describes how boards work, what can be delegated to committees, how to identify potential conflicts of interest and how to maintain nonprofit status. American Bar Association, Publication Orders, PO Box 10892, Chicago, IL 60610-0892. Call: 800/285-2221. Cost: Nonprofit Governance: $79.95 each; Guidebook for Directors of Nonprofit Corporations: $19.95 each. Charges for handling and applicable taxes added; discounts available for multiple copies.