Don’t you just love it when you can find a good book to sink your teeth into? It is even better when it is based on something close to your heart such as the subject of nonprofits. Here is an interesting selection of books to sink your teeth into. They are all based or loosely based on the subject of nonprofits and delve into such topics as fundraising, marketing, networking and more.

The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change

By Beth Kanter and Allison Fine

This book by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine shows nonprofits a new way of operating in this increasingly connected world: a networked approach enabled by social technologies, where connections are leveraged to increase impact in effective ways that drive change for the betterment of our society and planet. It is also worth checking out Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World, a follow up book, by Beth Kanter and Katie Paine.

Asking Styles: Harness Your Personal Fundraising Power

By Andrea Kihlstedt

In Asking Styles: Harness Your Personal Fundraising Power, Andrea Kihlstedt shows you how to ask for gifts in a way that suits you best—according to key personality traits. Kihlstedt identifies four Asking Styles that she calls Rainmakers, Go-Getters, Mission Controllers, and Kindred Spirits. Then she matches the person’s Asking Style to the optimal approach for asking for a gift. It’s a simple and fast-reading book that has the potential to transform the world of philanthropy by enabling each of us to dramatically improve our personal effectiveness in asking for money.

Successful Fundraising : A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and Professionals

By Joan Flanagan

There are now more than 1 million nonprofit organisations in the United States. The fundraising industry provides one in every ten jobs and is one of the fastest-growing segments of the economy. In Successful Fundraising, nationally recognised expert Joan Flanagan gives readers the information they need to capture a fair share of available fundraising dollars. Community volunteers and professional fundraisers alike will find helpful tips and advice on time-proven fundraising techniques and the most profitable new ways to successfully raise money.

The Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications

By Jeff Brooks

The Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communication reveals ways of communicating that are proven to motivate donors to give generously, wholeheartedly, and repeatedly. Jeff Brooks, one of America’s top fundraising writers, takes you on a step-by-step tour of the unique strategies, writing style, and design techniques of irresistible fundraising messages. This easy-to-read and entertaining book will help you skip years of learning curve and start writing, designing, and thinking like a seasoned fundraising pro on the very next project you tackle. Whether you’re new to fundraising or a battle-scarred veteran, this go-to resource will boost your confidence, your career, and your revenue.

Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits

By Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant

What makes great nonprofits great? In the original book, authors Crutchfield and McLeod Grant employed a rigorous research methodology derived from for-profit books like Built to Last. They studied 12 nonprofits that have achieved extraordinary levels of impact—from Habitat for Humanity to the Heritage Foundation—and distilled six counterintuitive practices that these organisations use to change the world.

Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

By Peter Sims

What do Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, the story developers at Pixar films, and the Army Chief of Strategic Plans all have in common? Peter Sims found that all of them have achieved breakthrough results by methodically taking small, experimental steps in order to discover and develop new ideas. Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan a whole project out in advance, trying to foresee the final outcome, they make a series of little bets about what might be a good direction, learning from lots of little failures and from small but highly significant wins that allow them to happen upon unexpected avenues and arrive at extraordinary outcomes.

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

By Adam Grant

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. In this book, Adam Grant, examines the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom. Praised by social scientists, business theorists, and corporate leaders, Give and Take opens up an approach to work, interactions, and productivity that is nothing short of revolutionary.

The Nonprofit Business Plan: A Leader’s Guide to Creating a Successful Business Model

By David La Piana, Heather Gowdy, Lester Olmstead-Rose, Brent Copen

Nonprofits often use the terms “strategic planning” and “business planning” interchangeably, but a good business plan goes beyond the traditional strategic plan with its focus on mission and vision, goals and objectives. The Nonprofit Business Plan, created by the nationally recognised nonprofit consultant experts at La Piana Consulting, helps your nonprofit organisation understand what a strategic business plan is and why you need one, then provides a practical, proven process for creating a successful, sustainable business model. This groundbreaking resource further explains how your nonprofit can determine whether a potential undertaking is economically viable—a vital tool in today’s economic climate—and how to understand and solve challenges as they arise.

Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager’s Guide to Getting Results

By Alison Green and Jerry Hauser

A nonprofit manager’s fundamental job is to get results, sustained over time, rather than boost morale or promote staff development. This is a shift from the tenor of many management books, particularly in the nonprofit world. Managing to Change the World is designed to teach new and experienced nonprofit managers the fundamental skills of effective management, including: managing specific tasks and broader responsibilities; setting clear goals and holding people accountable to them; creating a results-oriented culture; hiring, developing, and retaining a staff of superstars.

The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout

By Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman

The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit presents realistic strategies for leaders looking to optimise organisational achievement while avoiding the common nonprofit burnout. With a uniquely holistic approach to nonprofit leadership strategy, this book functions as a handbook to help leaders examine their existing organisation, identify trouble spots, and resolve issues with attention to all aspects of operations and culture. The expert author team walks you through the process of building a happier, healthier organisation from the ground up, with a balanced approach that considers more than just quantitative results.

The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change

By Adam Braun

The Promise of a Pencil chronicles Braun’s journey to find his calling, as each chapter explains one clear step that every person can take to turn their biggest ambitions into reality. If you feel restless and ready for transition, if you are seeking direction and purpose, this critically acclaimed bestseller is for you. Driven by inspiring stories and shareable insights, this is the book that will give you the tools to make your own life a story worth telling.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

By Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the “human scale principle,” using the “Velcro Theory of Memory,” and creating “curiosity gaps.” In this indispensable guide, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds–from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony–draw their power from the same six traits.

We hope you enjoy this selection of books and find some valuable tips that will work for you and your nonprofit. Happy reading!