Circle Lending now called Virgin Money is a great resource for creating personal and business loans between between associates, relatives and friends. http://www.virginmoneyus.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Governing Magazine:  A resource on states and localities.  Great for keeping the pulse on what is happening in states and localities.   http://www.governing.com

Nonprofit Quarterly:  A magazine that provides valuable management information and proven practices. The information is cutting edge, relevant and useful.    http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org

Mission Fish:  The easy way on Ebay to convert in-kind donations into cash or a new way to invigorate your fundraising efforts http://www.missionfish.org/ForNonProfits/fornonprofits.jsp

The American Academy of Pediatrics announced that children by the age of 2 should be screened for autism. Does a baby not babble at 9 months? Does a 1 year old not point to toys? Does a 4 month old not smile to mom or dad’s voice? Is there a loss of language or social skills at any age? No one has an answer to the cause(s). What is known is that the number of children who have a form of autism is dramatically increasing.

There is a tremendous need for sufficient levels of services to address the unmet need across the country. In the coming years I expect the federal and state governments to expand early intervention programs to address this population. Most experts have stated that early intervention can lessen severity.

Assist employees to find the services their children need, support the development of provider programs in autism or develop programs in your service area. Acting now will accomplish better outcomes for children.

What is acceptable behavior for companies to produce goods for our purchasing?  A company sells goods for a profit but at what cost?  Is a company liable for making sure their contracted suppliers abide by a standard? Recently the Gap was outed by a British film team with the facts of children as young as 10 working in sweatshops.  The Boston Herald reported that the Gap  takes the breach as extremely serious.  However, it did not cut ties with the supplier.  Since nonprofits are the largest employer in the US, send a message to the Gap of how you want them to treat the breach.  Protect the future of nations and make a difference. If you want to learn more about child labor issues,  check out UNICEF at http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html or Child Rights Information Network at http://www.crin.org/about/index.asp.