Avery-Dennison: (www.avery.com) Top quality office products to keep you organized.

Vista Print: (www.vistaprint.com) free and discounted business cards, essential for the job search.

Damn Good Resumes: (www.damngood.com) Resume guru, Yana Parker, explains how to write that most important personal document - your resume.

Five O'Clock Club: (www.fiveoclockclub.com) Premier outplacement and career counseling organization providing job search articles, books and private and small group career counseling.

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce: (www.manhattancc.org) Helping all size businesses market themselves locally, nationally and internationally. Offering networking events, member handbooks, and member discounts.

Merriam-Webster: (www.m-w.com) Online dictionary, thesaurus, vocabulary builder and more.

Office Team: (www.officeteam.com) Administrative staffing specialists.

Web Diner: (www.webdiner.com) Templates, alphabets and other graphics for Web developers. Also features easy-to-follow tutorials

Pro Bono Initiative Seeks Nonprofits to Help

ODNNY is looking for small nonprofits who need help but can't afford it to be clients of our new Pro Bono Initiative to launch in January.

The initiative came out of member-driven planning sessions and is an effort to help small New York nonprofits during these tough times, and to give practitioners and students a chance to expand skills.

Eligible organizations must be NYC human service nonprofits (soup kitchens, youth programs, homeless shelters) with a budget under $5 million and have a paid professional executive director.

If you're involved with or know of a nonprofit that might be a good fit for this initiative, please contact Miguel Bonilla, mbonilla@odnny.org, our Board Member who is organizing it.

"Nonprofits are a key driver in our local economy yet they are also the most starved for resources," said Bonilla."OD consultants have very specific skills that can be extremely valuable to 'values-based' organizations that are working to serve our city's neediest populations.  By working together we'll provide more New Yorkers the opportunity for a better livelihood."

New York City's nonprofit sector accounts for $43 billion in annual expenditures, more than 528,000 jobs (or 14% of New York City's employees), and an annual payroll of more than $22.7 billion. Although the nonprofit sector is an important economic and social powerhouse in New York City, it is still a relatively new industry with close to 40% of nonprofits starting up in the mid 1990s and 70% with budgets under $1 million. Many of the challenges they face, such as staff recruitment and retention, might provide OD practitioners with meaningful opportunities to help cause-related organizations and support a growing sector.

The type of consultation provided by the ODNNY Pro Bono initiative is designed to enhance an organization's ability to achieve its vision, mission and goals. Consultants do not provide technical advice such as finance or marketing.

Possible projects may include:

• Dealing with high staff turnover or low morale
• Managing rapid growth
• Working with disengaged boards of directors
• Managing changes such as organizational structure, or leadership
• Facilitating a clear direction or purpose
• Clarifying misunderstood roles and responsibilities