CRIME PREVENTION TRACKING ~OFTWARE Urban Crime Prevention Program Uses Small , Computer to Track daily block Crime Incidents The Urban Crime Prevention Program in Chicago launched a crime-tracking project. In order to develop the program they needed to obtain crime data. At first high ranking police officials objected. The policy has changed, and community groups now have gained access to daily crime reports. The reports are entered into a small computer programmed to break down the data, and map crime incidents by the block in which they occur. The information allows community people to detect crime patterns, alert Neighborhood Watch Programs and squelch the spread of easy crime. For More Information: Urban Crime Prevention Program, 67 E Madison, Chicago, IL, 312-236-0315 COMPUTER RESOURCE GUIDES FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Two-volume work provides information on foundations that provide support for computer system development, and access to information about nonprofit software The Public Management Institute publishes a two volume work,· Computer Resource Guide for Nonprofits. Volume I is a directory of nonprofit software, and Volume II is a guide to funding sources for nonprofit computer-related developments. The computer funding guide (volume II) describes computer-related giving programs of 200 corporations, foundations, and government agencies. In the introduction, the editors summarize what they consider to be the emerging trends in computer funding: (1) Many of the organizations that provide funds for computers do not consider computer applications a specific field of interest Page 38 RAIN Fall/Winter 1986 (2) The majority of gifts support either hardware purchase or projeCt applications. Funds for specific computer applications and computer training are harder to find (3) The number of requests for computer funding increases every year (4) Agencies with a specific interest in computers still maintain the most clearly defined, computergiving programs (5) More and more software is being developed with the nonprofit user in mind. With the majority of computer donations coming from the manufacturers, a nonprofit seeking funding from these sources should keep an eye on trends in the computer industry. The directory has ovet 100 pages of indexes. Needless to say it is not difficult to find things. You can look up contact persons, corporate headquarters, funding areas, geographic area, main subsidairies and principal business. Each entry includes complete access _information, eligibility, names of officers and trustees, a contributions profile, application process description, and sample grants. The companion directory, Computer Resource Guide for Nonprofits, Volume I: Software Directory describes client services software to track client costs, client demographics, client history. events software, food services, job matching, library management, public housing management, and survey software. There is extensive coverage of fund accounting, and membership management software. In most cases the software manufacturers described in this directory are not household names. Compared to more general purpose, off-theshelf software (e.g. to perform word processing, spreadsheets, database management), this software is expensive. Sometimes the companies only have one product, or only sell a few hundred packages a year. The directory is a unique guide to a very specialized computer software market. It may be the only place to look for some kinds of software. For More Information: Computer Resource Guide for Nonprofits, Volume I: Software Directory, Volume II: Funding Source Directory, Public Management Institute, 358 Brannan St., San Francisco, CA 94107, $95 each, or $175 for set, 1985
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