Reading list: Great books for change agents
- Sun, May 22 2011
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention has asked bloggers to post on what books have changed their professional lives. Here are a few good books that aren’t nonprofit marketing books - but they will make you far better at nonprofit marketing. All of these books will advance your ability to understand people, which is the first step in making lasting social change:
1. Influence by Robert Cialdini, which teaches the fundamental principles of the art of persuasion
2. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, which shows how behavioral economics principles rule decision making
3. Switch, by Dan and Chip Heath, which shows you to make change in a change-resistant world
4. Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky, which explains what the evolution of social media means to our society and our causes (also recommended in this category: Geoff Livingston’s Welcome to the Fifth Estate)
5. The Social Animal by David Brooks, which shows how to overcome polarization and move an issue forward by educating the emotions
Great books for your great cause!
Comments
There is a similarly awesome list/thread on fundraising books on the CASE LinkedIn. One of the ones there is “Made to Stick,” which is a fantastic book and can be relevant to almost any industry where you need to get someone’s attention. I’ve heard great things about “Predictably Irrational” also.
Nancy, I don’t have one book that towers above all because each contributed to a different facet of my work and life. If you demand I pick one, it’s Switch. But as an avid reader, I will say it’s best to read all, and read all the time. It’s how we get better at our work and inspire our own new ideas. Thanks for encouraging reading - it is the best favor we can do for ourselves in our careers.
Katya, thanks for putting it so well. Continual reading - and learning in other ways - is certainly the key to both nonprofit marketing success and personal /professional satisfaction and growth.
I had to read Robert Cialdini’s Influence during grad school at George Mason University during my Organizational Theory class. One of the best books I have ever read. I would also suggest a look at Crutchfield and McLeod-Grant’s Forces for Good: Six Practices of High Impact Nonprofits.
The Social Animal, for me, was one the best reads. Very illuminating!