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Plans are in the works for the next Grant Professionals Association (GPA) MidAtlantic Grants Conference, one of the best annual professional development events for grant professionals on the east coast. As a member of the team pulling the plan together, I’d like to invite you to share your knowledge with attendees from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and beyond. Submit your proposal to present at the 2012 conference – scheduled for May 21, 2012!

Pretty much everything you need to know to get started and submit your proposal to present is located here: http://midatlanticgrantsconference.org under the Call for Presenters link.

We can’t wait to see what you have to offer!

I love this discussion in the For GrantWriters Only LinkedIn group. It highlights many of the reasons a nonprofit or other social enterprise should consider hiring a professional grant writer to grow their organization. Check it out!

Benefits to Using a Contract Grant Writer

Nonprofits and for-profits alike face similar challenges as they attempt to grow from an all-volunteer to a paid workforce and then again from a financially sound organization with a budget under $1 million to a budget of over $5 million. Along the way, the investors interested in entrusting their dollars to these organizations change.

So how does small nonprofit grow?

There’s a great discussion on this point in the For GrantWriters Only LinkedIn group … How Does a Small Nonprofit Grow Larger?

Be sure to check it out and add your own comments!

Over time, I have learned that there are at least two kinds of grant consultants. The first kind is the project-oriented type. This type is typically focused on completing an assigned grant as efficiently and effectively as possible, without a lot of hand holding required. The second type is the counselor-type. This type is more open to walking new or transitioning leadership through the process of organizational development and fundraising, helping them grow stronger along the way.

As someone who identifies more with the counselor-type, and thus, someone who thinks there is always something new we can apply to a developing organizational culture, I like the premise of Now, Discover Your Strengths.

A Shift in Perspective – Negative to Positive

“Based on a Gallup study of over two million people,” the book and its authors Marcus Buckingham (coauthor of First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently) and Donald O. Clifton, PhD conclude that

    “Most organizations are built on two flawed assumptions about people:

      1) each person can learn to be competent in almost anything,
      2) each person’s greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness.”

Our educational system is based on pretty much the same two assumptions.

The authors also conclude that,

    “Most organizations take their employee’s strengths for granted and focus on minimizing their weaknesses. This isn’t development, it’s damage control. By itself damage control is a poor strategy for elevating either the employee or the organization to world-class performance.”

I would definitely agree. When we are constantly focusing on the negatives – be it an individual’s weakest traits or an organization’s – this can be very demotivating, and it kills morale.

The authors offer this solution …

    “To breakout of this weakness spiral and launch the strengths revolution in your own organization, you must change your assumptions. These are the two assumptions that guide the world’s best managers:

      1) Each person’s talents are enduring and unique,
      2) each person’s greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength.”

By recognizing and honing individual strengths, and managing around weaknesses, an organization can exceed expectations.

Recognizing Our Strengths

The authors define a strength as an activity that you can execute with consistent, near perfect performance. It must also be something you derive intrinsic satisfaction from, something you can fathom yourself doing repeatedly, happily, and successfully.

The authors refute the idea that “practice makes perfect” and instead suggest that “to develop a strength in any activity requires certain natural talents.”

Strengths sit at the crux of three things:

    1. talents (“naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior”)
    2. knowledge (“facts and lessons learned” and “experiential knowledge” including values)
    3. skills (the formal process through which you apply knowledge to complete an activity)

Although knowledge and skills can be acquired through practice, talents are innate … they tend to be things you are naturally drawn to, your areas of greatest potential.

Recognizing Our Innate Talents

The authors define talent as “any recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.” They suggest that to identify your talents you must “monitor your spontaneous, top-of-mind reactions to the situations you encounter.”

In other words, listen to that little voice in your head, your intuition. It really does guide you in the right direction if you pay attention to it.

Other clues to your talents? Yearnings, the things you learn and apply rapidly, and the things that bring you the most satisfaction.

Thirty-four themes

In their research, Buckingham and Clifton were able to identify thirty-four major themes within individual’s talents/strengths. I won’t go into detail about each of them here, but this list will give you some idea:

  • Achiever
  • Activator
  • Adaptability
  • Analytical
  • Arranger
  • Belief
  • Command
  • Communication
  • Competition
  • Connectedness
  • Context
  • Deliberative
  • Developer
  • Discipline
  • Empathy
  • Fairness
  • Focus
  • Futuristic
  • Harmony
  • Ideation
  • Inclusiveness
  • Individualization
  • Input
  • Intellection
  • Learner
  • Maximizer
  • Positivity
  • Relator
  • Responsibility
  • Restorative
  • Self-Assurance
  • Significance
  • Strategic
  • Woo

Your unique combination of themes leads to your greatest strengths.

To learn more about each theme, you can review details on each one in Now, Discover Your Strengths or take the StrengthsFinder quiz developed by The Gallup Organization and identify your five “signature” (instinctual) themes.

Building and Managing a Strengths-Based Organization

Near the end of Now, Discover Your Strengths, Buckingham and Clifton provide helpful tips for managers interested in managing and developing their staff with a focus on strengths rather than weaknesses.

They also provide this additional guidance:

    “Since each person’s talents are enduring, you should spend a great deal of time and money selecting people properly in the first place.”
    “Since each person’s talents are unique, you should focus performance by legislating outcomes rather than forcing each person into a stylistic mold. This means a strong emphasis on careful measurement of the right outcomes, and less on policies, procedures, and competencies.”

      What should those outcomes be centered on? The person’s impact on the business, on the customer (internal or external), and on the employees around him.
    “Since the greatest room for each person’s growth is in the areas of his greatest strength, you should focus your training time and money on educating him about his strengths and figuring out ways to build on these strengths rather than on remedially trying to plug his ‘skill gaps.’”
    “Lastly, since the greatest room for each person’s growth lies in his areas of greatest strength, you should devise ways to help each person grow his career without necessarily promoting him up the corporate ladder and out of his areas of strength.”

      Promotion should mean “prestige, respect, and financial reward to anyone who has achieved world-class performance in any role, no matter where that role in in the hierarchy.”

Strategies for implementing each of these approaches are well defined in Now, Discover Your Strengths, and I recommend you take a look at them.

In Conclusion

We all deserve to spend our days doing work we enjoy and feel most productive doing. If your organization is just getting started or has a tendency to focus on the negative, use Now, Discover Your Strengths to establish a more positive, productive culture.

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References: Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, PhD is available at Amazon.com.

As some of you may already know, in my consulting practice I specialize in working with nonprofit organizations and other service-based entrepreneurs that are in a start-up or transitional stage of growth. I’m happy to say that there is now a book that can help each and every one of them, and I always recommend it.

50 Asks in 50 Weeks: A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop by Amy Eisenstein, Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) is a breath of fresh air when it comes to books on fundraising. A quick and easy read for those who are already overwhelmed with how much they need to learn in order to operate and grow a business, it lays out a simple plan for incorporating “Asks” into the everyday, and by doing so, both strengthening relationships and increasing support dollars flowing into the organization.

The Language of Fundraising

Amy clearly lays out the language of fundraising and addresses common challenges in its implementation – from helping board members understand their role in the process to clarifying the process itself. For example, did you know that the solicitation (or “ask” part of the process – the one most people are hesitant to engage in) represents only 5% of the process? The most time-intensive part of the process (and, not coincidentally, the more fun part) lies in cultivation (50%) and stewardship (35%) … or, in other words, in developing and maintaining good relationships with people who are passionate about our cause. The remaining 10% of the process, which is often the most research-intensive part of the process, is identification.

Amy also address some common misperceptions about fundraising that new organizations have. For example, she says,

    “The old saying ‘quality not quantity’ rings true in the fundraising context. It is more important to make smart, informed asks than to make a certain numbers of asks each year. So although increasing the overall number of asks your organization is making is crucial, it is not enough. Prospective donors, whether foundations, corporations or individuals, must be carefully researched, cultivated, solicited, and stewarded. If you ask one hundred times per year, but do not receive any gifts, then frequency becomes irrelevant.”

An Easy-to-Implement Development Plan

In 50 Asks in 50 Weeks: A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop, Ms. Eisenstein addresses the following major areas of fundraising as part of a total development plan: board giving, bulk solicitation via direct mail, email and social media, individual giving, grant writing, and events. She provides easy-to-implement tips on getting started with each type of development program, and at the end, helps you understand how they all build up to 50 asks in one year (about 1 ask per week). Very doable!

Leadership for Organizational Growth

Near the end of 50 Asks in 50 Weeks: A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop, Ms. Eisenstein provides Executive Directors with guidance on key management topics such as when and how to hire your first development director (and understanding how the E.D.’s role in fundraising will change after you do), creating a fundraising culture within the organization (and the board), and setting reasonable team goals for development.

I absolutely love Amy’s Board Expectation Form and think everyone should use it. Completed annually and used as a tool for measuring board performance, it sets forth each board member’s 1) financial commitment (via a direct pledge or pledge of participation by his company) and 2) leadership commitment as part of at least one committee. It also requires an acknowledgement by the board member that meeting attendance is a requirement for Board membership. The Board Expectation form, along with a comprehensive Board Orientation Packet, provides clear indicators for performance.

Setting the Right Expectations

If you’re new to fundraising keep this in mind … according to Amy, executive directors often have “unrealistic expectations for what development staff can accomplish, especially with the tools and resources that they are given. A new development staff member will raise money in the first year, but it is not likely to (cover the individual’s salary via) unrestricted dollars.” Often money raised in the first year through grants is more than the individual’s salary, but as restricted program dollars, it cannot be spent on staff salary. So be prepared to cover the development staff’s salary with unrestricted dollars from other sources, and set other more realistic expectations, like …

  • Put a plan in place to achieve 100% board participation in fundraising.
  • Research and apply for eight to ten new grants. Establish relationships with foundation staff members.
  • Plan two parties for prospective donors at the homes of board members.
  • Identify ten individual prospects and create cultivation plans for each. Schedule meetings with them to meet board members and the E.D.

Then measure success and build upon the progress you’ve made.

In Conclusion

50 Asks in 50 Weeks: A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop is sure to stay in my permanent business library, and it should be a part of yours, too. Simple changes can lead to big results. I give this book – and its author – my highest recommendation.

If you ever get a chance to hear Amy speak at a Grant Professionals Association (GPA) or Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) event, be sure to do so. She is both down-to-earth and engaging. I consider it a privilege to have met her at local GPA events here in New Jersey.

_________

References: 50 Asks in 50 Weeks: A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop by Amy Eisenstein is available through Amazon. She can also be contacted via Tripoint Fundraising.

Ever wondered what to do with all those prospects that come up in your research but are somehow placed in the pile labeled “does not accept unsolicited proposals”? If so, there’s a great conversation on this topic happening in the For GrantWriters Only LinkedIn forum. Be sure to check it out!

Contacting a Foundation that Does Not Accept Unsolicited Requests

There’s a great discussion going on related to this topic within the For GrantWriters Only LinkedIn group. Be sure to check it out!

What’s the best way to get paid as a contract grant writer?

As grant professionals, we are often asked about seeking money (or in-kind donations) from corporations, and many organizations believe that obtaining money (or in-kind donations) from corporations involves a single approach. This is not the case.

In reality, there are many types of social investment by corporations.

Corporate Philanthropy

The first is corporate philanthropy. This type of giving may or may not be funneled through a separate foundation and may or may not be related to a core set of business products and services.

It could take the form or direct giving (cash or in-kind donations), indirect giving (through organizations like Gifts In-Kind International), volunteer time and talent, giving tied to volunteer hours or commitments, giving that matches gifts made by employees, giving based on employee contributions, or scholarships to employees’ dependents. It holds the lowest expectation of financial return and provides a tax break to corporations.

Some corporations select a set of larger national charities to support. Others focus on giving in their local communities. Almost all tie giving to the areas where their employees live and work.

Some corporations accept proposals for consideration. Others give to pre-selected organizations. In many cases, companies keep giving amounts relatively low so that they can support a greater number of organizations and realize a greater social impact.

Finally, some corporations have a specific foundation officer or staff. Others manage the foundation and corporate giving through another department.

For all of these reasons, when seeking corporate philanthropy, it is important to understand the giving dynamics of the organization and to develop a relationship with them based on this understanding.

Corporate Sponsorship

What many organizations do not realize is that sponsorship of events by corporations often 1) taps into a different pot of money (typically dollars allocated to marketing, not philanthropy), 2) is more often tied to a company’s core product or service line, 3) involves a different set of expectations for what the company would receive as a return on its investment, and 4) typically involves in a different application process.

As a form of advertising, companies do not receive a charitable tax break on this type of giving. Instead, it is recorded as a business expense.

Some corporations accept proposals for corporate sponsorship (typically online) similar to the way they accept proposals for corporate philanthropy, but in most cases, this is not true. Obtaining corporate sponsorship dollars often requires developing a relationship with the marketing folks at a company of interest. And, in most cases, the companies you approach will be directly involved with your cause in some way.

Another important thing to note … nonprofits are typically looking for sponsorships for two kinds of events, fundraising events like galas and community events that spread awareness about a specific issue. A review of many corporate sponsorship guidelines, as well as personal experience, has shown that most corporations prefer to fund the latter. After all, exposure for their brand, and connection between their brand and a targeted cause, benefits the brand more than a fundraising event geared only to a few hundred people.

Keep this in mind as you create events (and the development plan) for your organization. As with all nonprofit development, it all comes down to research and aligning the interests of your organization with the interests of your potential funding partners.

Cause Marketing

Think of cause marketing as a more sophisticated level of corporate sponsorship. The relationship is even stronger; the expectations are even higher; and the benefits are meant to be more long-term for both parties. In addition, you have the added layer of expectations from consumers who will be buying a product or service with the goal of supporting a cause they care about.

Cause marketing can be a tricky business. Though it’s a growing form of corporate sponsorship, one that benefits the bottom-line of both parties, consumer perception can quickly lead to success or failure – to a positive brand association or a negative one that impacts your organization long-term. It’s not a situation to be entered into lightly.

Cause marketing relationships are more resource intensive as well, involving elements of “grantmaking, consumer and employment engagement, operations, policy, and marketing communications,” according to Penelope Cagney, author of Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know. “Cause marketing consultants work with nonprofits to develop packaging and sales strategies, selection of sponsorship opportunities, management approaches, and measurement metrics for sponsors.”

To learn more about cause marketing, I recommend following the Selfish Giving blog, hosted by Joe Waters. One particular post helps differentiate between traditional corporate sponsorship and cause marketing: Cause Marketing vs. Sponsorship – What’s the Difference?

According to Cagney, American Express coined the phrase “cause marketing” in 1983 and when it first emerged, there were concerns – like there are today about the growth in PRIs (program-related investments) – that cause marketing would usurp traditional corporate philanthropy. In practice, however, that threat never materialized. Instead, cause marketing has become another source of funding for nonprofits interested in developing a diversified revenue base and one more way to engage corporations in their missions.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate social responsibility has become quite a business buzzword these days. Unlike the areas mentioned above, which may contribute to the short-term community impact of a corporation, typically efforts classified under corporate social responsibility are far more future-oriented, more proactive, and more likely to be tied to a company’s corporate (rather than product/service) identity and culture. They are often tied to the concept of sustainability and related to improving society’s perception that the business “acts responsibly”.

Typically, efforts are driven by internal forces, not approaches from nonprofits and other community agencies – though long-term cause marketing partnerships may be developed as part of an overall CSR plan.

Exploring the priorities a company has set under its corporate social responsibility focus can provide additional insight into management’s long-term vision and goals. How a company engages its employees in company efforts may also be important.

To stay up-to-date in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), I recommend Vault.com’s In Good Company CSR blog by Aman Singh Das. Here’s a post to get you started: The Advertising Take on CSR: 6 Steps to Building a Responsible Company.

In my previous posts, Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Grant Consultants Need to Know as They Build Their Businesses and Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: Management & Governance Consulting, I told you a little about Penelope Cagney’s book: Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know and I mentioned that there was more she could teach us about International Consulting. If you’ve considered working with organizations outside of the United States (or you already are), this post reviews a few things you may want to know.

According to Ms. Cagney, international nongovernmental organizations (INGO’s) represent the fastest-growing type of organization worldwide, with the most common being economic development associations and science-based INGOs. The growth in international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) is being fueled by new wealth in emerging economies (i.e., China, India), by a greater awareness of social issues impacting the entire planet (i.e., global warming, natural disasters, global poverty, health crises and lack of access to education and healthcare), and by a shift in emphasis among very large foundations to address these complex needs. It is widely recognized that a cooperative effort, across national boundaries, is needed to identify long-term solutions.

Serving INGOs

A subset of consultants have set their sights on serving this growing portion of the nonprofit sector. These consultants generally fall into one of two groups. The first “work internationally” on occasion. The second are true “international consultants”, those that define their market and mission globally, hire for international skills, abilities and experience, and offer services that would be useful to nonprofits in all parts of the world. Chances are, if you currently serve an organization based abroad, you fall into the first group.

Either way, it is important to understand the differences between a nonprofit organization and an organization setup as a nongovernmental organization (NGO). An NGO is “any nonprofit voluntary citizens’ group organized on a local, national, or international level … NGOs are driven by people with a common interest, and they perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, including advocacy.” NGOs may also be called civil society or public benefit organizations, and – despite their name – they can not only be setup and funded by individuals but by governments. In the United States, all NGOs and INGOs are classified as 501c3′s, but not all 501c3′s are considered NGOs. Be sure you understand which one you are working for.

Where in the world are INGOs

If you live and work here in the United States, you probably think that the United States is home to the largest number of INGOs. After all, we are constantly being told about all the new nonprofits starting up in the United States. Within the U.S., Washington DC has the largest concentration of them. Makes sense, right? But the U.K. (London, in fact) is actually home to the largest number of INGOs in the world, and more and more INGOs are being established in central Europe, central Asia, east Asia, and the Pacific. In Asia, Singapore is a developing center. In the Pacific, Australia is the hot spot.

Why is this important?

There is a lot we can learn from true international consultants to apply our skills on a global scale. For example, in other parts of the world, diasporan fundraising (raising funds from emerging countries for needs in older developed ones) and face-to-face (f2f) fundraising (which takes place in the streets and involves fundraisers signing up donors on the spot for one-time or ongoing cash or credit card donations) are on the rise. Don’t cringe! These innovative techniques have shown tremendous potential. And they remind us that innovation can come in many forms and from many places. How often do you take advantage of webinars, blogs, or books offered by individuals outside of the U.S.? My guess would be not often. Find a way to change that!

Here are a couple consultants Ms. Cagney mentions in her book:

And here are some events worth considering:

Other resources:

Key Competencies Among International Consultants

There are a host of challenges international consultants face as they help NGOs and INGOs address global social issues. Those highlighted in Ms. Cagney’s book include: a growing divide between the “haves” in the Northern hemisphere and the “have nots” in the Southern hemisphere, an uneven distribution of wealth across nations, a scarcity of local leadership, lack of transparency and accountability, varied decision-making structures, cultural customs, and languages, a limited number of tools to engage and empower people across geographic boundaries, and changing geographic distribution among INGOs due to natural disasters and political strife.

As a result, Ms. Cagney concludes, INGO experts are still a rare breed. Multicultural, multilingual competence is key, and staying up-to-date on local affairs, history, politics, religion, economics, and geography is equally important.

International consultants must “enlarge their understanding of how people think about time, relationships, and the environment. Otherwise they may have severely inaccurate ideas of the context in which their INGO or nonprofit operates.” Ms. Cagney also notes, “Consultants must understand which methodology works best in various cultures. Some consulting methodologies translate well globally, others do not.”

Often the best approach for any consultant planning to work extensively in a given region is “to hire the people who live there and who know how to work with the nonprofits in the area.”

So if going international is part of your plan, be sure not to go it alone. Learn from others in the field, and hire local.

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Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

In my previous post, Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Grant Consultants Need to Know as They Build Their Businesses, I told you a little about Penelope Cagney’s book: Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know and I mentioned that there was more she could teach us about Governance Consulting, Management & Organizational Consulting, and International Consulting. In this post, I address some important concepts related to the first two.

To recap a bit…

As grant consultants we have many options for expanding our businesses based on our personal strengths and interests. Though some of us may choose to stay narrowly focused in areas related to fundraising, others – perhaps frustrated with some of the internal issues that influence the success of grant proposals – might decide to branch out by developing nonprofit boards (governance consulting) and helping them set the strategic direction of the organization (management consulting). If you are a grant consultant with a penchant for working with startups – like I am – these types of consulting are a perfect extension of your practice. After all, they’re often needed before a startup organization is ready to begin a long-term grant seeking effort.

Governance Consulting

Ms. Cagney highlights varied approaches to governance and management consulting. She says, “governance consultants tend to fall into one of two camps: traditional (the models we have are solid; we just need to make them work better) and progressive (the models we have are insufficient or even downright ineffective; we need to find better ones.”

Most nonprofits follow the traditional model, which includes a committee structure based on organizational activity (programs, fundraising, finance, HR) and other board concerns (long-range planning, nominating). It may consist of a combination of standing and ad hoc committees. In addition, a nonprofit may have an auxiliary or advisory board, which plays a lesser role in organizational decision making. Within this model of governance, consultants can help define an ideal committee structure and the roles and responsibilities for each group.

Those who find too many flaws in the traditional model may turn to the Policy Governance Model developed by John Carver, which limits the role of board members to creating broad, strategic goals for an organization and discourages their involvement in organizational management issues such as fundraising, budgeting, and staffing. Others may prefer the Community-Engagement Governance Model developed by Judy Freiwirth, with input from the Alliance for Nonprofit Management’s Governance Affinity Group. Freiwirth says, “This framework provides a system-wide, customized approach in which governance responsibility is shared … among the key stakeholders of an organization – that is, its constituents, community, staff, and board.”

Management & Organizational Consulting

Of course, any approach to board development must be consistent with the management mindset of an organization. Again, Ms. Cagney points out two views – the first being that an organization works like a machine with individual parts that can be “fixed” and the second being that an organization is more holistic, where change in any one part of the system influences all other parts of the system. The first view is more traditional. The latter view in linked with a philosophy called organizational development (OD).

According to Ms. Cagney, the traditional approach emerged from the “top-down” management model of the church and military, where emphasis is placed on implementation, control, and careful evaluation. The organizational development approach emerged from the field of behavioral science, which has a greater emphasis on growth and learning.

Personally, I identify more with the organizational development approach.
How about you?

Management Consulting Competency Framework

Regardless of the approach you take to governance and management/ organizational consulting, if you choose to include these types of consulting in your practice, you’ll benefit from a review of the Management Consulting Competency Framework outlined by the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). It forms the basis for the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) qualification and includes three key components: market knowledge and capability (technical discipline, sector specialization), consulting competencies (business understanding and external awareness, managing client relationships, consulting process, practice management), consulting skills and behaviors (project management, analytical and proactive thinking, emotional intelligence, effective communication, professionalism and ethics).

The Institute of Management Consultants defines management consulting as, “the providing to management of objective advice and assistance relating to the strategy, structure, management, and operations of an organization in pursuit of its long-term purposes and objectives.”

Does that sound like something you do? I think it’s already (an unacknowledged) part of every grant writer’s job description!
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Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

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