Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: WomenOnCall.org
Why It’s a Gem: The Chicago-based organization makes it a snap for non-profits and volunteers to find each other.

In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, we’re deviating from our regular focus to highlight a not-for-profit organization rather than a for-profit business. With the economy in a perpetual swan dive, non-profit organizations are just as likely as for-profits to be floundering — or worse. (more…)

Logo of Zilok.com, the online rental marketplace

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: Zilok.com
Why It’s a Gem: A super-lean business model provides a green way for customers to both save and make money.

With the success of such super-sites as eBay and Craigslist, you might think there wasn’t room in cyberspace for another customer-to-customer website. But Zilok, which came on the market just two years ago and already has sites in five countries, has carved a green niche for itself by providing an alternative to buying and bartering: renting.

Not only does this idea come at a time when our sagging economy is making us rethink our long-standing belief that we “need” to own as much possible, but it’s also an environmentally friendly solution to what to do with all that clutter we have stuffed into our closets and garages. (more…)

As part of her mission to save small businesses, Lynda Resnick, author of the national best-seller Rubies in the Orchard, fields questions from entrepreneurs and non-profits and shares her business and marketing know-how.

In the first of her new series of Ask Lynda columns, Resnick responds to a letter from Ellen Parcell, who runs the non-profit Heart to Heart, a non-profit organization that supports homeless and abused women and children. (more…)