Using the Whole Whale - A Nonprofit Podcast (WholeWhale.com)

We interview Erline Belton the Author of Your Voice Matters. 

 

Erline Belton is President and CEO of Belton’s Crossing, LLC a real estate Development Corporation and the CEO and Founder of the Lyceum Group, an organizational development-consulting firm. The mission of her consulting firm, The Lyceum Group, is to influence societal and workplace re-thinking to encourage new possibilities. Her life’s work is to be of service to others in their search for truth-based principle and strategies that support positive business results. Her focus is US and international markets. Her most recent international assignments were in South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Cote Te Voire and Zimbabwe. She has spent 25 years as a senior corporate executive in the high technology industry, and in the insurance industry, and eight years in higher education.

“Your Voice Matters,” is a compelling achievement by Erline Belton. Her writings lead readers on a personal journey of self-exploration. Her book helps readers find the courage to speak the unspoken, and to realize the amazing grace of offering their voice and life stories. Speaking what is on your heart, speaking what you are feeling, and thinking opens the pathway to embracing all of who you are and who you alone are meant to be.

Elyse Wallnutt, Founder & Principal at Agility Lab Consulting shares how nonprofit fundraising professionals need to adapt to the removal of 3rd party cookies, dealing with evolving donor privacy laws

 

Resources on GDPR, SHEILD, and CCPA for nonprofits.

 

 

Rough Transcript

[00:00:00] audio1299811408: Today on the Whole Whale podcast, we have somebody who was referred to Whole Whale by none other than a, a frequent guest and teacher on whole whale, uh, Josh from Round Table. And we, uh, we tend to pay attention when he says this person knows what they are doing, knows what they're doing with regard to data privacy and fundraising.

[00:00:48] So I was, I. To Elise, the founder and principal at Agility Lab Consulting, uh, agility Lab Consulting. And that's, uh, I believe Agility Lab Consulting. Uh, agility lab.io. Agility lab.io is their website. And we're excited because Agility Lab has just founded and starting their work. And I will say Elise comes with an incredible background, previously senior director marketing advertising at World Food Program.

[00:01:17] Yeah, you might have heard. In the us I also spent time director and strategy at the Center for American Progress. Uh, spent time at Media cause for a year and of course, uh, a little organization called The Nature Conservancy as a senior Associate director, uh, digital acquisition. So safe to say, you know, your stuff.

[00:01:37] I'm excited. I'm excited to learn from you. Thank you for coming on. Anything I, I missed, Elise? No, thanks George. It's, it's great to be here. Thank you for having me. Yeah, well, you caught my eye immediately because you started speaking my language before we turned on record by talking about the sort of like cookie apocalypse.

[00:01:58] The cookie apocalypse. So I don't know if that's the right place to start, but things are gonna get weird in 2023 for fundraisers. Why? Yeah, so you're probably all aware as consumers about how much more aware we've become about how our data is being used. I think that that's been a much more popular topic of conversation in the last couple of years, and audience demand for privacy has really picked up.

[00:02:28] We saw the EU adopt privacy laws with GDPR in 2016, which really set the standard and us. Uh, legislators have taken note as well. So there are five states in the US implementing privacy laws this year. And with that, uh, big tech is really paying attention to how they need to protect their reputations, um, and stay in compliance.

[00:02:53] So they are eliminating what's called third party cookies, and that's a, it's a little piece of code. , that is what allows marketers to stand up ads that, uh, essentially follow you around the internet. So those, you know, that pair of pants or shoes that you can't stop seeing, it's, it's that pixel or that, that third party cookie that allows for that.

[00:03:15] So, um, the reason it's. It's troublesome is most people consider it not consented data use. So what we're moving toward with the elimination of third party cookies is marketers are only gonna be able to use. Consented information. So the information that you provide to them. So we're looking at things like what you provide in a form, when you donate, what you provide, when you fill out that petition, um, and, and things of that nature.

[00:03:46] So that's really gonna require us to be a lot more thoughtful about our targeting strategies. You caught my attention here with saying that there are five states. I was only aware of the New York Shield and C C P A in California, but it's feels like, can I just summarize saying like where one goes all must follow it.

[00:04:06] It's essentially like I love how am American states are like so futile when it comes to internet laws and even like registration. So I. nonprofits have to register in each state for fundraising, even though you have one donation form on your site, is this is where data privacy, third party cookies are going?

[00:04:29] Like how do you advise, because obviously you're offering like consulting advice on how to approach this. How do you advise folks of being like, oh no, no, you gotta do this here, here, here, here. What is the approach? So the good thing about the, uh, five states that are implementing this right now is that the laws are, are pretty similar.

[00:04:46] Um, what it allows for is audience members to request that their information, um, can be deleted from your file essentially, so they can. Call you up and say, Hey, I wanna know everything you have on record about me. I want to view that information, and if I want you to get rid of it, you have to. So most of the states are, are pretty aligned on where they're falling with that.

[00:05:10] And to your point, George, I think most of the states are probably gonna have to. Fall online eventually based on, uh, demand from constituents, that's not going to stop. And there's actually, um, a bipartisan supported federal bill that's pending. Um, it's gotten a little bit stalled up, but may make progress in 2023.

[00:05:33] And if that comes to fruition, that will create that federally supported framework. So my advice for nonprofits is to start treating this like it. Already a reality and to start getting prepared for something you can put in place operationally across the board. There's not really a point in standing up, you know, a set of operations for Colorado versus California, um, because they're, they're pretty similar.

[00:06:00] So GDPR is the most aggressive and luckily we already know what that looks like, uh, from the eu. And if you use that as a framework, you're pretty much guaranteed to be in compliance with what the states stand up. and just to play it out more practically, let's say you get, cuz it's a, a rite of, rite of removal, I think for your data.

[00:06:23] Mm-hmm. . What if that's not followed in, what is it, 30 days or 90 days? What are the kind of penalties you're seeing for this? Uh, so what we just saw actually, um, Facebook got hit with a really large fine by the EU for not following privacy compliance. Um, so when you're out of compliance, you can get hit with fines.

[00:06:44] Um, you, you will have more of that, uh, legal eye on you and it really could impact you in. In terms of audience trust more broadly. Um, so that's where I've been encouraging people to think of this as more of an opportunity rather than a slap on the hand. Um, when we're showing audiences that we care about respecting their rights and how their data is used, you can really build your brand and make sure that you are front and center of building that trust conversation.

[00:07:16] And just to be clear, let's say there's a, a privacy@myorganization.org. Mm-hmm. , I George email them saying, you know, I'm sort of invoking my right for removal. Right. To be forgotten. Yep. Uh, please present and remove any and all data. This is an official notice, let's say that goes to that email and the organization's like, this is the first time we've ever seen it.

[00:07:40] Like, what does that actually. So it means that you're gonna have to go through your C R m present everything that you know about, but you also need to have a handle on how you've been releasing data to third parties. So you know when you're uploading a person's. Email address into Facebook so that you can serve ads to them.

[00:07:59] You're also releasing some of that data to Facebook. So there are things that you can implement, like Facebook's conversion API that allow you to self-select some of those fields and get your third party options in, uh, better compliance being more risk averse there. But really it involves you being able to tell people what you have on them.

[00:08:23] Um, You know, your own spare, but also how you've been using their, their data externally. So the idea is that you don't want it to take you three weeks to execute one of these requests. You wanna be able to make sure that your staff knows how to, uh, turn this over and make sure that it is, you know, scalable and your approach is able to be right sized.

[00:08:48] Um, and also that your privacy policy reflect. What people can expect. So if you have 45 days to, to do this, is it gonna take you all 45 or can people expect to see something in 10? So you really need to be able to set the tone for, um, what audiences should get from you. And when

[00:09:08] I see a lot of headaches in the future here, I mean clearly, unfortunately, my mind goes toward. More of a predatory attack potentially, um, where you could sort of deluge an organization with, um, hundreds of these requests, um, and really bog down a technical team. So certainly I think having a plan in place for how do you do this in, in batch and do it efficiently, uh, especially if you are on the front lines of organizations that dance on contentious issues, we'll say.

[00:09:39] Is that a, is that a fair. Yeah, we're actually seeing whole companies, uh, being stood up just to provide for that. Um, you know, it's flooding businesses with requests from consumers, you know, as the consumer you can hire them to go and do this for you and they'll hit everything you know, you've ever email subscribed to.

[00:10:01] So that is where you need to be able to make sure you have your operational process in line and, you know, um, what. fair game to be released and, and what's not, um, and, and how you're gonna treat that. Yeah. Sounds like, um, a lot of work. I I, I don't wanna spend too much more time here unless there's something I'm maybe missing on the, the right to be forgotten and those policies coming up.

[00:10:26] I think really the most important thing, well, not the most important thing, but another important thing for, uh, marketing teams to also consider here is that, Data minimization is going to be your legal team's recommended approach. So it's really important for you to get a good handle on what the states consider, uh, personal information, what those fields look like, and also for you to know the business reason that you're ingesting certain data fields and what you want your retention period to be, and what fields you're willing to.

[00:11:02] You know, forego. So if you know that you're going to lose some of that third party tracking, what do you need to know on a first party level in terms of, you know, person's age and their interest categories and, and all the other things that make us understand what makes a person tick? You need to have a good handle on that so that you can sit at the table with the legal team and, uh, engage with them productively on what can stay and what can.

[00:11:28] I mean, I don't even know how you would go about finding that individual's third party cookie that you're using to track them around the internet and delete it. I mean, I think you acknowledge it, but is there a way to like signal out that one, you know, unique identifier inside of the walls of Google and, and others?

[00:11:47] Uh, no, I, well, you, so what most people are approaching this as, and, and again, this needs to come through in the privacy policy, is there are services that will let a person like you or me, George. Gotcha. Yeah. Go wipe my, yeah. Yeah. Um, so. An organization can say, Hey, we're gonna recognize signals from those types of services or not.

[00:12:10] Uh, and that's what you need to make clear in your privacy policy cause you're not technically, legally obligated to do that yet. But in the future, when third party cookies are wiped, that's gonna go away for all of us. It's not gonna exist as a capability. And when is the, is the deadline for removing third party?

[00:12:28] So they, you won't have to do anything to remove them. Uh, Google's gonna do it for you supposedly. Uh, Firefox already doesn't support third-party cookies. There's several other browsers that don't, um, but Chrome is, owns 64% of the market share when it comes to browsers and they. Google is saying that 2024 is the year they're gonna make good on this promise.

[00:12:54] And it's notable, this timeline has shifted a lot because Google hasn't quite figured out how they're gonna make up the revenue loss on their end, is my guess. Uh, so they are, they keep extending it, but 2024 is, is what they say. Uh, the deadline. And we've already seen, you know, thank you for explaining a bit about cookies and kind of how they're used and the, the apple fallout, I feel like is still coming.

[00:13:19] So maybe you can talk a bit about how fundraisers are needing to adapt to the reduction in tracking ability in email and maybe marketing with regard to Facebook Advertis. . Yeah. So the question I get asked, um, often is, why is Facebook acquisition struggling and what are we gonna do to replace it? And I think what people are missing is that Facebook is just the first, because they were hit so hard with apple's changes when Apple forced web developers to say that, um, they had to ask users for permission to track them.

[00:13:57] N 94% of those users said, no, I don't wanna be tracked. Facebook lot lost a lot of capabilities to target people outright and also to create lookalike models based on what they knew about people's behaviors. So what you're saying from Facebook is just representative of the struggle you're going to also have on Google via paid search ads and the like when third party cookies are wiped out.

[00:14:23] So it's really the time to take stock. Understanding what's working on your file, doing some contextual audits to get a sense of. What you know about your audiences and what you'd want to know so that you can collect those inputs. And also so that you can do more one-to-one media buying. If it came to it.

[00:14:45] Um, you might wanna understand, hey, we, we stood up ads on this site and they worked, but not this site. So we're gonna play more toward that type of content category. And we're also going to take that one step further and build our, our content strategy so that it focuses more on that type of topic. Uh, so you might think about those pieces now while you still have the capability to see into, uh, your Google results.

[00:15:14] So the other thing that is really important to understand about third party cookie elimination is that there will be analytics implications. GA four coming into play. Um, and with third party cookies wiping out, you know, Facebook and other advertising capabilities to see a pixel fire, you're gonna have to feed that information more manually.

[00:15:39] And you're also going to need to adjust your attribution model potentially to, uh, make changes so that you understand the state of play and how things are converting or.

[00:15:52] I think the way I'm kind of trying to position this is less moving forward about who people are with regard to their cookie footprint. Mm-hmm. and more about what they do. This is gonna be a behavior first environment. And you know, you mentioned GA four. I have the feeling. based on numbers, conversations, and what I'm seeing, I have the feeling a lot of folks are not ready for the hard transfer from Universal Analytics.

[00:16:24] The number one used web tracking analytic on the interwebs. Mm-hmm. stopping in July, like done, done like dinner, gone not until November, but until gone. Won't work and then suddenly everyone's gonna have to use GA four, which is very clearly Google's response to cookie apocalypse gdpr rising concerns of the way the fundamentals of universal analytics work don't work in this new environment, which is why this is happening.

[00:16:54] Yeah. Uh, what is your take? How are you positioning this transfer and thinking? So in terms of my advice for people, I would. Operating like it's happening tomorrow and taking stock of what you've learned and the benefits of having all these tracking capabilities in place now, uh, by creating and documenting all of those insights so that you can say, , Hey, you know, right now I'm on this really sophisticated attribution model that lets me see all of the touchpoints that led up to a conversion.

[00:17:32] But if those go away tomorrow, and if I never had them at my discretion, how would I make different decisions? So if I am only able to see that a person gave on this donation form and I know nothing else about their path, how, how would I apply some of the learning? From the past to, to get to that. So, um, I would look at what you've learned about, you know, when I was at the Nature Conservancy, we were finding that it took an average of 16 touchpoints for a per person to decide to give.

[00:18:02] And those were the ones that we could track. So knowing that, how many emails do you need to get in front of them? How many, you know, direct mail placements do you need to, to hit them with? What are the more creative outlets that you. Uh, apply with influencer marketing and, um, more of that thought leadership lens that parn back to, you know, a decade ago before we had all these, uh, capabilities at our hands and had to operate, you know, more like creative marketers, , and getting to that touchpoint model.

[00:18:34] And thank you for, for sharing that, having to be top of mind for your audience. Losing. , the tool of remarketing hurts. Mm-hmm. , I don't know. I like, I think that's the technical word hurts. . What? Help is my question. Yeah. So I, that's where I think that piece of the contextual auditing is gonna be really important.

[00:18:59] So that, you know, I think the word persona is overused and it means so many different things, but really getting that fine-tuned understanding of what makes people tick. Um, and like you said, based on their behaviors, what they're doing. So qualitative, Data is one thing. You can ask people in a survey how they feel, what they think, but we've seen the downfall of qualitative data, uh, with, you know, election polls and, and whatever else.

[00:19:29] So we know that we have to take that with a grain of salt. So understanding quantitative data and, and what's working, I think, will help you make those decisions about the content that you're standing up. Your forward path to creating, uh, what's called a first party data acquisition strategy, um, and making sure that you're creating content that's going to give people a reason to give you their email address so that you can do that more manual retargeting with, with emails and, and other services.

[00:19:58] So you mentioned email. You know, when Apple flipped the, the switch there, we started to see some wonky things in our mm-hmm. open rates, confusing numbers of being like, we're doing great, but are we, can you explain a little bit more? Because so much of I'll, I'll say, , the digital fundraising tactics that whole whale pushes forward, rely on those email data.

[00:20:23] Can you explain what's going on, why we may not be able to trust our open rates and what we can do as, uh, you know, moving forward in this environment? Yeah. So that goes back to the same iOS update, um, that impacted. Mobile app developers on the advertising side, and it'll also hit email. So the metric to watch now is, is click data.

[00:20:47] That is what allows you to understand if a person actually engaged or not. And everything before that is a bit amiss because of the tracking capabilities that are missing now. So the, the metric you wanna watch, Um, engagement, and that is because you know that that information is visible on your side and it's, you know, considered your data.

[00:21:11] So, Paying attention to all of those content insights is what I would focus on right now. And, you know, there's never been a more important time to make sure you have really good, um, reasons for a person to click through and engage so that you can factor in at that email engagement rate. It's so difficult because sometimes the purpose of an email is to deliver that experience.

[00:21:41] in that platform, in that medium and not click through. Mm-hmm. not lose that extra step. When you do that though, you're getting less data. So, you know, we know that that strategy has worked in the past, but it's tough to also say like, oh, we're not saying only send like two words and be like, click to see the rest.

[00:22:00] Right. We're holding your content hostage until you give us data in the form of clicks. Uh, . I mean, I don't know. Are you recommending that? Is that the trade off or are you just like, no, what you're not getting. Yeah, I think there's, so one of the things that I've been playing with in my own email strategy is encouraging people to reply to an email or do something that's other engagement, um, and reply to say, Hey, this is why I signed up for your email list, whatever, whatever type of content that you think, um, might be engaging and might give you some information that you can scale.

[00:22:34] That's another mechanism for people to. Really show interest and, and give you data that is consented that you might be able to gain some, some insights from. Um, but yeah, otherwise, I, I would not recommend sending a two word email that just says click. But I would say that you should start, um, optimizing.

[00:22:54] Content in the way that we used to optimize for subject lines to get that open. You know, you still need a good, you still need a reason for people to open, but that's not your primary focus. Your primary focus and your metric basis should be on, um, what you're doing to, to get the engagement in those insights.

[00:23:12] And so you mentioned that in 2024, Google Chrome is gonna be making this change. Does this also extend to Android and Gmail? in terms of that tracking. Will open rates put another way, be completely null and void as we get into 2024 of that change? Or do not? I under do, am I misunderstanding this? Uh, so Chrome.

[00:23:37] So safari has already been hit by this with Apple. Um, so anything that's happening on your iPhone right now is, is not really trackable in terms of third party cookies. Um, in the Android land, I, what is the primary browser for Androids, it's chrome. Yeah. Yeah. So, so Chrome, yeah, everything will stop being supported there.

[00:24:04] So yeah, unless you're using some device that none of us are aware of at this moment, , it's, it's really going to be hurting, I guess if you are opting into some browser that's, that's very small and market share. Um, effectively this is really just gonna need to be the wholesale change, so. I think this all comes back to the same thing, which is that this is just kind of the way of the world now where audiences, they're not gonna get less aware of how their, their data is being used.

[00:24:36] So you should probably adjust for that and, um, take the opportunities that you have to be a leader in the space and. You know, let people know how their data is being used. Be upfront about what you'll do to, to respect their space and their privacy, and make proactive changes so that you're not caught off guard.

[00:24:56] We saw a really good example of this actually. Um, the New York Times in 2020 became the first major publisher who went to a first-party data only model. So they completely stopped using third-party supported, um, information. And the way that they were able to scale that is they came up with a really creative content tagging strategy where, you know, they're tagging their content based on a range of different things, whether.

[00:25:23] You know, emotion evoked author, topic, et cetera. But with those insights, when an advertiser comes to them and says, Hey, I wanna place an ad on content that has this type of feel, the New York Times can offer that with. Completely consented data because it's based on what people are doing on their site in a logged in state.

[00:25:46] So the New York Times is a great example of a content publisher doing that, and obviously it's not completely replicable for the, those of us who are not, uh, you know, news outlets. But I think that there are things that we can learn from them in terms of giving people a reason to log in. , which is easier said than done, but is a case for brainstorming what some creative product development might look like, and also thinking about the context of the content that you're putting out and how you might, uh, do it differently in terms of both tagging and the, the actual content within, so that you are setting yourself up to, to get good data insights from it and, uh, to make sure that you are setting your data or setting your content up in a way that.

[00:26:32] Clear funnel toward monetization. It's a move kind of back toward the old school intent driven ads. Mm-hmm. , what is the, uh, user intent, and it's more clear on Google's search than probably any other platform at this point. If I'm searching for ways to support the environment, it's pretty clear. I care about a couple things.

[00:26:55] I have a desire to take action, and that action is revolving around learning more about the. , guess what? That might be a good moment to introduce yourself as the nature conservancy. Yeah, and what's interesting is that, uh, last year was the first year in recent memory that the total combined ads, as I understand the stat, um, being spent total ad spend of Google, Facebook, who used to dominate pretty much the entire market fell, um, fell below 50%, which means there's like a rise of the rest coming.

[00:27:29] and I wonder if you can talk about how we'll have our own data of emails, but then we'll be like shopping around in a much larger marketplace and needing to make a lot more decisions than ever before. Uh, as it relates to data opportunity, however you want to take this, uh, this fly ball. Yeah. Yeah. You, uh, in terms of things like co-op partnerships, I think those are some of the options that are at.

[00:27:58] Discretion. Um, and I think that's where knowing third party data terms is gonna be really important so that you're making really practical decisions to understand how, um, those partnerships are working. You know, I think that there are some organizations that can offer up. Email addresses at scale, and you wanna make sure that they're also GDPR compliant and following cans, spam rules, and doing things in a way that aren't gonna get you into hot water.

[00:28:30] Uh, so that's, I think, point number one is you're going to need to be newly. Aware of and deeply aware of as a marketer, the decisions you're making on that front. Um, and also you're gonna need to consider efficiency. So I think when it comes to the efficiency question, obviously the third party. Data pieces are what allowed us to scale so quickly.

[00:28:58] Um, but I would test a range of different publishers who are not so much reliant on, um, third party cookies and start getting those insights now so that you get a sense of how things are gonna perform and you can scale that later. So there are publishers who are exploring this in a pretty forward thinking way, you know, Spoke with Basis Technologies last week, just as a, as an example, but, um, they're already exploring how they can garner, uh, marketing techniques that put advertising out there in a way that isn't, um, illegal.

[00:29:34] as it will be later. . Yeah. Well, it's gonna get pretty interesting. Any other points you wanna make before we move into our rapid fire about coming data privacy changes? What organizations need to be prepared for? I think really just making sure that, as you know, a marketer or a fundraiser, wherever it is, you sit on that spectrum that you consider.

[00:29:58] The implications in a forward thinking way. Um, and don't think of privacy as something that's just for the IT and legal teams. I think it's going to impact your job in a way that it just didn't previously, and that's gonna be the state of play from here forward. So it would make sure that you understand, you know, what your privacy policy says.

[00:30:18] Make sure it's covering you. Make sure your legal team knows what you're up to so that, um, you are protecting your organization and ultimately your brand, which is your job. So that's the big piece that I would hammer home there. That's super helpful. Alright, rapid fire time, roughly 32nd responses. And just to kick it off, what is one tech tool or website that you've started using in the last.

[00:30:44] Uh, so I have been using. Kajabi, that's how I built my site and I really enjoy that. If you are looking to build a website, which is probably a, a small number of people, um, I'm also exploring notion, um, I'm late to the game there, but that is a tool that's. . Um, I need a replacement forever Evernote, because my Evernote syncing has gotten very bad, uh, between my devices.

[00:31:11] So I'm looking for a, a replacement note taking app. Maybe that follows into tech issues you're currently battling with ? Yeah. Yeah. I would say data sync issues between devices has been a big one for me, uh, where I'll write myself a to-do on my phone and it's not showing up on. My desktop app version. So that is a big problem.

[00:31:35] What is coming in the next year that has you the most excited? What's coming? Yeah, what's coming up? Uh, personally, professionally, does it matter? Oh, let's do one, one professional and one personal. Now that you ask, uh, I would say professionally, you know, this is my first year in business by myself, so I am excited to, um, be able to know what to predict for 2024.

[00:32:02] Uh, no. What I can scale and um, how things need to pivot. I think entrepreneurship has always been something I've been very intrigued by and I'm excited to be, you know, taking the plunge personally. Um, I am going to Greece for the first time in March, so that should be a great time. Awesome. Talk about a mistake that you made earlier in your career that shapes the way you do things.

[00:32:28] this is a good question. I think one of the most valuable insights I've learned over the years is when it's important to have at least a verbal conversation, if not an in-person conversation, rather than trying to make it work over email, slack, et cetera. Um, I think sometimes people rely on the efficiency of.

[00:32:52] email and, and written coms. Um, and I know I certainly over relied on that in the past, and sometimes it's really important to just take the time to take somebody to coffee and recognize that that's gonna do more service to what you're trying to get done than hammering home a deadline will.

[00:33:08] Do you believe that nonprofits can successfully go out of business successfully? Go out of business? . Yeah, I do. I think that it is, there are a lot of solvable problems. You know, when I was at World Food Program, we called Hunger, the world's most solvable problem. I think it's a matter of building the operational infrastructure to be able to ingest the money that would allow you to go out of business.

[00:33:37] If you got. A huge donor, are you gonna be able to scale your operation that quickly and think about the components that would need to go into that? So I think, um, nonprofits need to be able to operate in a way that allows them to have those overhead pieces taken care of, and the sound operational infrastructure that allows for that.

[00:34:00] if I were to put you in a hot tub time machine back to the beginning of your nonprofit work, what advice would you give yourself? Hmm. Um. I would say to be unafraid, to, to speak. I had a mentor early in my career who made clear that if you were invited to a meeting, it was for a reason and your voice needed to be heard.

[00:34:26] And I think especially as, uh, a female in this industry, you can, can take a step back from that at the beginning of your career. You, there's some, I think, imposter syndrome among all of us, but especially among young women. So I would. Speak.

[00:34:41] If I were to give you a magical wand that you could wave and change something in the industry, what would it do? Hmm. I think we'd be a lot further ahead on diversity initiatives and understanding how they come into play in every facet of what we do. I think nonprofits. Just catching up to this conversation.

[00:35:04] And we still think of it as, you know, we need a diverse hiring pool and we don't necessarily understand all of the things that go into building that, that talent pool. So making sure that we have cultures that diverse communities would want to work within and, uh, that, that respect, um, the difference standpoints that we all come from.

[00:35:22] That's what I would change would be further along. What is something that you think you should stop doing? I should stop doing, I should stop drinking more than one cup of coffee a day. , I, uh, I'm playing with my, my workflow for the day and the optimal time to make sure I'm, I, I used to exercise first thing in the morning, and I'm pivoting that more toward, toward the, the mid-afternoon, which I, I guess, are the luxuries of being an entrepreneur.

[00:35:52] But, um, playing with the caffeine intake, um, has not been great. So produced. How did you get started in the social impact sector? So I grew up in a very conservative area of Colorado. Um, Colorado's a very interesting state in terms of politics, but I grew up in the area of Colorado Springs, um, that's very focused on religion, military, et cetera.

[00:36:17] Um, and I was about nine when my Uncle Keith passed away, uh, from AIDS and. at that time, we weren't allowed to talk about why he passed and what happened and, uh, his sexuality and I, as I have gotten older, always think about what that must have felt like for him to not even be able to talk to his family about, um, you know, this terrifying illness that he had and.

[00:36:48] The, where he was in life. So that's, that's been the event in my life that I've always come back to. That drives me to make sure that no one else feels like that or is in that place. What advice would you give college grads looking to enter the social impact sector? You co oh, I guess your college graduated by that point.

[00:37:07] Um, I was gonna go the internship route. I, I think just start. I think there's a lot of trepidation around diving in and, um, finding, you know, the perfect job description to apply for, or the perfect service to offer. And I think just getting out there and seeing, um, Casting a wide net is, is very useful in those beginning stages.

[00:37:34] And also not being afraid to say yes when you get invited to, you know, that networking session or the happy hour, that might seem useless. Just building your army of, of friends and contacts. What advice did your parents give you that you either followed or did not follow?

[00:37:55] Um, my parents gave me lots of advice, advice that I, I did not follow. Um, . One thing that I did follow, my parents, uh, grew up in, um, a very small area of Ohio, former mining town that, um, was not well to do. We did not grow up, um, super well off money wise, and my dad really wanted me to focus on a business degree, uh, because it was practical and I did do that.

[00:38:24] Um, but I will say that I've, I've tried to pivot it in a way that's become my own. Um, and that is, is focused on. Yes, the business side and the practical sides of that, but also the social impact side that is, is my own mark. Well thanks for sharing all of that. How do people find you? How do people help you?

[00:38:44] So my website is agility lab.io. Um, and I have on. That's a, uh, you can contact me for a quick informational consult or I have a couple of, uh, checklists that will help you think through your risk diversification strategy. And if you're interested in pursuing a project together, you can reach out to me one-on-one through the site, um, or join my email list.

[00:39:10] Yeah, I'd say just add, if you're looking for that digital privacy tuneup that doesn't just stop at privacy, but also looks. How your fundraising and comms team are approaching a different landscape. It sounds like you know what you're doing. I enjoyed the conversation and thank you for all that you've shared with our audience.

[00:39:27] Thank you, George.

 

Religious Congregations Taking Advantage of Green Tax Credits

The U.S. government is offering billions of dollars in tax credits and grants to nonprofits and churches to help them become more energy efficient, courtesy of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, as reported by Religion News Service. This funding, managed by the Office of State and Community Energy Programs in the Department of Energy, is intended to help nonprofits reduce their carbon footprints and become climate leaders in their communities. Nonprofits, including houses of worship as highlighted by this article, may qualify for cash payments and credits for energy efficiency investments. The Department of Energy is also awarding grants via a special "Renew America" program to nonprofits interested in coordinating a number of energy efficiency projects. Other initiatives focus on fostering energy and climate justice by supporting innovation in historically underserved communities and developing partnerships to address local energy and sustainability challenges. The intention is not only to empower organizations to become more energy efficient but also to facilitate them in helping their communities to reduce energy costs.Read more ➝

 

• The Giving Block Negates the Carbon Footprint of Cryptocurrency Donations | NonProfit PRO
• FTX to clawback $71.5 million from Bankman-Fried's NGO | crypto.news
• Inside Tony Bennett’s charitable efforts as big-hearted star created NYC performing arts public school and non-profit | The US Sun

Host Kariesha Martinez interviews LaQuida Chancey, the founder of Smalltimore Homes. Baltimore, like many cities, struggle with housing insecurity which has been made even more dangerous during COVID and now the winter. LaQuida's solution is simple: build homes, small ones. These micro-shelters offer protection from the cold and allow social distancing for people experiencing homelessness.

Smalltimore Homes, is driven by a single goal; ending homelessness.  This simplistic goal can be reached by creating more affordable housing through micro shelters and tiny homes.  Their approach is informed by comprehensive research studies and high-quality data evaluation. They strive to build strong communities, productive relationships and make a positive impact on all of their pursuits. 

This week we dive into the world of cryptocurrency donations with The Giving Block. Pat Duffy, the Co-founder of The Giving Block shares how and why the cryptocurrency owners are interested in donating. 

Setting up donation pages that accept cryptocurrency can open the door to new donors. Pat also shares how they are working on BitcoinTuesday to increase giving around #GivingTuesday. 

Nonprofit News for the week of June 1st, 2021. 

 

Tulsa Massacre After 100 Years: Nonprofits Part Of Efforts To Bring Justice

The Tulsa massacre, one of the most egregious examples of racial violence in American history, marks its 100th anniversary. After “Black Wall Street” was destroyed by mobs of white supremacists, efforts to bring justice are underway. The Oklahoma Archaeological Survey, associated with the University of Oklahoma, will begin work to find, identify and preserve victims’ remains. The nonprofit Centennial Commission is building a historic center to preserve the oft-overlooked history of the massacre, though the organization has drawn criticism for not providing reparations to victims directly. Events and programs marking the 100-year milestone include a visit to Tulsa by President Biden to meet with survivors.

Russian-Backed Hack of USAID Leaves NGOs Potentially Compromised

Russia state-backed hackers are believed to have breached USAID’s external communication client, sending malicious emails to over 3,000 accounts from over 150 organizations, according to Microsoft Vice President Tom Burt. The attack appears to have targeted humanitarian organizations, human rights NGOs, think tanks, and civil society organizations. Burt notes that the attack, carried out by the same actor responsible for the high-profile SolarWinds breach, is yet “another example of how cyberattacks have become the tool of choice for a growing number of nation-states to accomplish a wide variety of political objectives.” This breach comes just weeks before President Biden is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Geneva.

 

Summary

• Warning Signs Emerge for Fundraisers in Latest Economic Reports
• What North Carolina's donor privacy bill would, and wouldn't, do for nonprofits
• ExxonMobil loses a proxy fight with green investors
• Nonprofit buys 6,150 acres for conservation in Georgia
• Nonprofit Powers Creation of Low-Cost Covid Vaccine
• Nonprofit supports families of America’s fallen soldiers
•  

Host Kariesha Martinez interviews Dan Treglia, PhD about the complexities of affordable housing and the nuance of how San Francisco ended up paying $61k per tent. 

 

 

About Dan Treglia

Dan Treglia, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, Associate Director of the Partnership for Effective Public Administration and Leadership Ethics (PEPALE), Senior Research Fellow at United For ALICE, and our Research and Evaluation Whaler. His research focuses on homelessness, housing instability, and income insecurity, and his work on aging homelessness and COVID-19's impact on homelessness has driven national media attention and policymaking. Dr. Treglia has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a masters in public policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.  Prior to joining Penn, Dr. Treglia managed research and evaluation for New York City's Department of Homeless Services.  He continues to work with nonprofits and state and local governments across the country to ensure that policymakers and practitioners can use the best available evidence in their decision-making.

 

Learn more about Dan at dantreglia.com.

This week Kariesha Martinez and George Weiner discuss ideas and factors impacting Giving Tuesday, the day of giving on Dec 1st, 2020 this year.

They also talk through the annual Whole Whale prediction for funds raised. Based on our analysis that incorporates an adjusted linear regression, trends in Google Search terms around “Giving Tuesday,” and national giving trends, we predict that $605 million will be raised on Giving Tuesday 2020. This will be a 18% or $94 million increase over 2019’s record-breaking estimated pull of +$400 million. Giving Tuesday 2020 Predictions and Statistics, courtesy of Whole Whale

Karisha Martinez interviews Sam Fankuchen, the Founder & CEO of Golden. 

Volunteering is a proven driver of happiness and provides a myriad of physical, mental and social benefits, from living longer and feeling more fulfilled to increasing the chances of being hired. Because of these benefits, we believe volunteering should be a part of every self-care routine. 

In 2015, Golden launched to do just that by removing all barriers to engaging in service. Volunteers can sign-up for a volunteer opportunity, or "Golden Opportunity", in a click of a button - No more paperwork, wait time or back-and forth communication. And the best part? The Opportunities are personalized to every individual based on what they like to do for fun. By pairing service with a hobby, we strive to put users in their Golden Moments - when one is carefree, loving life and aware of the feeling. 

Our host Kariesha Martinez interviews Lisa Greer, entrepreneur and author of PHILANTHROPY REVOLUTION: How To Inspire Donors, Build Relationships, And Make A Difference. 

The largest wealth transfer in the history of mankind and world crises is creating an existential threat to the 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States. In her book, Lisa Greer provides practical, urgent guidance on how to cultivate meaningful, lasting relationships with the new generation of philanthropists to not only survive but thrive.

 

 

Pantheon Heroes Depart as Platform Faces Backlash for Hosting Hateful Websites

In recent weeks, controversy has erupted over website operations platform Pantheon hosting websites for influential anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigration organizations including Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), as reported by ARS Technica. The backlash began on LinkedIn, where several developers and Pantheon supporters voiced their concerns, including customers seeking alternative hosting services and developers known as "Pantheon Heroes" who announced they would stop assisting Pantheon's open source projects and leave the program. Pantheon co-founder Josh Koenig confirmed that the platform would continue hosting the controversial websites, citing their commitment to being an open platform. Despite Pantheon's terms of service prohibiting abusive or offensive content, the company's position on content states that they generally refrain from moderating customer content. Pantheon Heroes, a program launched in 2019, brought together some of the best open-source developers in the world to empower open web development. However, following Pantheon's decision to continue hosting the websites, several developers have quit the Pantheon Heroes program, expressing disappointment and feeling conflicted about supporting the platform.

Read more ➝

 

 

Summary

• News for the powerful and privileged: how misrepresentation and underrepresentation of disadvantaged communities undermine their trust in news | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
• Nonprofit group looks to buy most newspapers in Maine | NewsCenterMaine.com
• House bill would give FTC authority over nonprofit hospitals | Becker's Hospital Review

• Encouraging Animal Sentience laws around the world  | WAP 

 

 

 

 

 

Whoever thought that a fundraiser promoting popcorn, of all things,  could raise 20k in just 4 days? On this week's episode, host Kariesha Martinez interviews Yvonne Blake, President of the Chicago Chapter of Jack and Jill, on how she was able to accomplish such a goal with the DoubleGood.com platform.   Listen in on how exactly she was able to surpass her goal with the power of a strong network and driven teens. Jack and Jill is an organization of mothers, primarily but not limited to African American mothers, who provide social, cultural, and educational opportunities for their children.   Special thanks to our sponsor Double Good, a platform that allows nonprofits to fundraise with their teams online, sell ultra-premium popcorn, and earn 50% profit. Absolutely no minimums or fees.

We talk with Dan Treglia, Ph.D. in Social Welfare about the impact of COVID-19 on America's 500,000 people experiencing homelessness. Choosing whether to go to a shelter, where social distancing may not be possible is becoming a life and death decision for many Americans. 

Dan discusses the issues many Cities are facing and what the potential policies that could make a difference are. 

 

About

Dan Treglia is a PostDoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice who uses quantitative methods to address a range of social policy issues – most notably homelessness – with a clear focus on policy and programmatic implications.

Dan’s recent work focuses on the use of large administrative data sets to address multi-sector, seemingly intractable problems. Recent examples include an evaluation of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, a homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing program run by the VA; a randomized controlled trial of a homelessness prevention program in New York City; the integration of machine learning algorithms into a VA homelessness screening tool to improve resource targeting; and forecasting healthcare and nursing home needs and costs among older homeless adults.

He has a PhD in Social Welfare from the School of Social Policy and Practice and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Prior to enrolling at Penn, Dan served as Deputy Director of Research at New York City’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS). Among other responsibilities, he led the City’s effort to estimate its unsheltered homeless population using a methodology recognized for its rigor by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also led the evaluation of the Housing Help Program, which prevented eviction in high-poverty areas, assessments of shelter use and recidivism predictors, and several agency public reporting and policy- analysis initiatives.

Nonprofitnewsfeed.com

 

Scott Releases Comprehensive List Grant Recipients

MacKenzie Scott has released a comprehensive database of all the nonprofit organizations that have received grants from her over the past several years. Scott has in many ways upended the philanthropy sector with the sheer volume and size of the grants, as well as their “no strings attached” nature. The database denotes the name of the organization, the size of the gift, and the organization’s focus area, geographic location, and stated mission statement. The new website’s “Process” page hints at the potential for future open calls for prospective grant recipients. According to reporting from The Guardian, the donations totalled over $14 billion and were disbursed to over 1,600 nonprofit organizations.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

 

• 22 Most Charitable Companies in 2022 | Yahoo
• When Nonprofit Health Care Behaves Badly: The Case For Mission ... | healthaffairs.org
• Big Tech Laid Off Thousands. Here’s Who Wants Them Next | WIRED
• Common Man For Ukraine delivers presents to 1,300 orphans | WMUR Manchester 

 

Transcript

 

[00:00:00] This week on the nonprofit news feed. Well, we're talking about a big release by Mackenzie Scott. She's been giving away money now she's giving away data, a comprehensive database actually, of all of the nonprofits. So we'll jump into that. And also we had, uh, our, our end of year celebrations at Whole Whale.

[00:00:45] And there's an internal video that Nick put together where he is a washed up British rock. Talking about a success. They, they definitely took the whole well adage of taking it too far and making it way too hilarious. Um, we can't release any of it, but if you worked here, you'd see. Uh, impetus to, to keep us on your, your, your job postings, uh, going into the new year.

[00:01:07] Should we be hiring? Yes. Uh,

[00:01:10] video is released. Super fun. I got to live out my alter ego being a washed up British rocker for our annual holiday music video. Here's what I'll say. If you leave us a review and then you message me, I will share that video with you cuz it is unlisted on. I feel like that's, I think that's a fair trick.

[00:01:30] Cool. It is chaotic, good , chaotic, festive, let's say , chaotic, festive. Um, I, I agree. Amazing. Well, we, in the spirit of giving and festivities and holidays and all that, our top story is of course Mackenzie Scott releasing a comprehensive list of grant recipients. So, Mackenzie Scott has started a new website, yield giving.com, and the website essentially serves.

[00:02:06] Just kind of like a, a holding a place to hold all the information about the recipients of Scott's Enormous generosity over the past couple years. So a downloadable database of all the organizations that have received money from Mackenzie Scott. So it's estimated that Don. On this list totaled over 14 billion and were dispersed to over 1600 nonprofits.

[00:02:36] The donations and grants were no strings attached in nature, and the database denotes the name of the organization, the size of the gift, and the organization's focus area, geographic location, and mission statement. So we are getting. Full and total transparency from Mackenzie Scott on where those donations are going.

[00:02:59] and important to note on the website's process page where they talk about how they found these donations. There is a hint at an open call for grant recipients, um, at some kind of process that organizations going forward might be able to apply for grants. Um, that seems to be an in the works type thing.

[00:03:20] But it is the first time that Mackenzie Scott has hinted at an open. Tight scenario. So George, this is, this is big news and we, we started going through that spread list and you see this like never ending list and these donations, it's not $500, it's not $10,000. It's all of them are getting millions of dollars, or at least most of them.

[00:03:43] It's crazy. Yeah. It's refreshing to see. Transparency there. I mean, technically speaking you can, um, sort of back into information like this using, you know, tools like cause iq.com where you can track who's given what. Uh, cuz these things have to be disclosed on nine 90 s. It's just a different. Ability though to sort of pop it out into a C S V and be able to look at it and, and get an idea of it, you know, top things in here.

[00:04:13] I was looking down the list. Um, one of the top recipients in 2020 was actually our IP medical debt who is on our, you know, on our list of, uh, podcast participants. You know, planned Parenthood is is up there with 50 million. Uh, they were a past client of ours, so I was like, oh, kind of, you know, happy to, to look through and see that many of the folks that we.

[00:04:35] actually worked with, um, our are on this list volunteer match, um, is a past client. And you can see just, you know, what's impressive, I encourage you to go there and just like you get an idea of, to your point, it's not like, oh, here's like, you know, 10,000, 20,000 gifts. Like they're just row after row of millions of dollars being given.

[00:04:57] Right? Like that is, uh, something quite significant. , uh, for, for what you're, you know, able to achieve. And you know, it's not until you get to the very end where they're like, very few grants are like under a million dollars. Um, actually if I was on this list and I got less than a million, I'd be like, what the heck?

[00:05:15] why did I get less than a million? Um, but it's a reminder of that, the power of this level of wealth and. , you know, on the other side of that coin is like, you know, this could easily be spent the other direction, but, you know, I have a, a hard time finding a bad, bad, bad apple in the bunch and looking through the hundreds of organizations here.

[00:05:37] Yeah, George, I think that's a great takeaway. It's impactful to see all this disparate data that we might have been able to see just in one place really cleanly. you can download as a CSV and see all these amazing organizations there. Um, that presumably have been a vetted. Um, and yeah, it's just cool, cool to see that impact in one place spelled out so cleanly.

[00:06:06] But I can take us into our next story. And this is from Yahoo Finance, and it talks about the 22 most charitable companies. In 2022. It goes through some heavy hitters. You've probably heard of just about all the companies on this list, uh, Google, Starbucks, Walmart, alphabet. George. How seriously should we take this?

[00:06:30] Is this, is this a good thing? Is this a. E s g whitewashing situation. Are these real donations? What's, what's, what do we think of this list? Well, I mean, it's tis the season for lists. I also bring it up because I think your organization, obviously, if you haven't already, it may be a little too late, but there's still periods of time, I'd say that's stretched through January where you can create your top list of corporations, of people, of influencers, of whatever it may be that have done you.

[00:07:03] The most social impact in your, in your ecosystem. And so this is like at one level, it's like, look, it's Yahoo Fines writing an end of your article. Fine. But I'd also say that, you know, looking at companies being celebrated for doing the right thing in the right way, on the heels of, you know, what we just saw with C v cvs, which, you know, uh, we talked about in the other episode, um, is, is great to see.

[00:07:28] I, I do think. Social impact isn't just relegated to the domain of 5 0 1 It's, it's clear that, um, for-profit organizations need to stand out. I mean, am I, am I really celebrating that hard when I see, like Chevron make the top 10 here? Like maybe not or, you know, JP Morgan Chase? Not exactly. Being like the pinnacle.

[00:07:57] Offense, but like, you know, social, social impact, justice and investment. Uh, okay. Um, ExxonMobil making the list. So there's a little bit of e s g gaming, so take a look at the list. How would you write it? That's my question. I think that's, I think that's good framing. Uh, something of course to keep in mind this time of year.

[00:08:19] Um, but some good things for nonprofit leaders to think.

[00:08:23] All right. I'll take us into our next story. And honestly, this one ruffles my feathers, George. So you're ruffled last. I'm, I'm, I'm ruffled. Uh, The New York Times last week published a story titled How a Sprawling Hospital Chain ignited its own staffing Crisis. And it talks about a hospital chain, um, under the Ascension umbrella.

[00:08:51] Um, that is a hospital that serves approximately 6 million patients in the South and Midwest. It has revenue, yearly revenue of $15 billion. That rivals companies like General Mills and Gap. It is a non-for-profit hospital system, and in addition to its billions in cash, it runs an investment company that manages more than 41 billion in assets, and the chief executive of its wholly owned.

[00:09:23] Investment company made a salary of 13 million last year, and it's estimated from that article that because of its nonprofit status, ascension has avoided more than 1 billion a year in federal, state, and local taxes. That's the, the, the tax exempt work. Um, and in response to that, we have an article from health affairs.org that offers some framing and solutions of thinking about this problem.

[00:09:51] Um, Because our irrational health system, as it notes, allows mega hospital chains that operate under a nonprofit status, um, to, to really not put their, their patients first. It, it stems from, um, staffing crises, trying to squeeze out pennies, uh, during the, the Covid problem, uh, during the covid surge and a whole host of other problems.

[00:10:20] But you. Mega wealthy kind of bad actors in the nonprofit healthcare system. Um, this article offers some different approaches, um, that I'm quite frankly not knowledgeable enough to, to speak or even summarize, quite frankly. But George, why'd you throw this in here? And, and why do we keep talking on this podcast about nonprofit hospitals?

[00:10:45] What, what's the importance of, of that thread?

[00:10:47] This is under. Ongoing theme of brought to you by, just because it's a C3 doesn't mean it's doing good. 5 0 1 is a tax classification and clearly in this case, one that is saving a, um, an operating organization, billions of dollars. Uh, you know, when you're talking about, and it came up in this article, uh, staffing shortages, leaders of these organizations, of these hospitals and their boards bragging about how much they were able to.

[00:11:19] In, in overhead, not for mind you, the service of the patient or what's best in the health outcome, but mind you, in a reduction of staff and especially, and you know, as we're moving through a pandemic, it, it's, it's a real head scratcher in terms of saying like, how, how isn't there more scrutiny brought to bear?

[00:11:38] Also, you know, tactics. Intentionally obfuscate the 5 0 1 obligation of hospitals to actually cover in the case, um, medical bills that aren't able to be afforded by, um, low income clients that come through. And it is, you know, a part of the, you know, terrible jigsaw puzzle that makes up our, our healthcare system.

[00:12:02] But sad to. The nonprofit, uh, you know, name being pulled in, uh, to this overall brand. And so when you look at overall trust dropping in nonprofits, it is narratives like these that are, are really doing it, are really bringing it, uh, bringing it around. So I, I hope this type of article leads to oversight, scrutiny.

[00:12:23] And like, you know what is fine with me? Pay your taxes. That's okay. Right? Just lose your C3 status. Pay your taxes. You're gonna operate like a for-profit. You're gonna operate in the competi. Ecosystem where you're trying to get the most out of it. Like that's, that's America, that's fine. But I don't like the thought that our tax dollars are going to underwrite so that they can have a higher amount of money to then go turn their nonprofit into an investment vehicle.

[00:12:50] Yeah, I agree with that. Uh,

[00:12:53] Certainly a big problem. Healthcare in America, nonprofit hospital chain healthcare system. But, uh, hopefully that this amount of high profile articles, um, shines light on the problem. Alright, I can take us into our next story. And this one comes from wire.com and the title of this article is Big Tech Laid Off Thousands.

[00:13:19] Tier who wants them next? And the subtitle is government's, nonprofits and small startups hope to scoop up. People let go by the likes of Meta and Amazon. It's their big chance to learn top tier talent. Um, so the Article C sites, the sta, that nearly 1000 tech companies around the world have laid off more than 150,000 tech workers.

[00:13:39] This year. We've seen high profile layoffs from meta Amazon. Whatever it was that happened at Twitter. Um, and quite frankly, you now have high skill job seekers in the tech marketplace that now may be looking for stability, potentially lower pay , you know, it comes with the territory, but that governments, nonprofits, and other private sector industries that are looking for highly skilled tech workers, uh, this could be a good.

[00:14:12] To recruit these workers, um, during this kind of realignment of the tech sector. Uh, Yeah, not only that, um, increasingly you're seeing public opinion of major tech companies, uh, taking some heat, Twitter, taking heat, Facebook especially over the past couple years, Cambridge Analytica forward taking heat, and these workers might be primed to be looking for.

[00:14:42] Environmentally socially conscious type jobs, whether that be in the government, social impact sector, nonprofit sector. Um, so this article just kind of makes the case, um, that this is a golden opportunity for social impact folks to recruit.

[00:15:00] I think that's exactly right here and a great opportunity. because many of these folks that have been laid off actually do have fairly generous severance packages, you know, coming out of, uh, meta and others. You can actually go to a site layoffs, FYI, for a full breakdown of number of people laid off when it happened.

[00:15:25] And on top of that, there may be the opportunity of saying like, okay, if we know that there are people in our region or area that have these technical skills, like how are you? Selling and even amplifying the the potential need for not just frankly employees, but volunteers. Again, I note. Severance packages may cover these folks for, you know, 3, 6, 9 months depending on what that agreement looks like.

[00:15:50] There may be, uh, a new swath of volunteers, um, coming out as a net result of this. So, you know, what does your technical volunteering strategy plan promotion look like as you move into 2023? Not just, you know, clearly for, for hiring, in which case, you know, we, we always recommend Idealist dot. As a, you know, a solid place to be listing, uh, for at least nonprofit minded, uh, employees.

[00:16:19] And what's layoffs, layoffs.fyi. I know. Weird ending. But, um, it'll give you some charts and stats on, on what's going on. Yeah. Great. Great resource there. Go check them. All right, George. The time has come. How about a feel good story? Yeah. What have we. Okay, this one comes from W M U R nine A B C, local affiliate, and it talks about how an organization called the Common Man Family of Restaurants, um, has co-founded a nonprofit called Common Man for Ukraine.

[00:16:55] Um, and the nonprofit has delivered 1300 present. Two children in Ukraine this holiday season, along with 700 tons of food and 10,000 sleeping bags. Um, they, they have been visiting orphanages in Ukraine, of course, as the, the human tragedy of the conflict has now left kids, uh, orphaned. Um, and it says, the organization says they've raised 2.3 million in less than six months to support Ukrainian refugees and.

[00:17:30] this is amazing, right? Like those, the, the gift itself is almost not what matters. What matters is kids feel seen, they're allowed to feel joy amid, you know, insane circumstances and, uh, get a little, a little bump, a little support, a little, pick me up during an otherwise uh, trying year. , it's the season of giving.

[00:17:55] And, uh, cool to see a nonprofit stepping up and giving to kids who God knows need it the most.

[00:18:01] , it's an important reminder that we've got, uh, children in a war zone. And, , that's diametrically opposed to a season of giving an abundance and care. So the, , the fact that that's, that's occurring and giving, uh, an semblance of, uh, what the season's actually about, um, is good to see.

[00:18:22] And that's like, that's the work of nonprofits. Uh, you know, and, and sometimes you just, you know, like, oh, well, you know, shouldn't they be sending body armor? Sure. Right. Like, if that were the only focus. Um, but this is called, you know, working with empathy and realizing that, um, there are, uh, many people suffering and there's, uh, there's work to be done.

[00:18:45] So, uh, I like. Uh, all right, Nick, you know it's coming. , I, I know it's coming. Qu question, question for you. Um, how, how was the nonprofit camping fundraiser you went to?

[00:19:00] I'm not sure. How was the nonprofit camping fundraiser I went to? It was intense.

[00:19:07] Oh, brother . Oh my. That was good. That was good. Yeah. Yeah. Moderate. Uh, I, uh, I will say we're probably, we're, we're signing off. I don't know if we'll fit in another one of these before the end of the year. So I appreciate the, the time, uh, and working with you, Nick. Uh, happy holidays to you and yours. See you in the new.

[00:19:28] Happy holidays to you and your family in the new year. Thanks for a great year. Here comes 2023.

 

An exit interview with Ann, Technical Creative Director of WholeWhale.com reflecting on lessons over 7 years with the company. 

Ann Nguyen Technical Creative Director On Social https://www.linkedin.com/in/nguyenann https://twitter.com/annnnnguyen   

Ann joined Whole Whale in 2013 and has been making splashes since then in the areas of design, development, and A/B testing.

She keeps the New York team afloat and works directly with clients on using design and tech to scale their impact. During her time at Whole Whale, Ann has overseen site builds that include DREAM, the LAMP, and Donate Life America. Beyond website development, Ann has led the charge on work with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the One Love Foundation, Charitybuzz, Prizeo, and United Way ALICE. Ann is also the product manager behind Lighthouse by Whole Whale and is currently working with Power Poetry on their Poetry Genome, a tool that uses machine learning to generate a percentage comparison to various writers based on the theme, style, and content of any poem on the site. Both classic and contemporary writers are represented in different sections of our Genome (shoutout to Shakespeare and Kendrick).

Ann is a regular speaker and lecturer on nonprofit tech topics. She’s presented on machine learning for good and A/B testing for organ donations at the 2018 Strata Data Conference in San José, and spoke at the 2018 Strata Data Conference in New York on “How to Be Aggressively Tone-Deaf Using Data (or, We Should all Be For-Benefits).” 2018 also saw Ann copresent on A/B testing with the Wikimedia Foundation at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans. Ann has guest lectured at NYU, Columbia University, and Sarah Lawrence College. She also frequently joins design discussions at various panels from the Lowline to the White House.

Before joining Whole Whale, Ann worked with a wide range of organizations, including the Ford Foundation, SumAll Foundation, and Bitly.

In this episode of Nonprofit Newsfeed, George Weiner, Chief Whaler at Whole Whale - a marketing and analytics agency for nonprofits, is joined by Leo Quintero, VP of Learning and Innovation. Together, they delve into the rare and exciting news of a merger between Volunteer Match and Idealist.org, two titans in the nonprofit sector. This merger promises to consolidate resources and enhance the ability to connect individuals with volunteer opportunities and nonprofit jobs across the globe.

Main Highlights:

• Volunteer Match and Idealist.org Merger: This rare merger in the nonprofit sector aims to combine forces to better serve nonprofits and volunteers. With Volunteer Match's expertise in connecting nonprofits with volunteers and Idealist's broad reach in nonprofit jobs and internships, the merger is set to be a game-changer in the sector. The merger will maintain both platforms' existing functionalities while working toward greater integration by 2025.

• Implications for HR and Volunteers: Leo highlights the potential benefits for HR departments and nonprofits, suggesting that the merger will enhance the quality and reach of volunteer recruitment. The integration of platforms may lead to a richer pool of talent and volunteers, benefiting nonprofits in need of diverse skill sets.

• Compliance and Campaign Finance: A significant portion of the episode discusses the $300,000 fine levied on the New Georgia Project for campaign finance violations. This segment underscores the importance of compliance in nonprofit operations, especially when involved in lobbying and advocacy.

• Google Advertising Challenges for Nonprofits: The episode addresses recent changes in Google's advertising policies that allow other entities to use nonprofit brand terms in search ads, potentially driving up costs. George advises nonprofits to leverage Google Ad Grants effectively to maintain visibility without overspending.

• Community Engagement on MLK Day: The episode closes with a feel-good story about Vermont nonprofits honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day through community service and engagement, highlighting the power of community-driven initiatives.

Would you like to round-up for charity?

 

Point-of-sale donations, especially "round-up" campaigns, have seen a significant surge in recent years, raising millions of dollars for various charitable causes. In 2022, these campaigns brought in $749 million, a 24% increase from 2020. A recent survey conducted by Binghamton University faculty revealed that 53% of Americans give impulsively to charities at the checkout, with certain demographics being more likely to donate. Women, Black respondents, and middle-class individuals under 50 who have not attended college were found to be the top-giving demographics, contrasting with traditional donors who are usually older, higher-earning college graduates.

 

The success of round-up donations can be attributed to several factors, including the perceived lower "pain" of donating spare change, the human preference for round numbers, and the subtle guilt induced by declining a low-cost request. Taco Bell Foundation, for example, doubled its annual fundraising by switching from asking for $1 donations to a round-up strategy. Similarly, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals raised $138 million in 2022 through point-of-sale campaigns, accounting for a third of its total fundraising.

 

However, the ubiquity of these requests may lead to donor fatigue, and some consumers express concerns about the transparency of where their donations are going. Despite these potential drawbacks, the success of round-up campaigns is undeniable, and they have become a significant source of funding for many nonprofits, raising the profile of local organizations doing fantastic work in customers' own communities.

 

Melinda French Gates says she's donating $1B to women's rights | NBC News

 

Melinda French Gates is committing $1 billion over the next two years to support women's rights, including reproductive rights, through her organization Pivotal Ventures. This decision comes amid growing political violence against women and maternal health issues, with Gates highlighting that only a small fraction of charitable giving supports women-focused organizations. Her initiative aims to improve mental and physical health for women and girls and includes a $250 million grant for grassroots groups. How might this significant funding shift the landscape for women's rights globally?

 

 

Slack users horrified to discover messages used for AI training | Ars Technica

Slack users were shocked to find out their messages were being used to train AI models, sparking a backlash that has the company scrambling to clarify its policies. Despite reassurances from Slack engineers that customer data isn't used for training large language models, the existing policy's ambiguity has left users uneasy. Salesforce, Slack’s parent company, promised to update privacy principles to better explain data usage, but the lack of an easy opt-out mechanism adds to users' frustrations.

 

Current Policy: Privacy principles: search, learning and artificial intelligence | Legal | Slack

Updated AI statement:  How Slack protects your data when using machine learning and AI

How to opt-out Contact slack to opt out. If you want to exclude your Customer Data from Slack global models, you can opt out. To opt out, please have your org, workspace owners or primary owner contact our Customer Experience team at feedback@slack.com with your workspace/org URL and the subject line ‘Slack global model opt-out request’. We will process your request and respond once the opt-out has been completed.

Humanitarians Sound Alarm On Conflict & Atrocities In Sudan While Donors Fall Short

Aid groups and international organizations are increasingly sounding the alarm on the humanitarian cost of conflict as Sudan’s civil war rages on. On April 15th, 2023, fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary organization. These two entities were united as part of an anti-democracy regime that came to power during the 2021 coup—but ruptures have emerged—with civil war, violence, and ethnic cleansing threatening humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan. International donors have fallen short, pledging just half of the $3 billion the United Nations estimates is needed in aid. International NGOs have warned about severe obstacles to providing aid including safety concerns, lack of bureaucratic cooperation, and severely limited humanitarian entry points. Analysts call for international NGOs to instead refocus efforts on providing localized aid to community-based organizations. While the Save Darfur Coalition’s highly publicized campaign in the mid-2000s generated significant and sustained international awareness, Google Trends highlights how digital engagement with news of the current conflict returned to its baseline almost immediately after news of the fighting in April—despite the ongoing increase in need.

Read more ➝

 

 

Summary

• Alix Dorsainvil: What we know about the American nurse kidnapped with her child in Haiti | CNN 
• Bernie Sanders endorses plan to create nonprofit electric utility in Maine | Maine Public 
• Twitter threatens to sue nonprofit that documented rise in hateful tweets; founder decries 'unprecedented escalation' | 13newsnow.com WVEC

Training conversation with Whole Whale team about copywriting best practices for nonprofits. Maura Paxton, Digital Optimization Manager and Sarah Homet, Digital Marketing Associate share approaches to writing ads and useful frameworks.  

Resources:

• AIDA: https://www.truesense.com/ringer/aida-essential-direct-response-fundraising-truths
• ACCA: https://learnlandingpages.com/landing-page-design/ (lots of formulas, starting with AIDA and ACCA)
• Questions in headlines (Marketing Experiments study): https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/optimizing-headlines
• Fogg Behavioral Model: https://behaviormodel.org/
• keyword + benefit: https://www.invespcro.com/blog/elements-effective-ad-copy-benefits/
• keyword question : https://www.acquisio.com/blog/agency/6-ppc-ad-copy-formulas-for-highly-clickable-ads/
• emotional matrix: https://www.wholewhale.com/tips/clickbait-works-can-use-good/
• Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion: https://martecgroup.com/using-plutchiks-wheel-of-emotions-in-market-research/ 

How The Nonprofit Sector Lost Out On $17 Billion In The Soon-To-Lapse Charitable Deduction Act

In a giving season when many smaller and medium-sized nonprofit organizations wonder about how to retain and expand their small-dollar donors in relation to stagnant donations, perhaps one of the more salient solutions is about to expire. House Resolution (H.R.) 3435, better known as the “Charitable Act,” (see also S. 556) is soon to meet its demise via legislative purgatory. The Charitable Act, which organizations such as Independent Sector cites as a valuable opportunity to spur increases in giving, will soon expire with a less than 1% chance of passing, according to GovTrack. The bill would have increased the standard deduction for tax filers that do not itemize taxes to approximately $4,000, giving the 85% of U.S. taxpayers who do not itemize their tax returns access to the same benefits of donating to charity that wealthy donors employ. For now though, the standard deduction remains at $300/$600 as the standard deduction for charitable giving.

 

Let’s put this another way, when Warren Buffett donated $51 billion last year, and because he has access to expensive tax experts who could itemize his return, he got the full deduction in his taxes for charitable giving. But Buffy (not a real person but a heck of a vampire slayer) who donated $1,000 and didn’t itemize their return (just like the overwhelming majority of Americans), only got $300 of the donation taken off their tax bill. In a tax system that intentionally perpetuates complexity, this inequitable access to deductions is particularly painful for a nonprofit sector desperately trying to maintain their grassroots donors.

 

 

This Bay Area school district spent $250,000 on Woke Kindergarten | San Francisco Chronicle

 

In a bid to tackle systemic racism and improve student engagement, Glassbrook Elementary in Hayward splurged $250,000 on Woke Kindergarten, a program designed to empower teachers to disrupt racism and oppression. Despite the hefty investment, funded by a federal grant aimed at aiding underperforming schools, Glassbrook's test scores in English and math have seen a worrying drop, with less than 4% of students proficient in math and under 12% at grade level in English.

 

Hayward Superintendent Jason Reimann noted a subsequent improvement in student attendance, with 44% of students considered chronically absent last year, down from 61% the year prior. Though, the Chronicle pointed out that a similar improvement  was seen districtwide, suggesting this improvement was due to a larger trend.

 

Additionally, anti-semitic concerns have been raised by other news outlets pointing out that that Woke Kindergarten states on their site that:  “One place that people are demanding a permanent ceasefire for is in Palestine because they are being occupied, or controlled, by a made-up place called Israel that has settlers called Zionist who are harming and killing the Palestinian people who have always live on the land.”

 

While many champion the need for confronting historical biases in education, critics argue that such programs divert attention and funds from proven academic interventions, as seen in the success of targeted math programs elsewhere. Sadly, this one narrative is now racing around right leaning news outlets as an example of why not to teach about the history of racism all together, rather than a balanced ‘in addition to, not instead of’ approach.

 

 

OpenAI partners with Common Sense Media to collaborate on AI guidelines | TechCrunch

 

OpenAI has partnered with Common Sense Media, a nonprofit ratings organization, to develop AI guidelines aimed at kids and families. The collaboration will focus on creating AI guidelines and education materials for parents, educators, and young adults, as well as curating "family-friendly" GPTs based on Common Sense's rating and evaluation standards. The partnership aims to ensure that families and teens can use AI tools with confidence and help them harness the potential of artificial intelligence safely.

 

Charity Navigator To Unveil New, Unified Charity Rating System

Charity Navigator, the 501(c)3 charity rating organization, has provided additional information on the proposed changes to their new rating system. The new system, according to a release, will “will bring together our legacy Charity Navigator 2.1 (Star) system with our Encompass Rating System, rating more than 200,000 nonprofits.” Among other changes, all organizations will be rated on a star system, as well as have the opportunity to be rated for additional “beacons” that indicate more nuanced performance. Charity Navigator, like other charity rating organizations, plays a vital — although sometimes criticized — role in communicating nonprofit trustworthiness to the general public. Nonprofit organizations should pay close attention to how their organization is portrayed by rating organizations, as discerning donors will often use them to verify legitimacy. Whole Whale, the publisher of this newsletter, offers a guide for communicating transparency and legitimacy to donors. Read more ➝

 

 

Summary

• Nonprofit finds increase in hate crimes against Muslim community | New York
• Inflation hitting Mobile nonprofits as they meet the needs of the community | WKRG News 5
• Why Billionaires Like MacKenzie Scott And Jack Dorsey Are Donating Millions To This Nonprofit That Gives Cash To The Poor | Forbes

Dissolution of USAID and Its Global Impact on Humanitarian Aid

In this week's episode of the Nonprofit News, George Weiner and Nick Azulay from Whole Whale dive into the troubling developments surrounding the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As the largest international development humanitarian donor, USAID's dissolution and potential absorption into the State Department is raising alarms across the nonprofit sector. The agency, responsible for 40% of global humanitarian funding, has seen mass layoffs and program freezes, affecting thousands of employees and contractors. The ripple effects are profound, with NGOs and international partners facing severe funding gaps.

USAID's substantial contributions to the United Nations and its affiliates, such as UNICEF and the World Food Program, underscore the stakes involved. Despite criticisms of USAID's top-down approach, the abrupt halting of its operations is likened to pulling the rug from under life support systems globally. The discussion highlights the need for transparency and the catastrophic potential of cutting off essential aid without proper transition plans.

Key Insights:

• USAID's role as a major funder of global humanitarian efforts is irreplaceable, making its dissolution a potential "philanthropic disaster."
• The agency accounts for a mere 1% of the U.S. federal budget but is heavily audited, contrary to some criticisms.
• The sudden program halts could irreversibly damage initiatives combating diseases, famine, and crises worldwide.

Calls to Action:

• Nonprofits and stakeholders must advocate for transparency and continuity in humanitarian aid.
• Consider the broader implications of policy changes on global aid structures.

Follow-Up:

• The episode also touches on the National Council on Nonprofits' legal victory against a U.S. executive order affecting funding, demonstrating the power of collective action.
• A Canadian postal strike serves as a case study for nonprofits on the importance of diversifying fundraising strategies.

Closing Thought: The episode underscores the interconnectedness of global aid systems and the need for strategic planning and advocacy to navigate political changes that threaten humanitarian efforts.

State of California Partners With Nonprofit Drugmaker To Produce Affordable Insulin

 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced a $50 million, 10-year contract with nonprofit drugmaker Civica Rx to produce the state's own line of affordable insulin, CalRx, according to reporting from NPR and other sources. Upon FDA approval, these insulins, which are expected to be interchangeable with popular brand-name insulins, will be priced at no more than $30 per 10ml vial and $55 for a box of five pre-filled pen cartridges, potentially saving out-of-pocket patients up to $4,000 per year. The move is part of California's broader CalRx initiative to manufacture generic drugs under the state's label and disrupt the pharmaceutical industry, with plans to produce generic naloxone next.

 

Summary

• Factbox: What is the Willow project in Alaska, and why do green activists oppose it? | Reuters 
• People Are Dragging MrBeast For His Shoe Donation Video | BuzzFeed 
• New NPT Salary & Benefits Report Shows 6% Salary Hikes | The NonProfit Times

 

 

Welcoming back our own Google Ad Grant expert Rachel Clemens to talk about the 2020 Google Ad Grant updates. The application has been streamlined, Google is increasing Ad Grant amounts around causes working around COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Also, Fall is coming which means there are tons of creative ideas for organizations to use the grant creatively to drive attention and emails on their site. 

 

More resources

Google Ad Grant Guide

Google Ad Grant Compliance 2020

Google Ad Grant Course

NGOs Call On U.N. To Advocate For Reproductive Rights In United States

Nearly 200 human rights organizations, including major international NGOs like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have sent an "urgent appeal" to the United Nations (UN), calling for the international body to intervene and ensure that the United States protects reproductive rights, as reported by The Washington Post. The appeal follows the Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. At least a dozen states have since moved to ban or heavily restrict abortions. The organizations argue that the US is violating its obligations under international human rights law, and they are calling on UN mandate holders to take action, including communicating with the US, requesting a visit to the country, and calling for private companies to protect reproductive rights.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

 

• Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Puts New Affordable Housing in Limbo | The San Francisco Standard
• New Kentucky tax laws impacting local nonprofits | | WPSD Local 6 
• Peabody EDI Office responds to MSU shooting with email written using ChatGPT | The Vanderbilt Hustler

AI Resources

• GPTzero.me
• Purpose-built AI tool for nonprofits

Conversation Summary:

1. Teen Social Media Usage:

   • Pew Research Center study highlights that nearly half of US teens are online almost constantly, a steep rise from 24% in 2014-2015.
   • Smartphone Access: 95% of teens have or can access a smartphone.
   • TikTok Usage: 58% of teens use TikTok daily; 17% nearly constantly.
   • Role of Nonprofits: Organizations like The JET Foundation address the risks and benefits of social media use among teens.

2. Nonprofit Digital Strategy Insights:

   • Social Media in Teens' Lives: Essential for youth engagement, education, and sports.
   • YouTube's Dominance: Used by 93% of teens, making it a critical platform for nonprofits.
   • Content Strategy: Emphasis on short-form videos and visual content across major platforms.
   • Role of AI in Content Creation: Importance of human elements in digital communication.

3. Crypto Donations:

   • The Giving Block Report: Notable growth in crypto donations.
   • Crypto Market Trends: Predicted increase in donations aligned with market trends.
   • Advice for Nonprofits: Prepare for potential crypto donation surges.

4. Reassessment of Tree Planting Initiatives:

   • Thomas Crowther's Shift: From advocating massive tree planting to halting it.
   • Concerns: Biodiversity, misuse by businesses to offset emissions.
   • Nonprofit Response: Need to explore diverse, effective climate solutions.

5. CO2 Emissions Data Visualization:

   • Our World in Data: Shows per capita CO2 emissions trends.
   • US Emissions: Decrease in per capita emissions since the 1960s.
   • Hopeful Outlook: Progress in emissions reduction indicates potential for further improvement.

6. Social Enterprise Spotlight:

   • Greensland Bakery: Founded by Carolyn Johnson to help women recover from trauma.
   • Earned Revenue Model: Combines business operations with social change.

Key Takeaways:

1. Digital Engagement: Nonprofits must adapt to the digital habits of younger generations.
2. Video Content Priority: Shift towards video content, especially on platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
3. Crypto Philanthropy: Potential for growth in crypto donations requires preparedness by nonprofits.
4. Complexity in Climate Solutions: Reevaluation of strategies like tree planting, exploring diverse approaches.
5. Data-Driven Decisions: Using data visualizations for informed strategies.
6. Social Enterprises: Combining business models with social impact.

Resources Mentioned:

• Pew Research Center (Teen Social Media Usage Study)
• The JET Foundation (Mental Health)
• The Giving Block (Crypto Donations Report)
• Our World in Data (CO2 Emissions Visualization)
• Nonprofit Quarterly (Greensland Bakery Story)

2022 Giving Tuesday Predictions: Search Is Down, Hope Is Up

Whole Whale, the publishers of this newsletter, predict a record-setting $3.2 billion will be donated for Giving Tuesday this year. The prediction is the result of an analysis based on an adjusted linear regression, trends in Google Search terms around “Giving Tuesday,” and national giving trends. This method predicts an 18% or $500 million increase over 2021’s total amount raised. While this is an optimistic prediction, several negative indicators might give nonprofits more caution heading into the season of giving, including decreased Giving Tuesday search volume, narratives around inflation and economic pains, a public drained of giving after an election cycle, and a potential return to post-pandemic giving patterns. Yet, elections can lead to heightened social engagement, and online shopping trends continue to be strong despite economic worries. (2022’s Black Friday set a record for online giving.) Whatever the final tally of donation revenue comes in during #GivingTuesday, remember to thank your donors!

 

 

Summary

• Nonprofit Uses Zillow to Help Homeless | Nonprofit Technology News 
• Charities funded by Sam Bankman-Fried may be asked to return donations: ‘I had assumed FTX to be a reputable company’ | MarketWatch
• Pablo Eisenberg, a fierce critic of nonprofits and philanthropy, died at age 90 | NPR

Rough Transcript

 

[00:00:00] This week on the nonprofit News Feed for November 28th. This week we, uh, we have our big day, the day of the Tuesday of Giving, giving Tuesday. We're excited to talk about this and what's going on. Nick, hope you had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed family time. I know you had a massive amount of, uh, of humans eating Turkey.

[00:00:26] We had a massive amount of humans eating Turkey. Multiple turkeys I should say, but it was super fun and happy giving Tuesday. George, I sorry I didn't get you anything. Um, but what I do have for you is some predictions. Uh, we are starting out with our 2022 Giving Tuesday predictions, and we're going with the headline.

[00:00:51] Search is down, hope is up. We're seeing some. Conflicting factors. So Whole Whale, which is US , we write the nonprofit newsfeed, whole letter, uh, newsletter. And we as in you predict a record setting $3.2 billion to be donated for giving Tuesday this year. And our prediction is the result of an analysis based on an adjusted linear regression.

[00:01:17] But we also take a peak at things like Google Search terms around giving Tuesday and broader. Giving trends. So using this method, we have officially predicted an 18% or 500 million increase over 2020 ones total amount raised. So this is an optimistic prediction, but there are several negative indicators, uh, that could potentially, uh, be pushing down this increase in including headlines regarding, uh, inflation and economic pains.

[00:01:53] We just came off an election cycle. Maybe folks are tired of giving, um, and we're potentially returning to kind of a post pandemic social engagement. That being said, we're seeing online shopping trends from Black Friday set new records. So it seems that even though we're all talking about the economy, the consumer, uh, sector, particularly on Black Friday did real well.

[00:02:21] So, George, what's, what do you make of this as the, the, the predictor himself? The, the Chief Guesser and Chief Waer? Yeah. I am excited. 10 years of giving Tuesday. I mean, this is the 10 year anniversary, uh, of how it's come up and, you know, it is pretty steadily in terms of donations, uh, increased at a, at a decent clip.

[00:02:45] One of the things though that I am seeing, and this is tough cause there's some lagging search data when I'm pulling it up, but right now, um, it, it is, it, it's trending behind. Um, Uh, call it 10 to 20%. It's hard to pin it down exactly year over year, but it is certainly not exceeding previous years of giving Tuesday.

[00:03:09] And if you look at this trend for the past five years of, uh, giving Tuesday in search, why I care about it is that I'm hoping that it becomes a regular recognized holiday on par. The other major players, you know, Halloween of, you know, black Friday, of things that you will see in terms of increasing search.

[00:03:33] And, and frankly, over the past five years, it has been, um, it's peak, it's peak in terms of search related trends and, uh, questions in the United States being asked and has decreased. And this is seemingly continued into, into this year. And. One of the things that you need to happen for a holiday is continued awareness.

[00:03:58] And part of that awareness, and this is a proxy, but part of that awareness is the number of people putting in related queries to, to giving Tuesday in and around the holiday. And, you know, hopefully this isn't, uh, fatigue setting in, but we'll see it, um, we'll see the results in terms of, of dollars and maybe, uh, maybe it's just one of those.

[00:04:20] That finds, uh, finds its level of awareness, but a different level of giving. So I'm, I'm still optimistic about the giving cuz as you mentioned, people are, are still spending despite threats of recession, uh, looming overhead. And hopefully that continues. And, you know, we, we've been telling people to check their, check, their real time analytics to pay attention to look.

[00:04:42] I think it's an important time also, as you are looking and reviewing, like, okay, how did it go? How's our donation form? Like this is the kickoff to giving season, but also this is the last year. This is the last year that your current universal Google Analytics will work. We'll show you conversions. We'll show you where donors are going.

[00:05:05] This is it. This is the last December you. With the old version of Google Analytics. So just for funsies, take a look if you haven't already at GA four, Google Analytics four. It's the upgrade that Google is forcing all clients to move onto. Mid next year, in July of 2023, take a look at what it looks like in terms of your donation tracking and flow, because that's what you're gonna have this time next year.

[00:05:35] I mean, this won't be the last time I talk about it, but this is your last season, so this is a good time to be taking notes of what you, uh, what you may need to plan for next to your next season. But right now, pay attention, make sure donation forms are working and doing your best with your email messaging.

[00:05:52] Get people in the door.

[00:05:55] Yeah, George, those are great points. We'll wait to see the final numbers, but if you're listening to this today, make sure you check your forms and something we say at Whole Whale is always remember to thank your donors as well. Um, and if you follow the newsfeed, you can see some links to some best practices around fundraising, thanking your donors and all that good.

[00:06:17] Right. I can take us into the summary now. And this is an article from Non-Profit Technology. Uh, news was reposting from, uh, KOMO News, KOMO news uh.com, which talks about. In Seattle, Washington, um, a Seattle based nonprofit called Housing Connector has part partnered with a local technology firm, Zillow, which I'm sure you've heard of, to help more than 3,700 people.

[00:06:48] Homeless people move into affordable housing, and this was over the past three years and. I'm gonna guess, George, that we put this in here because we love a good public private partnership. It seems here that housing connector had a system for seamlessly connecting landlords to qualified homeless tenants eased the friction in that process.

[00:07:15] Of course, with anything administrative. Um, it, it's really significantly harder for folks experiencing homelessness. And in addition, uh, with assistance from Zillow, we're able to get homeless folks into housing. Um, cuz we are experiencing a housing crisis in these United States. So this is just a real cool example of tech and public private partnerships creating real results, at least in Seattle, was.

[00:07:44] This is exactly right. Their, their housing connector. They're talking about the efficiency that it gives case managers at the tip of their fingers, like the alternative here. The alternative here is that, Communities, municipalities pony up for incredibly expensive databases to manage and and maintain really cuz you need live data.

[00:08:08] And the truth is, the public market has already created this. They're paying for it. Zillow's doing just fine because of their knowledge of, uh, real estate networks. And this is the a type of partnership that creates efficiencies and really, Focuses resources on affordable housing, which if you pull the thread on so many societal ills in the United States, so many of them, that thread leads right back to affordable housing in areas that have access to resources, solve that.

[00:08:44] Um, and so I love seeing Zillow being a part of this and hope other. Other districts to take a look at this, uh, this housing connector versus, you know, the question of like, wait a minute, we have to build everything internally and go this, um, go this other route. So, uh, yep. I like highly and stuff like this.

[00:09:05] Yeah, I absolutely agree. It's a, a cool story. We hope more of this happens.

[00:09:10] The moment you've been waiting for George. Our next story is from Market Watch, and the title of this story is Charities funded by Sam Bankman, freed of the infamous FTX fame, has been asked to return donations to nonprofits that Ft X's fund had given money to. So the background on this is Fdx is a cryptocurrency exchange created.

[00:09:37] Sam Bankman Freed and the whole system collapsed a couple weeks ago in. What was a liquidity crisis that essentially created a digital bank run. And it's much, much more complicated than that. But anyway, uh, this exchange collapsed, but its founder was a very public proponent of the effective altruism movement, um, potentially to.

[00:10:03] Market himself and, uh, divert attention away from other potentially illegal, if not, uh, morally questionable actions. Um, but anyway, the funds that the foundation has given to nonprofits, um, there's a potential that in an effort to repay, um, folks who have debt in, in ftx, there might actually be clawbacks essentially.

[00:10:29] Uh, Through the, the process nonprofits might have to give some of the funds that they got donated back to the foundation, um, which is devastating to these nonprofits. And it seems that a, a couple of people might be stepping up to kind of, you know, provide cover for these non-profits, so it doesn't happen.

[00:10:50] Um, but, but Jordan, I mean, this is, this is terrible. And, uh, I have, I have more thoughts, but I wanna, I wanna get your thoughts on this. Well, this is just, you know, watching one, one shoe drop after another in terms of the, the level of fraud, which frankly is not the first time we have seen in crypto, or frankly in financial markets in general.

[00:11:17] You don't need to have that long a memory to realize that yes, this was in the level of a 16 billion fraud, but there was a level of 60 plus billion by Bernie Madoff also. A very well known philanthropist and clawbacks actually happened in that case as well. Which is just an important note to, to nonprofits receiving some of these donations, which is just brutal for them.

[00:11:42] You know, you're making plans, you're hiring, you're saying, Hey, finally this capital plan strategically done is gonna happen. And suddenly you're, you're now dealing with, uh, potential, you know, pullback of funds and that, you know, over a hundred nonprofits, I believe in the days of Bernie Madoff and that crash, uh, received such clawback notices.

[00:12:04] And so coming back to this character, Sam Bangin Fried, uh, the damage is, is still being calculated. Um, and, and albeit less money, there was his deep, deep connection and association with the effect of altruism movement. And there is some soul searching that needs to be done. And part of that is that when people.

[00:12:30] Make pledges, especially those that are in the public spotlight, that are seeking investment, that are seeking to build and effectively pay for a, a moral cause. Washing a official stamp from media and investors alike, that I am one of the good guys. I am one of the people out there making positive change.

[00:12:52] You can trust me with your funds, which by the way, he was gambling. Overtly with customer funds. That's not a legend. They can see that now. Um, and this was clearly paying the price to, in the same way he, he bought a stadium rights right in Miami, the Fdx arena. He was buying the movement of effective altruism to burnish his reputation.

[00:13:18] And now even beyond. You know, the, the call of effective altruism is using data and research and logic and making the best possible decision to solve the causes you care about. It's aligned with a bit of utilitarian thinking that even if I do, uh, morally corrupt jobs, questionable, and this is coming directly paraphrased from a.

[00:13:44] In a paper written by one of the main philosophers behind, um, McCaskill, William McCaskill, one of his papers, talks about taking morally questionable jobs because somebody else will do it anyway, as long as you promised to make large donations in line with effective giving effective altruism. This is a very tough moral justification.

[00:14:12] To play, especially when you play it at scale. And the fact that teacher pension funds were actually somehow rolled up in this as well and now are, are left empty. Um, all for the, the grand total of pledges that Sam Bankman free made. Yes, there was some money made, uh, and donated, but that money is now even being clawed back.

[00:14:35] I want to say it as many times as as possible, but when you. A millionaire billionaire making a pledge. It's called pr. They're making pr. They're not making donation. They're not changing society. They're making pr, public relations. I want to look good for something I haven't done. I think everyone's red flags.

[00:15:00] Red cards tie in some World Cup should be high, high. When we see pledges, they're worth the paper they're written on and maybe even less. It's frustrating. It's frustrating. Uh, net net, this is not going to end crypto philanthropy in the same way that Bernie Madoff to end family foundations and, and fiat giving.

[00:15:29] Um, this is not gonna end effective altruism, though. It's gonna push for some soul searching and, um, A lot, a lot more questions about, well, how morally bankrupt can I be and still make that tithing at the end.

[00:15:45] The church did this a while back. Look up the history of tithing. It's quite interesting. It doesn't go well. Alrighty.

[00:15:55] I mean, more ran ranum, but uh, you know, it's. It's good to, to turn around and look at the power of, you know, billionaires in philanthropy, um, and the detriment, um, that can, uh, can be cost. Yeah. George, I, I really appreciated that. For our listeners, maybe they're just this year they've started experimenting with crypto donations.

[00:16:21] Maybe they have a way to donate, uh, cryptocurrency to your organization. I think this situation has led to a crisis of trust coming from a lot of different directions. If you are a small made or large size nonprofit, how do you instill trust for people who follow this and maybe a little jaded by the whole thing?

[00:16:49] How do you as a nonprofit communicate trust?

[00:16:52] So you're saying for like, if you're accepting crypto philanthropy, crypto donations through your site, there may be questions of how, you know, like this is all a fraud, right? This is the, the top line banners one. You know, remember that roughly 40% of millennials actually have and own cryptocurrency. , um, and are able to, to sort of use it and, and I would say some of those parallels to, just because Enron existed doesn't mean that the entire equity market was a sham, that you shouldn't accept stock donations.

[00:17:27] The truth is when you accept crypto, uh, it is, if you're used at least the giving block, full disclosure, whole. Um, manage that manages with them as a client. They're a client of ours. Uh, but once that donation is made, it is immediately liquidated. So I don't care if you are getting some sort of animal coin or a Bitcoin or Ethereum, whatever it may be, once it hits that donation form, it is processed into fiat Hold onto your dollars type of things.

[00:17:58] One of the questions, however, is, as with any other donation, is that if it was I begotten and it is of high, It there could be suspect to clawbacks if there are legal proceedings. So maybe that is actually one, maybe large takeaway that when you receive a large donation, um, don't, aren't counting those chickens, um, just yet and making sure that that is money you can hold onto.

[00:18:23] But, uh, I would say keep going and it is, um, it is a minor setback and if you really parse into it, you're like, oh, I. Crypto was all on the blockchain and it was all transparent. How, how could this level of fraud be is, is because this was a classic Ponzi scheme of centralized control over these assets.

[00:18:46] There are abilities on the blockchain to have your own wallet the same way that you have a wallet in your pocket with $20 in it, and you're like, as long as I hold this, as soon as you hand that over. To a Lehman Brothers and they start leveraging the heck out of it. And you're like, I know I can get my $20 whenever I want.

[00:19:06] That's where the centralized trust comes in. And this particular company was based in The Bahamas with no regulation, oversight, financial responsibility, board members, or, um, frankly, asset back checks involved at all. And so when that happens, that's, you know, that's just human. Error that is, uh, human fallibility.

[00:19:29] It's hard to say, like, alright, you don't give that diri to anybody asking, but I I'm hoping that this isn't a knee jerk reaction of like, oh, we gotta pull our crypto off because it is all a scam. It's like, it is not, scams get perpetrated on top of it as, as they do with every other financial market. And this will set probably, uh, the crypto space back.

[00:19:51] Um, they're saying, you know, a year or so, um, as there's ripple on effects. But, um, the underlying my confidence in underlying technology, uh, remains and people are still building on it. George, I think that's a great synthesis of all the different kind of threads that nonprofits should be considering, and I'm sure we'll talk more about this in the next couple weeks, months.

[00:20:13] Um, as we do follow the crypto philanthropy space, I should say, we've got a, a webinar coming up with care two, um, I don't know when you're listening to this, but on. I should know it off the top of my head. December. I'm gonna say first December 1st. So check out, uh, that webinar. It's uh, hopewell.com. Um, you can find it on our webinars section there.

[00:20:36] That is an awesome reminder. You get to listen to us live, not me. Um, but you , you. I don't wanna do that. You do that. . Well, George speaking. Uh, wealthy philanthropists. Um, we wanted to highlight, uh, someone who is skeptical of them. Uh, our next article, um, comes from npr and the title is Pablo Eisenberg, A Fierce Critic of Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

[00:21:11] Critical out of fierce love, I guess you can say. Um, has died at age 90. Um, so Eisenberg, who was someone I didn't know until I read this article. Um, Is a professor, nonprofit leader, a social justice advocate, just really, really cares about, um, issues of equity and justice, and apparently was somewhat famous for kind of sticking it to the stayed old, outdated.

[00:21:43] Um, however he perceived it kind of traditional philanthropy space. Um, it says here, chastising prosperous donors for giving disproportionately to Ivy League schools, rich hospitals, and well endowed museums all while getting tax breaks. Um, so it seems like kind of a, I don't know, sticking out for the, the little guy in the, the philanthropy space, but seems like a titan nonetheless, within the, the philanthropy.

[00:22:10] Yeah, I mean, I put this in here also, uh, because I think you know this as an outspoken critic. Um, you know, often said of mega billionaires out there, um, that pledged, there's that word pledged, red card pledged to donate the majority of their wealth. Uh, were not spirit desire. He, uh, he criticized them for not giving away more of their fortune immediately.

[00:22:35] If you have it, give it away. Do the work, do the work now, and gets even more frustrated watching these towering offices be, be built, um, around giving away this money as opposed to doing the work. Uh, so I do, here's what I would say. I, I do believe when you're giving away that level of wealth, you must probably be very careful, um, about giving it away in ruinous ways.

[00:23:00] Um, I, I like the sentiment in there.

[00:23:02] I like it too. I think this guy deserves a movie. . I'd watch that movie. I don't know how many other people full would, it was a little niche, but I'd watch that movie. Uh, maybe Netflix. Netflix is at a documentary budget for that, for sure. All right. How about feel Good story? George, what have we got? This one comes from Ktv Q.

[00:23:24] Dot com and it is about an organization called Adult and Teen Challenge, which is a faith-based recovery program for men and women that suffer from addiction. And they are selling live Christmas trees to raise money for program costs, to help teens and other young adults experiencing addiction and needing recovery.

[00:23:46] And we do like a good seasonal article, and I don't know what says. Seasonal fundraising, um, like a Christmas tree sale, nothing. Not to like here. Yeah, it's, it's great. And I also love these earned, uh, earned models, um, that usually can be program related, but certainly around the season when people are buying you, if you have the ability to, to match a program to something that can be purchased is a way for you to generate some earned revenue, which can be put to good causes.

[00:24:20] It's great. All right. Got a, got a question for you. Oh boy. Yep. What should an unwell non-profit Twitter campaign do? An unwell non-profit. Just not, well, not feeling great, not feeling great Twitter campaign. Oh man. What did they do Nick? They should, uh, get treatment. Oh my. Oh, oh my. Look, they've made it to the end of this podcast.

[00:24:48] They deserve that. All right, have a good one. Happy given Tuesday. Happy Giving Tuesday.

Earth Repeatedly Sets Record For Hottest Day Ever Recorded, Underpinning Urgency of Protecting Vulnerable Communities

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Maine show that the period of July 3, 2023 through July 6, 2023 are the four hottest days ever recorded on Earth. Thursday, July 6, set the newest record when the global average temperature climbed to an unprecedented 17.23°C (63.02°F), 1.02°C (1.8°F) above the average for the date, according to NOAA data reported by Axios. Among higher temperatures, increased climate-related disasters, and other extreme weather phenomena, rights organizations note the disparate effect of such emergencies on people with disabilities and the elderly. While urban centers like New York City operate cooling centers, community environmental organizations criticize them as inadequate. The World Health Organization estimates that extreme heat in Europe is estimated to have killed over 15,000 people in Europe last summer. The Coalition for the Homeless provides a guide on helping vulnerable neighbors stay safe during extreme heat. Climate change has also exacerbated climate-related emergencies like drought and famine in humanitarian contexts around the world. Read more ➝

Patagonia Goes All-in Transferring Ownership to Nonprofit

The private B Corp company Patagonia, known for outdoor gear and its outspoken position on the environment has transferred its ownership to a nonprofit (reported by The NonProfit Times). The company, worth an estimated $3 Billion, is transferring 98% of non-voting stock to the Holdfast Collective a 501(c)(4), and 2% of the stock (all voting control) to the Patagonia Purpose Trust. 

Patagonia Founder, Yvon Chouinard has done something unprecedented for a company this size, ensuring that the $100m in profit each year will go toward philanthropic purposes instead of investors. The company still plans to donate 1% of profits toward grassroots environmental causes as well, at the discretion of the nonprofit. Further details of how money will be directed have not been revealed yet. 

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• The Ethereum Merge Is Done, Opening a New Era for the Second-Biggest Blockchain | CoinDesk
• More Than $1 Billion For Black And Underserved Communities The NonProfit Times
• Houston nonprofit helping migrants transported out of state by group of Republican governors | KHOU.com
• https://blackwealthdata.org/ 

 

Image from DALLE2 - Tree wearing a shirt.

 

Learn how to create AI content for your organization. 

More than 167,000 children have been robbed, by COVID-19, of a parent, grandparent, or other in-home caregiver on whom they had relied for their social, developmental needs. This estimate is from a new report from COVID Collaborative and Social Policy Analytics that explores the number, characteristics, and needs of these highly vulnerable children and offers policymakers a way forward to help them.

The effort was led by Dan Treglia, who joins us on this episode of Using the Whole Whale. Dan is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, CEO of Social Policy Analytics, and our Research and Evaluation Whaler.

 

Read the report here. Want to learn more about the study, or how your nonprofit can help these children? Reach out to Dan at dtreglia@gmail.com.

Transcript of NonprofitNewsfeed.com summary by CauseWriter.ai  

### Nonprofit News Roundup: Mackenzie Scott's Millions, Catholic Charities Under Fire, and the Battle for DEI

🎙️ **Mackenzie Scott's Philanthropic Impact and the Nonprofit Lottery** In this episode of the nonprofit newsfeed, your hosts George and Nick from Whole Whale dive into Mackenzie Scott's latest philanthropic move, where she donated a staggering $640 million to 361 nonprofit organizations, chosen from 6,353 applicants. This round of giving emphasizes supporting grassroots organizations tackling systemic challenges. The donations are "no strings attached," which, while beneficial, also present pressure for the organizations to use the funds wisely without the guarantee of ongoing support. The hosts explore the significance of Scott's approach to giving, which contrasts the traditional methods of philanthropy and her commitment to immediate impact.

🎙️ **Catholic Charities Facing Harassment Amid Political Tensions** The conversation shifts to a troubling trend highlighted in America Magazine: Catholic Charities staff are experiencing increased harassment, accused of aiding illegal immigration. Despite the challenges, Catholic Charities remains steadfast in their humanitarian mission to serve those in need. The hosts discuss the broader implications of such threats, not just for Catholic Charities but also for nonprofits working in politically sensitive areas.

🎙️ **The Legal Battle Over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives** The episode also touches on a critical issue reported by Nonprofit Quarterly – the rising tide of anti-DEI lawsuits that threaten to reshape the nonprofit sector. Legal experts caution that affirmative action and race-conscious practices are under scrutiny, and nonprofits must navigate these challenges while staying true to their social justice missions. The hosts advise organizations to consult with legal experts to ensure they have diverse processes rather than rigid quota systems that could lead to litigation.

🎙️ **Elon Musk's Lawsuit Against Nonprofit Dismissed** In another segment, George and Nick discuss a dismissed lawsuit by Elon Musk against the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The judge's decision underscores the protection of free speech and the importance of nonprofits in standing up to bullies and misinformation. This victory for free speech reaffirms the rights of organizations to conduct research and make findings without fear of retaliation.

🎙️ **Feel-Good Story: Rescued Horses Helping Veterans** To end on a high note, the hosts share a heartwarming story from Redding, California, where the Caring Heroes Ranch is making a difference by pairing rescued horses with veterans coping with PTSD and high-stress jobs. This intersection of animal welfare and community service exemplifies the unique ways nonprofits can create positive change.

🎙️ **Final Thoughts and Dad Jokes** The episode wraps up with a bit of humor, including a punny joke about "prime mates" in light of Mackenzie Scott's donations, which originate from her Amazon wealth. The hosts also mention CauseWriter.ai, a tool for creating nonprofit-themed jokes, showcasing the lighter side of the nonprofit world.

**Engage with the Conversation** Listeners are encouraged to reflect on the implications of these stories for the nonprofit sector and to consider how their organizations might respond to similar challenges. For more insights and to keep up with the latest nonprofit news, make sure to subscribe to the nonprofit newsfeed email.

****

Hosts: George Weiner (Chief Whaler, Whole Whale), Nick Azualy (Senior Manager Strategy, Whole Whale)

This week's episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed dives deep into the growing influence of AI in the nonprofit sector. George Weiner and Nick discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities, highlighting key stories and developments.

Main Topics

1. AI in Nonprofits:

   • Featured Article: Chronicle of Philanthropy’s June cover story on AI nonprofits.
   • Key Organizations:
     • Quill.org: Uses AI to provide interactive exercises and personalized feedback in classrooms.
     • Khan Academy: Partnered with OpenAI to create generative AI tools for personalized student learning.
     • Justice Lab: Developed AI-powered chatbots and translation tools to assist immigrants with legal processes.
     • FairBio: Uses AI for antibiotic research.
     • The Contingent: Employs AI in foster parent recruitment.

2. Ethical Considerations and Risks:

   • The importance of ethical AI deployment to avoid potential harms, such as the misuse of deepfakes by students.
   • The balance between leveraging AI for educational benefits and addressing the digital divide.

3. OpenAI’s Nonprofit Pricing Tier:

   • OpenAI introduces a new pricing tier for nonprofits at $20 per seat per month.
   • Encouragement for nonprofits to adopt paid, trusted AI tools to avoid data leaks and ensure security.

4. Google Search Overview Controversy:

   • Google’s new AI feature generates bizarre and inaccurate responses, raising concerns about the safety and reliability of AI in search.
   • The discussion on the implications of these errors and Google's response to public backlash.

Critical Insights

• AI in Education: AI can revolutionize education by providing personalized learning experiences, but it must be implemented ethically to avoid widening the educational gap.
• Nonprofit AI Adoption: Nonprofits are encouraged to adopt AI tools cautiously, ensuring data security and ethical use.
• Google’s AI Challenges: The rollout of Google’s AI search feature highlights the need for careful oversight and accurate information dissemination in AI applications.

Quotes

• George Weiner: "AI allows students to learn at their own pace in a way I don't really think has ever quite been possible like now."
• Nick: "With any new technology, there's tremendous upside, but there are also tremendous risks."

Calls to Action

• Nonprofits interested in AI tools should explore OpenAI’s nonprofit pricing tier and consider the ethical implications of AI use.
• Listeners are encouraged to stay informed about AI developments and advocate for responsible AI implementation in their organizations.

Closing Thought

The episode underscores the transformative potential of AI in the nonprofit sector, while also emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and responsible implementation. As AI continues to evolve, nonprofit professionals must navigate these changes thoughtfully to maximize positive social impact.

Weekly nonprofit new summary with hosts Kariesha and Nick from Whole Whale, a social impact digital agency.  

 

More info on how donor-advised funds work from our podcast. 

 

Reminder: just because an organization is a 501c3, doesn't mean it is scandal-free.   

New York Times Reporting Spurs Investigations Into Abuse At Homeless Shelter Nonprofit

After a New York Times investigative report revealed allegations of sexual assault and harrassment against a prominent homeless shelter CEO, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio has ordered a formal investigation. The allegations against Victor Rivera, CEO of the Bronx Parent Housing Network, come from ten women and are now being investigated by an outside firm. DeBlasio wrote on Twitter, “Victor Rivera must understand that no, he is not untouchable.”

Read more ➝

 

Political Nonprofit Charged With Federal Racketeering Pleads Guilty In Bribery Scandal

A political nonprofit has pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges for its role in the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history. The organization, Generation Now, funneled more than $61 million in bribes to ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.

Read more ➝ 👋 Did someone share this email with you? Considering subscribing for weekly updates.    ✅ The Summary...

• After Abuse Allegations, $2 Billion Shelter Network Faces Scrutiny
• A nonprofit will plead guilty to funneling $61 million in FirstEnergy bribery money, so what’s that say for F

• Giving through DAFS increased 29.8 percent in first half of 2020
• NRA Bankruptcy Lets Critics Peer Into Gun Lobby’s Inner Workings
• Nonprofit with similar name to Robinhood benefits from attention on stock trading app
• United Way Worldwide investigation finds no 'actionable' harassment
• Activists Take On Prison Industrial Complex

Pew Research Center Finds Broad Data Privacy Concerns & Distrust

The Pew Research Center's study on American perspectives towards data privacy highlights growing concerns and confusion about personal data usage. Most Americans are uneasy about how their information is handled by companies and the government, with a significant 67% admitting they understand little about what is done with their personal data. This concern extends to social media, where 77% of Americans distrust social media CEOs to responsibly manage user privacy.

 

70% of Americans also distrust companies to make responsible use of AI in their products. The study underscores the national relevance of data privacy, influenced by ongoing debates over regulating AI and protecting online data, emphasizing its impact on everyday life through choices in passwords, privacy policies, and personal data security measures.

 

Read more ➝

 

 

 

Regulator vows crackdown on ‘squeamish’ charities rejecting donations

| the Guardian

Orlando Fraser, head of England's Charity Commission, criticizes charities for rejecting donations on moral grounds, urging them to consider the impact on service provision to beneficiaries. He emphasizes that decisions to refuse funds should not be based on trustees' personal biases but on substantial justifications, amidst growing concerns about accepting unethical donations. This stance has sparked debate about the balance between ethical funding and operational needs, with the Commission updating guidelines on lawful and reputational considerations in donation acceptance.

 

The Ukraine Airbnb initiative and the weaknesses of ‘disintermediated’ giving | Blog - Alliance magazine

The Ukraine Airbnb initiative, a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, highlights the complexities of modern philanthropy. As an alternative to traditional donations to nonprofits, which raised £420 million through the Disasters Emergency Committee, this initiative involved booking but not occupying Airbnb rooms in Ukraine. This approach directed £15 million directly to property owners in just one week. Celebrated as a democratization of philanthropy, it allowed donors to bypass charities, though it faced criticism for potentially excluding the most needy and exacerbating economic issues like inflation. This form of *disintermediated giving raises important questions about efficiency, direct impact, and the ethical complexities of modern charitable efforts.

 

Announcing Kiva’s Bold New Impact Strategy: The Nonprofit Microfinance Pioneer Shares its Refined Approach — And Unveils the Process Behind its Development | NextBillion 

Kiva, a pioneer in nonprofit microfinance, has announced a new impact strategy, marking a significant evolution in its approach. Since its inception in 2005 as one of the world's first crowdfunding platforms, Kiva has enabled over 2.2 million lenders to fund over $2 billion in loans to more than 5 million entrepreneurs globally. Key to its strategy is the formation of deep, values-aligned partnerships with nearly 600 organizations in 95 countries, allowing for a significant local impact on a global scale. Innovations such as social-underwriting in the U.S., partnerships with community organizations, and the establishment of Kiva Capital for larger loans have been instrumental in extending support to underserved entrepreneurs, including refugees.

WholeWhale.com Hosts Kariesha and Nick discuss the week in nonprofits to kick off March. 

 

CEO Calls Billionaire Philanthropy A ‘PR Scam.’

Dan Price, founder and CEO of credit-card payment company Gravity Payments, says that billionaire philanthropists who donate lots of money in return for glowing reviews and good press is “one of capitalism’s biggest PR scams.” In Washington state, billionaires pay 3% of their income on taxes while the poor pay 18%, says Price. In response to a proposed wealth tax, Price adds that “the amount [billionaires] donate is a fraction of what they would pay if their tax rates were in line with the working class.” Read more ➝  Newsrooms Around The Country Are Turning To A Nonprofit Model News organizations across the country are embracing a nonprofit model at an increasing rate, according to the Institute for Nonprofit News, a consortium of nonprofit journalism organizations. The organization had a record 28% in membership growth last year. While the IRS is reportedly hesitant to categorize news organizations as commercial entities, “we have to subsidize reporting if we want democracy to survive," according to Elizabeth Green, the CEO and co-founder of the non-profit local news company Chalkbeat.Read more ➝  ✅ The Summary... A Burgeoning Food Justice Movement Rises in Black America Stimulus Bill Would Make Some Large Nonprofits Eligible for Forgivable Loans Report: Pandemic's impact on nonprofits not as bad as projected Prince Harry & Meghan Markle‘s nonprofit website gets a MAJOR makeover after duo ditches royal roles forever Nonprofit newsroom dissolves over allegations directed at founder    🙋‍♀️ Opinions & Resources Nonprofits Survived 2020 — What’s Next?How to accept Bitcoin and other crypto donations White development colleagues, we need to talk about fundraiser fragility 7 Community Outreach Ideas for Nonprofits in 2021 How to Download High-Quality Photos from Instagram   😍 Feel-good stories from the Sector... College-dropout-turned-UPS-executive Calvin Tyler Jr donates $20 million to Morgan State University Pittsburgh nonprofit rescuing puppies from Texas after devastating storms Nonprofit takes 94-year-old WWII veteran on a flight around Mesa in WWII-era plane Cancer survivor named to SpaceX flight promoting St. Jude hospital – Spaceflight Now 👋 Considering subscribing for weekly updates.   

We interview Quincy Larson, the founder and a teacher at freeCodeCamp.org. freeCodeCamp is a nonprofit community that helps millions of people learn to code 100% for free helping thousands of people find their first coding job. Quincy shares how the organization got started, built a strong volunteer base and grew its amazing educational library course by course. 

 

Learn more and support at: https://www.freecodecamp.org/ 

 

 

New Bill Could Increase Nonprofit Charitable Donations

"The Charitable Act," a new bill in Congress, was introduced on January 24, 2023, by Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Coons (D-DE). As reported by The Nonprofit Times explains that the bill would allow anyone who donates to a charity to benefit from both the standard deduction and the charitable deduction. This would be a significant change from the current tax code, which only allows taxpayers who itemize their deductions to claim a charitable deduction.

The bill has the support of a number of nonprofit organizations, including the National Council of Nonprofits and the Charitable Giving Coalition. If the bill is passed, it could lead to increased charitable giving, which would benefit all nonprofits.

The bill is currently being considered by the Senate Finance Committee. If the bill is passed by the Senate, it will then go to the House of Representatives for consideration. The bill has a good chance of passing both chambers of Congress and being signed into law by President Biden.

The passage of "The Charitable Act" would be a major victory for nonprofits and would help them to continue their important work in communities across the country.

Read more ➝

 

 

Summary

• Adidas to sell Yeezy shoes and donate proceeds months after Kanye West split | AP NEWS
• Nonprofits Endaoment.org, GlobalGiving Strike A Crypto Deal | The NonProfit Times 
• Former Urban League president files lawsuit against nonprofit alleging retaliation | WHAS11.com 

Interview with Sarika Bansal, Editor and Author of Tread Brightly, a series of curated essays on Ethical Travel. George Weiner interviews Sarika about the themes and topics covered by some of the essays. They also dive into the creation and closing of Sarika's nonprofit BRIGHT Magazine.

 

About Tread Brightly  Are there ways we can turn travel from passive consumption to an active exchange? Is it possible for our travel to leave a positive impact on the lives of others? This book of seventeen original essays and photo-essays, edited by Sarika Bansal, gets to the heart of what it means to travel ethically.

“Tread Brightly” discusses the ethics of orphanage tourism, cruise ships, and study abroad programs. It asks how one’s identity as a traveler—like one’s country of origin, gender, and race—impacts a travel experience. It considers the climate consequences of non-essential travel.

 

About Sarika

Sarika Bansal is the editor-in-chief of "Tread Brightly." She is an editor, storytelling consultant, and mentor with the Aspen Institute's New Voices Program. She was the founder and editor-in-chief of BRIGHT Magazine, an award-winning digital magazine that told fresh, solutions-oriented stories about social change. Prior to that, she incubated two social impact publications at Medium, developed curriculum for journalists at the Solutions Journalism Network, and served as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Her byline has appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, VICE, and other publications.

She holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

Sarika has lived on five continents, speaks four languages, and is currently based in a cottage in a forest in Nairobi, Kenya. She lives with her husband, daughter, and elderly German shepherd.

Host Kariesha Martinez interviews today guest; Tara Todras-Whitehill, an award-winning visual storyteller and communications consultant. The New York Times has published her work on more than 20 of its covers; and her clients have included the World Bank, UNICEF, Search For Common Ground, and the International Rescue Committee.     While Tara has had the opportunity to work with global game changers, she recognized that many organizations have a vital need for effective visual storytelling. She set out to fill that demand by establishing TaraTW Consulting. It trains organizations’ on-the-ground teams and communications departments on how to become better storytellers.     Consulting website: www.taratw.com Photography portfolio: www.taratwphoto.com

Nonprofit news:

 

United States To Welcome 100,000 Ukrainian Refugees

The Biden Administration has announced plans to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the United States, according to reporting from Politico. Refugees will be allowed entry through a range of admission pathways, including “humanitarian parole,” and “immigrant or nonimmigrant visas.” Since February, the U.S. has given over $123 million in humanitarian support to Ukraine and neighboring countries, with over $1 billion in additional humanitarian funding to come in the coming months. The welcome.us website serves as a portal for Americans to get involved with refugee relief efforts for both Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

Read more ➝     MacKenzie Scott Donates $436 Million To Habitat for Humanity & Affiliates

MacKenzie Scott has donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International as well as 84 of its U.S. affiliates, according to reporting from the Associated Press. The donation again represents a seismic donation that eschews many of the traditional hallmarks of philanthropy by ensuring all funds are unrestricted. (Scott’s donations come in the form of DAFs.) So far, MacKenzie Scott has donated $12 billion to over 1,257 groups, according to a New York Times analysis. She has also recently made donations to Planned Parenthood, Ukraine relief efforts, and other groups.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Nonprofit workers rally for 'fair' wages at City Hall | Amsterdam News
• Inflation Hits Ability of Nonprofits to Provide Services, Keep Workers — and Raise Money | The Chronicle of Philanthropy
• Nonprofit drugmaker will soon sell insulin for $30 a vial, regardless of insurance | wpde.com
• 600 volunteers at local non-profit make 300,000 meals for Ukrainian refugees | WKRC
•  

Weekly nonprofit podcast news. 

 

Nonprofit Fights Carbon Emissions With Financial Marketplace

University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone has created a nonprofit called Climate Vault, which could revolutionize how we offset carbon emissions in the marketplace. Using the current cap and trade infrastructure to its advantage, the organization seeks to redirect capital to environmentally-conscious startups in exchange for “pollution permits.” The goal is to merge financial profit with environmental sustainability in hopes of driving investment in products that help the planet in the long-run.

Read more ➝ Nonprofit Advocacy Groups & Native Tribes Team Up To Combat Voter Suppression New voting legislation in Montana, which critics cite as an attempt to suppress the vote of indigenous communities, is facing a legal challenge from a joint effort of multiple tribes and nonprofits. The tribes challenging the legislation include the Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Belknap Indian Community and Northern Cheyenne Tribe. These tribes, along with Native get-out-the-vote organizations Western Native Voice and Montana Native Voice, are being represented by the Native American Rights Fund, in conjunction with the ACLU. Not only do nonprofits fill a vital gap in our social safety infrastructure, but they are an essential part of our democratic society, and constitute a rapidly growing civil society movement both in the U.S. and abroad. Read the legal complaint here. Read more ➝

Summary

• YMCA brings in new CEO to revamp struggling nonprofit
• Greenpeace Stops Accepting Bitcoin Donations, Cites High Energy Use
• Steve Bannon's Nonprofit Sued for Destroying Wild Butterflies' Habitat with Donald Trump's Border Wall
• S.F. nonprofit lost $650,000 to hackers and a 'money mule.' The boss had to investigate it herself
• Nonprofit takes veterans on flights on WWII-era biplane
•  

 

 

Navigating Nonprofit Cybersecurity and Global Funding Challenges

In this episode of the Nonprofit News Feed, George Weiner, Chief Whaler of Whole Whale, and Nick Azulay, Digital Strategist, delve into pressing nonprofit sector issues, with a focus on cybersecurity threats and global funding challenges. They also highlight a significant philanthropic initiative by Melinda French Gates.

Key Topics and Insights:

1. Cybersecurity Threats to Nonprofits:

   • George and Nick discuss a sophisticated phishing attempt targeting Whole Whale, emphasizing the growing threat of AI-enabled social engineering scams. They caution nonprofits to enhance cybersecurity awareness and train staff to recognize suspicious activities.
   • The conversation includes insights from Joshua Pesky of Roundtable Technology, highlighting the need for vigilance against phishing scams, particularly those exploiting power dynamics and urgency.

2. Melinda French Gates' Philanthropic Initiative:

   • Melinda French Gates has pledged an additional $250 million to support women's health globally through the "Action for Women's Health" grant competition. This initiative, managed by Lever for Change, aims to provide unrestricted funding to at least 100 nonprofits, signaling a shift towards more open and transparent philanthropic processes.

3. Global Humanitarian Funding Gaps:

   • The New Humanitarian reports on record-wide funding gaps in the global humanitarian sector, with UN appeals only 45% funded in 2023. The discussion highlights the strain on resources due to prolonged crises and the challenges faced by local aid organizations in securing funding.
   • George and Nick draw parallels between global and local nonprofit sectors, noting similar challenges in transparency, efficiency, and funding.

4. Voter Participation Initiatives in Alabama:

   • The episode concludes on a positive note with the "Defend the Ballot" initiative in Alabama, aimed at increasing voter participation amid restrictive state laws. The effort seeks to address low voter turnout and empower citizens to exercise their voting rights.

Call to Action: Nonprofits are encouraged to prioritize cybersecurity training and awareness to safeguard against evolving threats. Additionally, organizations should explore opportunities for funding through open calls like Melinda French Gates' initiative and remain informed about global and local funding trends.

Reflection: The episode underscores the importance of adaptability and resilience in the nonprofit sector, particularly in the face of cybersecurity risks and funding challenges. By fostering a culture of vigilance and leveraging innovative funding opportunities, nonprofits can continue to make a significant impact.

Nonprofit News of the week.

Supreme Court Poised To Strike Down Roe v. Wade, Changing Advocacy Landscape For Both Pro-Choice & Pro-Life Nonprofits 

A draft decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling on a pending abortion case appears to show the majority of justices in favor of striking down Roe v. Wade, upending nearly 50 years of abortion-access precedent, according to a leaked draft obtained by Politico. The decision comes as a worst-case scenario for pro-choice advocacy and provider groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, while it also is perceived as a monumental achievement by pro-life groups. As abortion becomes illegal to access and potentially criminalized in the wake of the decision which will be released in June, human rights groups are warning that nonprofits and tech companies may come under legal pressure to disclose sensitive information regarding people who seek information about abortion clinics, emergency contraceptives, and the like. An anti-abortion nonprofit in Wisconsin called Wisconsin Family Action was the target of an arson attack on Sunday.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Jeff Bezos donates nearly $120 mn to nonprofit: Report | The Siasat Daily 
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy Unveils Ambitious Growth Plan to Put National Spotlight on Social Sector, Become Nonprofit  | The Chronicle of Philanthropy
• Opinion | Black Lives Matter needs to get its (real expensive) house in order | Washington Post
• The AP Interview: BLM's Patrisse Cullors denies wrongdoing | AP NEWS
• CEA Nonprofit winner: Seeing a sea turtle need | Greater Wilmington Business Journal

 

Rough Transcript

 

[00:00:00] This week on a nonprofit news feed, we have our major story, which we made the focus of the week's newsletter, which is the Supreme court poised to strike down Roe V. Wade, and how we see that changing the landscape for advocacy for both pro-choice and pro-life nonprofits, as well as touching many of them.

[00:00:21] Industries again, this is not gone through, it was a leaked bit, but Nick, you're going to walk us through this as well as some other news highlights.

[00:00:28] Sure George, I can start us off. So of course, yes, we begin with that first story that was. Reported by Politico, which published a draft decision written by a United States Supreme court, which appeared to show that they were poised. At least when the decision draft decision was written to overturn Roe V.

[00:00:52] Wade, what that means is that nearly 50 years of abortion access precedent coming from the court now, It's very likely to be reversed. The decision comes as a worst case scenario for pro-choice advocacy groups and health provider groups like planned parenthood. Now pro-choice America and many other groups and funds that work to help women access abortions.

[00:01:23] And. That being said on the flip side of it, there are lots of pro-life or anti-abortion advocacy groups themselves non-profits that are, have been working to get this passed. So essentially you have this bombshell announcement that's completely altered the, the landscape for advocacy organizations.

[00:01:47] Both, both sides of this issue. And there's so many reasons and so many ways in which this can pretty dramatically impact America, social life and economics, the list goes on and on, but at its heart, this is ringing. Has a bombshell decision for a lot of people and people have understandably, very emotional reactions.

[00:02:13] George w w what's your take and how do we think about the many nonprofit organizations that are kind of involved with.

[00:02:20] it's hard to see through the frustration and many distracting narratives going on, such as , who leaked it, how it happen. I think we. If we're being honest, could see the dominoes falling after RBG sadly passed and was unfortunately, not really, even remotely honored when it was rushed through, into the Supreme court to change the landscape of how these justices would deliberate Roe V. Wade .

[00:02:53] So, you know, I've been waiting through just massive amounts of news, but I think anything that's. Looking backward saying, oh my gosh, they lied in testimony. And it truly doesn't matter what we're trying to focus on. And what I'm trying to look at is the second order effects that are to come and, , pulling those out of.

[00:03:12] Non-profits in the narrative saying here are some that were for some that were against this decision and suddenly the entire table has just been flipped upside down. And so these groups that have previously been more about advocacy and have just removed potentially a layer of support for women who are truly in need and in a time of,, great.

[00:03:39] Great risk. I would say that frankly, planned parenthood and others were supporting in that period of time. There's no safety net. If suddenly you're in a state where that's made illegal. And so you have to move from groups that maybe were pushing paper and other, very lightweight ways of advocacy into new.

[00:04:00] No, you have to support these women in some way. Whether or not that aligns with.

[00:04:06] the.

[00:04:06] Right of choice or right of life. There's a lot of infrastructure that is just not there. And I see a switch and is about to be flipped and not a lot of planning as a result of it. And so, , I try to park a lot of the hand wringing about how did this happen and this person did that to her. As somebody who's going to become pregnant, who may be in tremendous need, doubt, concern, risk, and more than one, you know, the data will show you this in a lot of the states that are about to flip back to a draconian that would use the word type of legal system that does not support these women in a safe way.

[00:04:50] And that's where I'm trying to spend my, my thinking a bit on.

[00:04:53] Yeah, George, I think that's a good analysis, nearly one in four women. By the time they reach 45 50. We'll have had an abortion in this United States. And the fact that now what was a relatively routine medical procedure, a lot of these states have snap laws that go into effect the moment. RO would be toppled.

[00:05:22] Those are poised to go into effect. There are some states that are pushing laws to in fact, criminalize abortion, as in getting one or facilitating access to an abortion is now a criminal criminal offense. And that is it's insane to be honest. It's, it's an it's insane. And The other, the flip side of this, and there's kind of more of the story as we outlined in the newsletter here is that human rights groups are actually warning human rights watch.

[00:05:56] And other other news organizations are warning that tech companies and organizations with information about people who've accessed abortion. Resources or, or procedures. Those organizations with that data may find themselves under legal pressure to disclose that information to prosecutors, if charges were be, to be brought.

[00:06:20] And it's just kind of another kind of dark direction that this is facing. If getting an abortion becomes a criminal offense. So. Like you said it kind of flips the whole thing upside down. We don't know. I don't think where this is going to go from what I'm seeing on the advocacy side, there are tons of abortion funds that are organizations that help facilitate a women accessing an abortion.

[00:06:51] And even in states where it's perfectly legal people, it can be tough to access. Right. You know, there's so COE, there's monetary barriers and there's a lot of organizations on the ground that have some experience doing this, but they're about to find themselves as a lifeline for a lot more people than they anticipated very quickly.

[00:07:14] So it'll be interesting to see how that.

[00:07:15] The word here is legality. And when you change that word, you suddenly have a whole host of I'll use the word weapons provided to the court system. To mandate, demand and force companies that may have data say Google, potentially apple, depending on where the data resides in the searches and information and stored contacts.

[00:07:45] And what have you, if this is a legal question, but because it's been made illegal for a woman who is by the way, Even beyond sort of the questions of rape and incest and very, very real medical endo topic type pregnancies, where you will really have to get a get an abortion to save your life potentially is that,, the process of, of having a child in America, despite all our advances has carries with it, 60 X, 60 times percent, 60 times, the amount of.

[00:08:19] That an abortion does. And so with that, and you're using the word legal as a thought exercise, consider how marijuana laws carry across states right now. And if you drive across the border with a certain amount of legally purchase marijuana, I did something illegal here. It is illegal over there and you go state by state.

[00:08:41] There are a lot of unfortunate second order effects that could happen. And. The, the landscape gets a little bit more scary and I think it's a great, that human rights watch has already sounding the alarm with enough time for companies to start anonymizing de anonymizing and protecting people that.

[00:09:02] will be put in danger in these states and areas.

[00:09:07] I agree. Really important things to think about. And again, if this is, it goes up and down the ladder, right? This is, this is a fundamentally altering in the ways that very few policies or laws or quite frankly, events, at least in my lifetime have had in terms of. Life as an American, quite frankly.

[00:09:31] So of course, we'll continue to watch this story. The one aside is that you'll probably start to see increasing tension on both sides over the weekend. And anti-abortion nonprofit and in Wisconsin called Wisconsin family action was the target of an arson attack. Over the past couple of decades, both organizations on both sides of this issue have seen instances of violence.

[00:09:58] Unfortunately, but it's yeah, I don't know, kind of at a loss of words with what more to say, but something we'll

[00:10:06] Yeah, I would say if you're, if you're frustrated, , one thing just to speak, , personally, as a, as a. Parent, Of, you know, one little girl in one little way. And also as a leader of a company, I thought I was compelled to say something to the staff. And I'm going to probably continue to try to also message her around this, just about where we sit, what we think and what we do to help keep the focus, because a lot of people are frustrated and where I try to point us toward is that this is the.

[00:10:38] Social justice pendulum swinging in a way that we really disagree with that violates precedent. That actually for the first time, in as many years, these like 50 plus years removes a right, that we thought was an amiable and granted into the contract of America. And one thing I know about pendulums is that when you push them very hard to one side, they come.

[00:11:05] With force back the other direction. And so the positive, cause I always push myself to think this way that I as do see coming is that a lot of people just woke up to the fact that what was granted and what was taken for granted has been taken away and people do not like it. When you take things away, we feel lost two X, the amount of gain.

[00:11:30] So I think a lot of people just woke up and they woke up at.

[00:11:32] a time when the midterms are coming. And That's why I believe there isn't a sort of large brass band being walked down Washington right now. But the GOP, I think there's a lot of people afraid to talk about what the actual implications of what a minority has just pushed onto a majority.

[00:11:50] That's a great point, George, when you take a step back and then contextualize it and think about. Broader trends.

[00:11:58] All right, pivoting a little bit. I'll take us into the summary on, I'll say a much lighter note billionaire owner and or previous owner, not no longer chief executive of Amazon, but billionaire, nonetheless, Jeff Bezos has donated $120 million to as yet unnamed. Nonprofit. Apparently this brings his non-profit donations up to 233 million, at least in terms of unnamed nonprofits, he's giving money to George why'd you throw this in the mix.

[00:12:35] I just wanted to throw a little, two things. One of the throw a little shade that he's only about five Billy, 5 billion short of what his wife ex-wife has done is a philanthropic leader, but also I think you want to keep an eye on where his kind of dollars are going because there's a lot more dollars behind it.

[00:12:56] And it's very interesting to see. Where frankly, one of the richest men in the world is deploying capital in the social impact sector. So it's not just a sort of billionaire watch, but it's saying where, where is that? That mindset shifting and this particular time.

[00:13:12] I think that's a good point in a world where billionaires seemingly increasingly dominate the news and trends and other aspects of our life. Looking at Elan Musk, controlling the Twitter verse I think it's important to keep an eye on. Our next story comes from the Chronicle of philanthropy.

[00:13:32] And it is about the Chronicle of philanthropy, which has announced a quote, ambitious growth plan to put the national spotlight on the social sector, which is their way of saying they are becoming a nonprofit news organization. The Chronicle of philanthropy previously I did not know this was actually wholly owned and operated by.

[00:13:54] The Chronicle of higher education, which is kind of the premier news source for colleges and university and higher education type news. But that is itself a private, independent for-profit entity. But now the Chronicle of philanthropy is breaking off into their separate own nonprofit organization.

[00:14:12] One of many newsrooms to do so of late. This is absolutely a continuation of the trend.

[00:14:20] I feel like it's a great way for a leading voice on non-profits to in fact, you know, walk the walk and I, I hope them All the success we enjoy their work and yeah, hopefully it continues to grow as a, an extra valued source of information and sector.

[00:14:40] All right, I'm going to wrap our next two stories together because they're related. This is following up on a story that we talked about a couple of weeks ago about the black lives matter organization which came under some heat for the publication that it had purchased a multimillion dollar home in The the, the bay area.

[00:15:04] And also came under criticism for not filing form nine nineties and in general, a lack of transparency around its financials. So the two articles we have here is an opinion published in the Washington post, which from, I think, a large. Hacktivists perspective is critical of the organization for not necessarily engaging or being as transparent with the local chapters and the family funds that were set up for victims of police brutality and the desire at the activist level for a little bit more accountability for the national organization, which in.

[00:15:46] 2020 saw $90 million in donations. The other news source is from the AP and which the former director of the organization, Patrice colors denied wrongdoing but also laid out some of the concerns of people within the activist community. I should say that at the bottom of that article, I thought this is a little bit more important.

[00:16:10] They did file a nine 90, which technically brings them up to date. But the nine 90 only goes until June of 2020. So does not include Really the tremendous growth they've seen over the past couple of years within that financial disclosure. And I think we wanted to highlight this story again because we brought it to this podcast a couple of weeks ago.

[00:16:34] And George, we sifted through the only articles we really could find were quite frankly from right wing news sources that were, were talking about it. And but we, we identified. Within that, that there actually is kind of a genuine thing to talk about within that narrative. So we wanted to highlight from the activist level, what people are thinking about this, but yeah.

[00:17:00] George, do you have any other thoughts or things to add on that?

[00:17:03] Yeah.

[00:17:04] we definitely looked through quite a number of news outlets and clearly, you know, outlets that rhyme with the word pot. Have you had a field day with this into, you know, something where, you know, a kernel truth has turned into a tree of lies and manipulation, but there is still seeds of what actually, you know, did happen.

[00:17:26] And we try to go to primary sources and that quote from colors actually from the AP I don't know. Read it directly on paper. It looks crazy. She said, we use this term in our movement a lot, which is we're building the plane while flying it. I don't believe in that anymore. The only regret I have with BLM is wishing that we could have paused for one to two years.

[00:17:48] Just not do any work and just focus on the infrastructure. You know, the foundation paid 6 million for this Los Angeles compound in 2020 and has, you know, brought ire and criticism. Here's the truth. There is, there's a problem. I'd say with crisis crowd funding, when a bunch of money is thrown at an organization of the moment, regardless of whether they have the infrastructure to achieve what the moment demands.

[00:18:18] There's a reason why traditional philanthropies capital P philanthropies will not give more than X percent of a total revenue. In a grant to a non-profit, let's say you are a half a million dollar organization, many philanthropy say you're eligible for up to, let's say 50% of your operating revenue for our grant, because the true fact is if they were to get more, say 5 million or 50 million, they wouldn't have the infrastructure to use it.

[00:18:49] And what's worse. Could actually send them into a bit of a tailspin of hiring too quickly, focusing on the wrong things and not having the infrastructure to manage that money and that word. Can't just be glossed over. And I think this is just an honest quote from exactly what happened. You know, they were, you know, suddenly handed tens of millions of dollars and then expected to operate like an organization with that revenue.

[00:19:14] And the truth is it's not there that it takes a long time to hire, to set up these systems. And again it's you know, I think it's great that she's out there making, you know, trying to bring back this, this narrative and obviously it's yeah, the probably, I mean, it hurts quite a bit. She says that, that this is quote a false narrative and it's impacted me personally and professionally that people would accuse me of stealing from black people.

[00:19:41] And you know I think. It's a, it's a tough moment. The foundation announced state 19 million fundraising amount. Wow. I didn't realize it was that high anyway. Things for you to look at and to consider around these macro issues of, of funding. Hmm.

[00:20:00] Should we do a feel-good story, Nick? We've been, I put some, I put some good wins in there this week. I knew I had been letting the team.

[00:20:08] Yeah, George let's do a feel good story. This comes from Wilmington, biz.com. Wilmington's homepage for business. Tart title of the article is about seeing a sea turtle in need. And. This is about a, a sea turtle rehabilitation project. And within the 31 sea turtles residing at the center as of this year they could be released back into the ocean after recovering from various elements.

[00:20:44] There is one turtle named Lenny a Ridley turtle that can't be released because. Blind and can't survive on her own. But just want to shout out that the awesome organizations in this case, the Karen Beasley, sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation center which is taking care of sea turtles and sea turtles are awesome.

[00:21:05] I, I learned from finding Nemo that they live a very long time and I think that's very cool. So I've always been a big.

[00:21:12] All right. So I had to look this up, see turtles can live up to 50 years or more. So that's, that's great. That they're, they're taking care of taking care of these animals. Good job. And also kudos on anytime we get an article pun. So good job seeing those sea turtles. All right, Nick. Thanks for bringing all the news to us.

[00:21:35] Thanks, George.

 

 

Nonprofit news in December.

 

Nonprofit Job Gains Slow As Sector Approaches Pre-Pandemic Employment Levels

According to data from the Center for Civil Society Studies (CCSS) at Johns Hopkins University as reported by the Nonprofit Times, nonprofit job growth slowed in November but shows that most nonprofit categories are expected to achieve near full employment by the end of the year. While nonprofits have recovered nearly 70% of lost jobs since the beginning of the pandemic, there remain approximately 485,000 missing jobs (of the initial 1.64 million lost). Nonprofit arts and entertainment organizations have seen the slowest recovery, down 13% of their jobs compared to before the pandemic.

Read more ➝

 

What To Know About The Log4j Vulnerability 

Nonprofit open-source software organization Apache Software Foundation has announced a vulnerability that, left unresolved, poses a glaring cybersecurity threat across global commercial, corporate, and government networks. The Log4j vulnerability opens up the possibility of a significant breach in the form of malware, ransomware, and other attacks. The U.S. government has been working alongside cybersecurity experts to determine next steps while Microsoft has already identified threats from suspected state-backed actors in China and Iran. Read more about how companies are addressing the problem.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Environmental nonprofits receive just 2% of charitable dollars (Fast Company).
• How NFTs are helping charities and nonprofits fundraise (Denver Channel)
• Nonprofit Nazareth Child and Family Connection, nonprofits feel effects of 'great resignation' - Salisbury Post
• Foster care crisis is 'out of control' in Texas, with both children and staff in danger
• Letters to Santa in Braille: How a Lancaster nonprofit is helping kids who are visually impaired this Christmas (Lancaster Online)
•  

Nonprofits Recognize Anniversary of September 11th Attacks With National Day of Service & Remembrance

This Sunday marked the 21st anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks. As Americans across the country reflect on the day, nonprofit and volunteer organizations stepped up to honor victims and families, as well as to pay forward the heroic acts of bravery and charitable acts of community displayed that September. The federally-recognized September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance brings together folks across the country to “rekindle the spirit of unity that arose in America in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.” AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith, says that “from supporting students and teachers, running food drives and making emergency preparedness kits to helping with home repairs and organizing cleanups, we can help our neighbors in communities across the country,” in an effort to “ensure that what unites us outshines what tries to divide us.” Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Crypto Going Green? Ethereum 'Merge' Begins | MediaPost 
• Federal judge rules HIV drug mandate violates religious freedom | Roll Call
• $3.2 Billion Prediction: 2022 Giving Tuesday | Whole Whale

 

• Nonprofit prepares second Safe Outdoor Space for Albuquerque's homeless | KOB 4 

Asylum Seekers Left Stranded Outside Hotel Draws National Attention To NYC’s Migrant Crisis

New York City has seen an unprecedented influx of migrants in need of assistance over the past couple of years, with that trend culminating in a high-profile debacle outside the Roosevelt Hotel, where migrants were left stranded on the sidewalk. Throughout last week, images of over 150 migrants sleeping outside the sidewalk of the apparently full midtown hotel (which had been converted to an emergency shelter) sparked national media attention as NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ office declared the city’s beds full. The migrants unceremoniously were moved on Wednesday night according to reporting from Gothamist and other outlets, apparently housed with the assistance of faith-based nonprofits and advocacy groups. More than 56,000 migrants are currently housed in the city’s shelter system in widely reported poor conditions. An additional emergency shelter appears to be coming online in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, which will be added to the more than 200 locations serving migrants. Exacerbating the crisis is that the influx of migrants (many of whom may legally qualify for asylum) comes as the Governor of New York estimates a housing shortage of approximately 800,000 units.

Read more ➝

 

• Harry and Meghan Announce the Winners of $2 Million in Grants For Responsible Tech |  Vanity Fair
• Deep-pocketed dairy industry continues war on plant-based milk as FDA hears comments on new draft guidance  | OpenSecrets 
• Niger: NGOs warn further instability and sanctions could exacerbate humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable including women and children  |  The IRC

 

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New York Times Investigation Finds Nearly $89 Million Raised Via Robocall Self-Enriching Scheme

 

A New York Times investigation has found that a circle of conservative nonprofits, consultants, and shell companies together formed a self-enrichment scheme. Nonprofits loosely construed around conservative causes including The American Police Officers Alliance used aggressive robocall tactics to solicit small-dollar donors that raised $89 million. However, the investigation uncovered that a mere $826,904 of the amount raised went to the organizations’ purported campaigns—the rest went to the companies and consultants that ran the robocalls. The detailed investigation zeroed in on 3 Republican political consultants who together appeared to be the glue that kept the machine going. The organizations in question were registered IRS 527 groups and as such had a responsibility to file with the IRS. Multiple groups used human-sounding robocalls that, with the burgeoning consumer AI industry, may become even more realistic and responsive.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• F.D.A. Eases Ban on Blood Donations From Gay and Bisexual Men  | Nytimes.com
• Elon Musk Defends MrBeast Against Criticism for Helping Deaf People | Insider 
• 2023 World Press Freedom Index – journalism threatened by fake content industry | rsf.org 
• Bard by Google is live  - be aware... wholewhale.com/ai 
• Coastal Duck Derby supports local nonprofit | Port City Daily

 

 

 

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Weekly Nonprofit News summaries.

 

In Win For Criminal Justice Advocates, Biden Pardons Marijuana Charges & Orders Evaluation of Cannabis Scheduling

The Biden Administration announced last week a series of pardons for those charged on federal, simple marijuana possession charges, in a win for criminal justice reform advocates. The legacy of the Nixon Administration’s “War On Drugs” is still felt throughout the United States, where black and brown Americans are more likely to be charged for marijuana use than white Americans, despite similar rates of usage. NPR quotes Patrice Willoughby, vice president of policy and legislative affairs at the NAACP, who says that “The failed policies on drug criminalization have ensnared many on nonviolent, marijuana offenses.” Biden has also “instructed the attorney general and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to start the process of reviewing marijuana’s status under federal law, according to Politico. Advocacy groups continue to highlight the need for reforms at the state level.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

 

• U.N. refugee boss warns of 'severe cuts' without immediate new funding U.S. Reuters
• What Happens When a Company (Like Patagonia) Transfers Ownership to a Nonprofit? | HBR.org Daily 
• Black Lives Matter tops list of groups that Black Americans see as helping them most in recent years | Pew Research Center
• Nonprofit Helps Salem Family With Wheelchair Makeover Fit for Halloween | NECN

 

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Jay Buys the co-founder of B-corp design agency Visceral joins as a guest for the new 2 for 2 Whole Whale interview format. 

We trade 2 ideas with each guest that also comes with 2 social impact/b corp/nonprofit ideas. We thrash on the idea, 'why would this fail', 'why would it succeed', the difficulty of execution. Not being precious with the idea, knowing that others may take it and run. 

We then score the idea based on Impact, financial viability and scalability. The loser donates to the winner's charity of choice. 

 

Interview with Lindsay Dayton LaShell, Marketing Activist at Open Lines Marketing. 

 

Discussion covers social trends on LinkedIn and the Marketing Framework Lindsay has developed:

Adopting the Framework is an eight-step process 1 Who else is on your playing field? Call it competitive or landscape research if you want, but understanding who else your audience is finding when they should be finding you is an essential first step to understanding your unique opportunity. 2 Who are your people? You have probably done some amount of audience research already. Maybe you’ve been in business a while so you know your customers well, but this exercise will open your eyes to new ways of understanding them and their needs. 3 What is their journey? This unique exercise will introduce deep empathy into the buyer's journey that your customers experience. We use their words, their objections, and their understanding of their situation to get new levels of understanding of our own opportunity to reach them. 4 What are you offering? Having a great product or service doesn’t guarantee sales. In this step, we look deeply at your brand messages to understand who you are in order to ensure that your content resonates with the people it’s created for. 5 Where does their journey take them? Like literally, where? Do they look for answers in their email inbox? Do they look on Facebook? Do they look to their friends and family? Wherever they are looking for answers, we will craft a channel strategy to meet them there. 6 Where is your best time spent? Making your to-do list shorter is one of the promises of the Framework. To do this, we’ll get super strategic in identifying the most powerful opportunities and prioritizing them for greatest impact. 7 What does success look like? What will your business be one year after you start implementing the Framework? Asking this question allows us to begin seeing the difference between the urgent and the important in the day-to-day work of the business. 8 What will it take to get there? We know that great marketing requires consistent execution of well-informed tactics. We also know that we prioritize things we think are important. The last step is to literally schedule the work that needs to be done, so that you feel confident that you have the information and the time you need to DO IT.

 

Nonprofit Ad Spend Trends and Disaster Relief Efforts: Key Insights from This Week's Nonprofit News

In this week's episode of the Nonprofit News Feed, George Weiner, Chief Whaler of Whole Whale, and Nick Azulay, Digital Strategist, delve into Whole Whale's newly released 2024 nonprofit advertising study. This original research, in partnership with Cause IQ, analyzes advertising trends among 7,000 nonprofit organizations, comparing data from 2022-2023 with pre-pandemic data from 2018-2019. Key findings indicate a 12% increase in nonprofit ad investments, with an additional $21.3 million spent on advertising, and a 13% rise in average ad spend per organization from $26,000 to $29,000. Despite this increase, nonprofits have managed to reduce fundraising expenses by 5%, indicating a shift towards advertising as a larger portion of the fundraising budget.

George and Nick emphasize the importance of strategic ad spending, especially for smaller nonprofits with tighter budgets. They encourage nonprofits to explore boosting social media posts and applying for the Google Ad Grant to enhance their reach. The full report and database are available for free on Whole Whale's website, offering valuable insights and benchmarks across various nonprofit sectors.

The episode also highlights the critical role of local nonprofits in disaster relief, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which severely impacted the Florida Panhandle, Georgia, and North Carolina. Organizations like Beloved Asheville have pivoted their operations to focus on disaster recovery, demonstrating the agility and responsiveness of nonprofits in times of crisis. With Hurricane Milton approaching, George stresses the need for proactive fundraising and messaging to maximize support.

Additionally, the podcast discusses a survey revealing that nonprofit workers continue to feel exhausted and overwhelmed, citing staffing shortages and budget constraints as ongoing challenges. George notes that these issues have been persistent in the sector and cautions against relying solely on AI as a solution.

Another significant topic is the "Silver Tsunami," referring to the aging U.S. population and the increasing demand for services catering to older adults. George urges nonprofits to incorporate strategies for supporting the 65+ demographic into their long-term plans, highlighting opportunities in healthcare, digital literacy, and community engagement.

Finally, the episode concludes with a heartwarming story about a nonprofit providing service dogs to veterans at no cost, showcasing the profound impact of such initiatives on individuals' lives.

Conversation with Dom Kalms, the CEO and Founder of B Generous. B Generous allows for donors to donate now, and pay later. We discuss how this technology works, how nonprofits get money upfront and donors are allowed to pay back the loan interest-free over 9 months. 

 

There are new giving opportunities that are opened up with this new technology and Dom explains them on this podcast.

 

Donors want to give to the organizations they believe in more than ever before. B Generous makes that possible. 

Today in the United States, more than 70% of donors want to give more to their favorite nonprofit, but simply can’t…leaving donors with two options: don’t donate or use a credit card with high interest rates. We think that’s a false choice, which is why we’ve created a free way for you to support your favorite nonprofit now, while maintaining the convenience of paying over time.

 

 More about Dom Kalms, CEO and Founder of B Generous: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominickalms/ 

 

 

More about how donate now, pay later differs from pledge now, pay later. 

 

How do you strike the balance between  qualitative data and quantitative data for your marketing efforts? This week on the pod, we talk with Emily Taylor, Principal of teenyBIG, about how she defines human centered design and striking the balance between qualitative and quantitative data to make sure you're engaging your audience.

Emily Taylor, Principal of teenyBIG, coaches nonprofits to meaningfully engage their audiences. She uses her experience with both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds in human-centered design, a process that digs into a user’s experience and perspective, to turn their lackluster followers into passionate supporters. Learn more about Emily Taylor and teenyBIG, Webpage: https://www.teenybig.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-taylor-teenybig/ Check out this free download on "5 Questions to Ask Before Spending More Marketing $$

 Nonprofitnewsfeed.com  summary of the week. 

 

This Giving Tuesday Eve, Beware of Scams!

On this day before Giving Tuesday, consumers are being asked to be on the lookout for scams. The Better Business Bureau has published a guide to making informed decisions about donating. Nonprofits should make this process easy for prospective donors by being transparent, proving credibility, and making donation gateways safe, secure, and easy to navigate. If your organization has a seal of approval for a major charity rating organization, making that easy to ascertain can be a big step towards making donors feel secure about donating to your cause.

Read more ➝

 

Supply Chain Disrupting Toy Donations Going Into Holiday Rush

In Minnesota, global supply chain issues are disrupting the delivery and donation of toys this holiday season, according to the Star Tribune. The pandemic economy has spurred vulnerabilities in the supply of toys and other essential goods, while pushing the price of staple food items like meat sky high. PRISM, a nonprofit in the Twin Cities, is preparing for delivery issues by beginning their toy drive early, as is the local chapter of the Salvation Army. Due to increased shipping costs and labor shortages, amid surging demand, nonprofits are bracing for what will be another whirlwind end-of-year for nonprofits that provide physical goods to folks this holiday season.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• The Consulting Firm Billionaires Turn to When They Give Away Money
• N.Y.C. Severs Ties With Housing Nonprofit Run by Jack A. Brown III
• From beard pageants to food distribution, what nonprofits are doing for Giving Tuesday
• WCMU giving free airtime to area non-profit organizations on GivingTuesday

Biden Announces $10k, $20k Student Loan Forgiveness For Most Borrowers

The Biden administration announced last week that up to $10k of federal student loan debt would be forgiven for eligible borrowers, including up to $20k for Pell Grant recipients. The sweeping announcement was a controversial policy move but nonetheless a major one, with tens of millions of borrowers affected. According to The White House, 87% of the eligible borrowers currently make less than $75,000 and will disproportionately benefit historically debt-burdened communities, including Black borrowers who hold a “disproportionate amount of student loan debt.” Nonprofit and public service employees should pay close attention to shifting (and temporarily expanded leniency) in rules for the government’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Rules eliminating particularly onerous requirements have been temporarily waived but require borrowers to consolidate loans by October 31 to benefit. Read more here.

 

 

Summary

• Carbon Offsets: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
• Why are so many nonprofit execs leaving their jobs? | Crain's Detroit
• What is SHADOW moderation & how is it silencing speech? | Whole Whale
• Hundreds of paddle boarders take to the lake for Austin nonprofit | CultureMap Austin

Episode Summary: Navigating Google's Core Update and Nonprofit Impacts

In this episode of the Nonprofit News Feed, George Weiner, Chief Whaler of Whole Whale, and Nick Azoulay, Digital Strategist at Whole Whale, delve into the recent Google core update and its implications for nonprofits. They also cover other significant news, including personnel changes at the Gates Foundation and new grant opportunities from Amazon Web Services.

Main Topics:

1. Google's March 2024 Core Update:

   • Impact on Nonprofits: George and Nick discuss how the recent Google core update has led to a substantial decline in organic traffic for many nonprofits, including a 40% drop in some cases at Whole Whale. This update prioritizes content quality and credibility over links, which could disadvantage smaller nonprofits.
   • Search Generated Experience (SGE): The anticipated rollout of Google's SGE will prioritize AI-generated answers over traditional search results, potentially reducing visibility and engagement for nonprofit websites.

2. Melinda French Gates Resigns from Gates Foundation:

   • Transition: Melinda French Gates steps down from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to focus on her personal philanthropic efforts, particularly around women and families. The foundation will now be chaired solely by Bill Gates and renamed the Gates Foundation.
   • Implications: This significant change could impact the foundation's strategic direction and funding priorities.

3. Amazon Web Services Imagine Grants for Nonprofits:

   • Grant Details: AWS is offering grants to nonprofits to leverage cloud technology for mission-critical projects. Categories include Pathfinder Generative AI Award and Go Further, Faster, with awards ranging from $50,000 to $200,000.
   • Application Window: Open from May 3rd to June 3rd, these grants provide financial support, promotional credits, and implementation guidance.

4. Black Lives Matter vs. Tides Foundation:

   • Lawsuit: The BLM Global Network is suing the Tides Foundation for allegedly diverting $33 million meant for them. The case raises questions about fiscal sponsorship and fund allocation.
   • Fiscal Sponsorship: George explains the benefits and potential pitfalls of fiscal sponsorship for nonprofit organizations.

5. Feel-Good Story: Arizona Champions of Change:

   • Awards: Arizona Big Media announces finalists for the Champions of Change awards, highlighting visionary nonprofit leaders in the state. This initiative underscores the importance of recognizing local heroes in the nonprofit sector.

Critical Insights:

• Google's Update: Nonprofits must closely monitor their organic traffic and adapt their SEO strategies to maintain visibility. Regular traffic reports and proactive adjustments are essential.
• Philanthropic Shifts: Changes in leadership at major foundations like the Gates Foundation can have wide-reaching effects on funding and strategic priorities.
• Grant Opportunities: Nonprofits should explore tech-centric grants like AWS Imagine Grants to innovate and modernize their operations.

Call to Action:

• Nonprofits should review their organic traffic metrics and SEO strategies in light of Google's core update.
• Explore grant opportunities and consider applying for AWS Imagine Grants to boost tech infrastructure.
• Recognize and celebrate local nonprofit leaders through community awards and initiatives.

Our guest Greg Baldwin, CEO of VolunteerMatch discusses the historical drop in volunteering in 2020. Overnight listings and attendance to in-person volunteering events fell off a cliff as stay-at-home orders rolled across the country in March. VolunteerMatch has released Quarterly updates on the state of US volunteering that we discuss. 

There were some spikes in virtual volunteering but as Greg puts it "You can't build a house over ZOOM". There are many reasons to be optimistic for a V-shaped recovery as vaccines roll out and a potential surge of people ready, willing, and able are more motivated than ever to volunteer in the US. 

 

 

Alex Wirth, Co-founder & CEO of Quorum.us - a leading public affairs software that helps map, track, change, and report on policy landscape, shares insights into advocacy approaches that will work in 2023.

Alex ranks: Twitter, IRL meetings, calling, letters, videos, Meta, and billboards as just some of the methods advocacy organizations can be using to get the attention of representatives.  

 

He shares why buying Donor Voter files may be obsolete in the new advocacy landscape. 

 

About Alex

Alex Wirth is the Cofounder and CEO of Quorum, a public affairs software platform that enables organizations to launch grassroots advocacy campaigns, manage stakeholder engagement, and monitor dialogue in Washington, Brussels, all 50 states, and thousands of cities around the U.S.

 

 

Rough Transcript

[00:00:00] audio1717820249: Today on the podcast, we have a returning guest, a returning guest that we had on a few years ago. His name is Alex Worth, the co-founder and c e o at Quorum. Uh, quorum is a public affairs software helps you work smarter, move faster. Thousands of public affairs officials use quorum and their work to Congress.

[00:00:44] My short hot take on it is it helps you connect with Congress and has an amazing database and functionality prior. To that, uh, he did happen to graduate from Harvard, as I understand it, and he was an intern at , the White House. Uh, and the office of the Chief of staff, uh, has also spent time as a global shaper.

[00:01:04] And a board member on the Economic Club of Washington, among other things. Uh, but Alex is also one of the folks that I've known since back in the day, and I respect his work and his persistence in, in staying with, uh, staying with the organization and building it over time. So, Alex, welcome and, and thanks for coming back.

[00:01:25] Awesome. Thanks for having me. Well, I hopefully didn't confuse people too much about Quorum, but what is your elevator pitch and explaining what Quorum does in the world of political advocacy? Yeah, so we're a public affairs software platform, uh, that is used by public affairs professionals at major companies, trade associations, nonprofits, uh, little bit of federal government work to track everything that's happening on Capitol Hill.

[00:01:56] All 50 state legislatures help communicate up to members of congress. Um, we collect both the official and staff contact information and have the tools to be able to get email messages to those staff. And then also we have a whole series of grassroots advocacy technology to help individuals write their member congress, tweet their member, call their member, run massive mobilization campaigns.

[00:02:18] And we are currently working to bring a brand new pack product to market to help, uh, third party packs, both collect and raise. Manage their individual bank accounts and records and then issue disbursements to lawmakers to participate in the political process. So the quick way to think of us and our goal is to be the one stop shop for all the efforts that an advocacy team needs to engage on Capitol Hill in Brussels or in any of the state capitals across the country.

[00:02:45] Yeah. It's pretty impressive. And before we, we pressed record, you were telling us, um, about Capital Canary. Right? You were, you were able to, to pull them into your. Feature suite and what has that capability? Yeah, so this has been the really exciting update for us, uh, from the last year is that we did acquire Capital Canary, which is the new name for the phone to action business, which sends more messages to Capital Hill than any other technology platform out there.

[00:03:15] Uh, phone to Action on average sends about 25 million messages a year to Capitol Hill, and so we combine forces with them, uh, at the end of September of this past fall. And overnight both doubled in size for the number of clients we serve and that we're working now with 2000 organizations, including hopefully some listeners, uh, on this call, but also as a result of that, have been able to double the size of our research and development team.

[00:03:41] So we're incredibly excited to be working combined as we think about innovations with advocacy and advocacy technology rather than against each other, taking the same teams to build the same features on multiple different platforms. And we're pretty excited about what the future's gonna be able to bring from.

[00:03:58] Well, last time we talked, I feel like you were really opening my eyes, our audience's eyes, to the impact that Twitter was really starting to have. And mind you, we were pre pandemic, we were PreOn Musk coming into Twitter town, and I felt like you really were helping us understand that there are, you know, I guess a hierarchy.

[00:04:21] A hierarchy of ways that elected officials and you know, really their staff. Are are listening to constituents and I'm, I'm wondering, maybe we could just revisit that. What is your current hierarchy of high to low attention? No attention for messaging, elected officials, representatives. Yeah, so to start with the Twitter piece one, you were spot on.

[00:04:49] Twitter has taken off since we last talked, and a lot of that was as a result of the pandemic of you had members of Congress, state legislators, mayors who are used to being out with people in their constituents, stuck at home, not able to meet everyone, anyone. And wanting to show that they are being relevant and share as much information as they can with constituents.

[00:05:10] And so we saw the number of social media messages from elected officials skyrocket in 2020. I mean, just a full jump, um, as the pandemic and lockdown hit. Um, and so there's been more definitely usage of the platforms. I think the other component to it is, I do agree with Elon Musk's comments that Twitter really is a digital town square, and I think you see that very significantly in the policy influence participation journalism and advocacy worlds that exist on Twitter and that many of us, including me, follow along, but that we see members of congress, journalists, policy, influencers, actively participate in.

[00:05:51] And the example that I think is helpful to share is that almost every state legislature in the country, Has a given hashtag for the individual legislative session. I was born and raised, uh, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My dad happens to be a state legislator so I know it well. Uh, and in New Mexico the hashtag is hashtag nm ledge.

[00:06:09] And the best way to get information about what's going on in the State House during session is following on the hashtag nm ledge. Cause you have people that are in the gallery. You have reporters sharing what the information they have. You've got leadership sharing, Hey, we're gonna be on the floor of the House of Senate.

[00:06:24] This bill is moving, party's sharing what's up next. And you can't get information that quickly, that accurately and from that many people anywhere else. And so that same level of conversation that's happening, New Mexico is happening in all 50 states. But also then it's happening on key issues here in Washington DC and it presents a really significant opportunity for advocacy organizations to participate in.

[00:06:48] Stuff. Yeah. Because frankly, it's, you know, love it or hate it. We're not here to litigate the, you know, week by week changes that Musk is putting out there. The, the truth is that it's, uh, an open, trusted platform to the extent that identities and we understand the identities of representatives and people that have been able to burnish their reputations with consistency on the platform are able to report on things like bills progress, uh, and political means, and.

[00:07:18] And one of the questions I actually had for you is around the fact that, you know, recently, you know, we were recording this in January of 2023, uh, change of allowing political ads in political organizations to, to run ads. Now on, on Twitter has, you know, the, the ban has been lifted. What are your thoughts on the, the implications of that or opportu.

[00:07:41] Yeah, so I think there's huge opportunities you think about reaching policy makers and their staff in that it is possible to geofence state capital, the US Capitol, a given agency, and run publical or public policy related Twitter ads to those organizations. I think that is some of the biggest opportunity and impact.

[00:08:03] and the Great Washington story that I, I've heard over the years is there was an official at the Department of Transportation that was needed to approve an airline route from one country in Europe to the us and it was held up with a singular individual official, and the public policy firm in DC figured out where the official lived.

[00:08:23] Figured out the exact direction that their apartment window faced out of, found the billboard that they look at every day, and went and bought just that one billboard and talked about the benefits of opening up this airline . And literally the official had to stare at it for a month or a month and a half, and then suddenly the approval came through.

[00:08:42] And so that's obviously like the really old school way of doing things. And that story is probably from 10 plus years ago. But that is now possible again on Twitter with public policy and political advertising. And it makes a difference because these elected officials are looking at it. They're watching and seeing what's happening and going on, and so you wanna be at the platform that they're on.

[00:09:02] And it's a lot more cost effective to do than that, than try and advertise to everyone that's gonna be watching Super Bowl Sunday and like hope you get the elected officials that are also gonna be watching as well. So I want to come back to my question about hierarchy. So at the top of the hierarchy, Billboards in front of the windows of representatives, number one.

[00:09:23] What is number? In person meetings. Um, and I think that that is something that very much got lost in Covid. Um, members of Congress did love to do zoom meetings cuz they could be many more places at once, much more efficiently. But there is something about sitting next to someone in person explaining your story, saying, I traveled to Washington or the state capitol from whatever county or state it may.

[00:09:51] And giving that pitch and, and giving that conversation. I think the third one that I would put out there is video. Uh, and this is something that we're seeing much more cutting edge within the last year and a half, is video story banking. So pulling in and having individual advocates or members or donors record, what does the organization mean to you?

[00:10:11] Why is this policy issue important? How are you being impacted? Buy this change or buy a covid lockdown. And then organizations stringing that together to be able to play to an individual legislator or lawmaker or appointed official and say, let me show you how your constituents are having an impact.

[00:10:28] And it feels really raw when someone's sitting in their car with a cell phone video and sharing that. And that's been pretty impactful. I've probably put Twitter, um, close to number four. And the reason for that is that we have seen an increase in members of Congress who are personally tweeting themselves on the platform.

[00:10:47] Um, and that's one of the big things that we've expected to happen just as we've had both, you know, more younger members of Congress become elected, but also more members adopted. And one of the interesting things from our annual social media report, Is that some of our most prolific tweeters in Congress are actually the older members themselves.

[00:11:04] Um, and so we're seeing, you know, individuals look towards that example and realize this is the way that you communicate with constituents. And let me tell you, we've all used the Twitter app. You know, when you're mentioned and you know, when you're talked about. And it's a little bit along the lines of, you know, what people are saying about you, not behind your back, but on a public town square.

[00:11:22] Like, you're gonna click on that and see how you're mentioned and see how you're being discussed. And so I think that has a huge impact that oftentimes can go overlooked as a way to be able to reach and, and get to a member of Congress. That's a sort of self-aware sentiment that I'm sure they're all using tracking applications.

[00:11:41] And last time I dug into this, there are very, you know, smart apps that are, that can be used to track these things and manage messages. And so that's up there. So it's interesting because it feels like it, it's moved up the rank, you know, looking back, we were talking about calls and letters, you know, where, where does that communication medium fall for?

[00:12:01] Yeah, so calls are still key, um, and certainly have an impact. I mean, if you can have a hundred people call a legislative office in a given day, that's really big. Now the challenge is that staff picks that up, not the member. There are some great stories, a members that'll occasionally do a little time phone banking and someone calls and suddenly, if they're a member of Congress on the phone.

[00:12:22] But you know, that's one in a million um, calls that it happens. And so members do, and I was a congressional intern, you know, get a sheet every day of here are the top issues that we're called about. And the key piece there is doing it all in one day so that you're at the top of the list. Because having a hundred people call over a month, you're gonna have five, six calls a day.

[00:12:40] It's not gonna be as effective as everyone in one given day. Um, I still think that personalized letters really do have a pretty big impact. Um, and the key piece of it is making sure that they are differentiated and on, you know, slightly different subjects than all form letters on the same thing.

[00:13:00] Because what happens behind the scenes is that members of Congress have constituent management software platforms and they can both pull and collect similar messages together and highlight that. If a message is 50% the same text, batch it all together, write, write one response, and send it. . And yes, the numbers matter, but it's different than if somebody takes the time and writes a completely customized note.

[00:13:21] You can't send a form letter to a customized note, and so then you actually have a staffer customizing a message in response, getting that approved and having that happen. Uh, and I really do believe that that starts to change some of the conversation in a congressional office because it can take an issue that no one was previously aware about and suddenly raise it to be top of mind for the office because they're spending time writing and customized and thoughtful.

[00:13:45] Mm-hmm. . So you would still put Twitter above calls and differentiated, we'll call them custom letters. So I, the handwritten letter is what might give that a little bit of a run for the money. If you can deliver a handwritten letter to a member, um, that's pretty valuable. But again, the opportunity with Twitter that exists is you've got a chance to reach that elected official or policy influencer directly themselves and differentiate and also catch them in a little bit of downtime.

[00:14:13] Um, and I think that's the key thing that I would encourage and you know, it helps with both my parents being local elected officials, is they're people just like, And so members of Congress the same way they're sitting, waiting for that flight to take off to go home, do they really wanna be sitting there, you know, powering through email?

[00:14:26] No, they're probably scrolling on Twitter. And are they gonna click on the notifications tab? Of course they are like, we're all human. Um, but you know, that's a different experience than if you're a state legislator and you're trying to go through email as fast as possible. Like it may not have that same component or piece to it.

[00:14:43] Um, that getting the direct in front of and, and on the Twitter platform. . All right. Any other honorable mentions out there? You know, the, the case for Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, fill in the blank. You know, I won't talk about Mastodon because I feel like that is a moment in time. Yeah, we're cer We certainly see some members that are active on Facebook at the congressional level that use it even more than Twitter.

[00:15:10] Um, I think, you know, anecdotally we'll see more form posts or posts that it feels like come from staffers and are a little less personalized. Um, than Twitter. We, interestingly enough, see more state legislators have Facebook accounts, uh, than Twitter accounts. It's about 75% have a Facebook account and little over 50% have a Twitter account.

[00:15:33] Uh, and that's where they do end up using it a little bit differently. But the medium of the platform is just harder of saying, oh, you're gonna comment on an. Uh, in, you know, sending someone a Facebook message to page, it just doesn't work the same way that Twitter does. And, and that's part of, I think, you know, the relevance of Twitter and also where I have to say long term, you know, I am bullish on Twitter continuing to be around because you have all the users and people on it, and it's designed in a way.

[00:16:03] that is very user friendly and also very personal. That is a, you know, way for an individual to communicate. Whereas I think when you look at some of the other platforms, there are many more uses for them. And so as a result things become harder where, you know, TikTok is not gonna be the best way to, to reach your legislator.

[00:16:19] I mean, are they allowing government officials on TikTok anymore? I know there's certain bands talked about for, uh, government employees on the platform. Um, namely because China is literally probably used to spy, manipulate popul. Yeah. So I know certainly that's been talked about for federal, uh, executive branch employees.

[00:16:39] Um, I am not as familiar, um, with the rules that are currently happening in Congress, but realizing is a different branch of government. Oftentimes we will see different rules, um, that are applied to congressional staff. Um, but I don't have the answer top of mind. Gotcha. Alrighty. I wanna talk about what you're seeing.

[00:16:59] 2023. In terms of tactical trends, there's an organization listening right now saying we are, you know, going to be gearing up. There's the, you know, the new elected officials in office. We're trying to get our, you know, lobbying and advocacy straight for 2023. What are the types of activities that you see being planned for, that you think are going to be.

[00:17:22] Yeah. So first off, it's state level, state level, state level, state level. And the reason for that is we now have a divided government here in Washington with Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House. And so the general mood in town is that not a whole lot is going to happen here over the course of the next two years.

[00:17:41] Uh, and where are things gonna happen? Things are gonna happen at the state level because you've got state houses. Both on the democratic side and the Republican side, where you have either Republicans or Democrats in complete control of both chambers as well as the governorship that wanna enact policy and want to go, and Bills can move fast and they're able to do things.

[00:18:01] And so it is incredibly important to have a state level advocacy strategy because there's both an opportunity for a lot of wins, but also there's an opportunity to, that you need to be aware and be playing defense because any of your opponents are gonna be really active. on that state level as well. Um, so I think that's part one.

[00:18:20] Um, part two of that is thinking a little bit about how do you build a thoughtful and engaged advocacy program to succeed in Washington in the long term. Uh, and it's a pretty exciting time because we're about to. Start thinking about the 2024 presidential election cycle and also what does Congress look like in 2025 during the next cycle.

[00:18:42] And there's a world that, you know, we could be back with one party control. There's a world, we could have a new president and a new administration, and there's a world that we could still be in divided government, but that as we are ramping up for that, now is the time to be planning those strategies in.

[00:18:56] For 2024. And when talking about strategy, I'm talking about things like voter education. What are the campaigns that you're gonna be running when everyone's talking about the presidential election cycle, and how are you helping your advocates and your donors and your employees and your members register to vote, find their polling places?

[00:19:11] There are some super innovative programs that I've seen nonprofits do targeting campaign staff. Targeting individuals who are running for president and making sure that they are very known. So one of the most simple ones is just simply to go wear your nonprofit's t-shirt and go volunteer for a presidential or congressional candidate and make sure they know that on that given day the phone bank is 50 people from this organization.

[00:19:35] They're gonna notice, and these elected officials and presidential candidates are gonna be way closer to the voters than they are during most times of the year. And then figuring out bigger picture, like how are you gonna position your issues both in the election cycle, but as well as in the presidential cycle?

[00:19:51] So that they're top of mind when either, you know, the administration is reelected or new congress comes in so that you're off and running in 2025. And I think it's really about playing the long game at the federal level. Um, that becomes so important. And then the last thing that I'll share, Just on thinking about 2023 and the advocacy side is it's all about integration.

[00:20:11] I think in the past we've seen a lot of very siloed efforts and siloed technology platforms. So you use one thing to send things out and you use another thing to do advocacy, and you use another thing for tracking. Um, and it ends up with data being lost, really clunky, lot of time doing downloads and uploads and what we're seeing both with Quorum as well.

[00:20:34] Other platforms out there is that integration so that you have more one-stop shops and that your data lives together connects together, um, and that you're able to leverage the full benefits from it.

[00:20:56] I have a random question. Can you explain data, data voter files to me as though I were a seven year?

[00:21:06] Yes. So when you are 18 and you get to register to. You go and give information to your county clerk about where you live, who you are, your age, and that information is compiled in a publicly available record that you are registered to vote, and then that record is accessed by campaigns candidates.

[00:21:37] Policy organizations and advocacy groups, and they can use that very simple information, most notably your home address, to attach a whole series of additional information to you based sometimes on algorithms and sometimes on other anonymized data. So for example, if you give your home address to go. For a hunting magazine, they can tag you as likely interested in hunting.

[00:22:07] And so when you get a mailer from your candidate or uh, elected official that's talking about the work that they're doing on access to guns and hunting. You can bet that the person that cares about environmental issues or cares about gun control is not also getting that same mailer, and so it lets a series of both hyper targeting from mail, but also from digital ads occur in an anonymized fashion that protects an individual from being exposed by, or being known for the fact that they subscribe to a hunting magazine and may care about.

[00:22:47] I was wondering, I've seen some organizations, you know, when it's time to jump into the advocacy fray, think that like, step one is I buy this absurdly expensive donor file and then I do the advocacy. I, I, um, I'm curious of what your thoughts are on where that fits in the strategy versus, you know, looking at it from a different lens.

[00:23:14] Yeah, I, I love this question. So I've spent this morning with, um, two Quorum customers as we've started off the year and done just strategic planning around their advocacy campaigns. And one of the comments from breakfast this morning was that 2015 was the era of buying big lists. And this organization bought a massive list of.

[00:23:37] Suddenly had all these people on their contact program, and now five years later, what they're seeing is these people aren't active. Their sending domain and reputation is going down. People aren't engaging because they never signed up and never wanted to be a part of it. And so that era of big list buying and just adding people in is over.

[00:23:57] It is all about having a trusted brand or trusted network of communication of someone that you know. And getting individuals to take action through that. And one of my favorite examples of this, uh, is American Airlines, uh, a company that I am, uh, quite a big fan of as being a frequent flyer. Uh, but they're also phone to action customer.

[00:24:21] And about four or five years ago when they were facing some of the challenges with air traffic control staffing and the f AA funding and where we gonna have enough air traffic controllers, they sent out an advocacy alert to all their frequent flyers, myself included saying, You don't wanna have longer waits on the tarmac.

[00:24:38] We need to fully fund the f a and expand the number of controllers. And so suddenly you have all these frequent flyers saying, of course I'm in. Take action, write my member of Congress. And it elevates that issue. And so for organizations out there, My encouragement for you is you have to start by looking at who's on your existing list, who are your most engaged donors, advocates, event participants, individuals who are involved, and use that list to start your advocacy program and then slowly recruit people beyond that because it's about the quality that matters and not the quantity.

[00:25:10] And it goes back to behind the scenes of what the Congress. To see if you have a ton of people that don't really care, just sending and clicking a form letter, it has nowhere near the same impact as someone who really does care, taking even just two minutes to write what they personally care about. And so that's where, you know, unlike 2015, you shouldn't feel this pressure that, oh my God, I need to send 10,000 messages because 10,000 messages that say the same thing.

[00:25:34] ops is just shrug. And I'm like, yep, I've seen this before. But sending a hundred messages that are all different and super customized, like that's really impactful at the end of the day. And then ideally, you're having your in-person advocacy team go up and talk to the members and re-share those messages and say, let me tell you about your constituent who's facing this issue.

[00:25:54] Yeah. I think that's, that's helpful. I love you saying it was such a 2015 moment. It's clearly burned into your mind as you led up to the presidential elections. I. , you know, the, the expenditure on that. And the interesting thing is, you know, you're, I, I dunno what the going rate is, but it's tens of thousands of dollars depending on what you're getting, but you're not getting the permission to communicate.

[00:26:14] And, and I think that's what you're hinting at. And when you burn through that list, you are also hurting your digital reputation. You know, ending up on, on many, uh, do not send lists and ultimately the goal was missed. Um, and so what, what are some int. Planning in terms of spending, like, you know, clearly everyone will get quorum, , uh, right.

[00:26:38] But, you know, in terms of the, the outreach, what, you know, is it buying Twitter ads? That seems like, uh, an opportunity, is it spending to build up my list? Am I trying to do petitions, promote petitions? What is the, the tactic then if, if you're not buying. but earning it. Yeah, so the most easy one that we go to is Facebook Lead Ads, because Facebook still has a series of targeting that you can get pretty specific in terms of individuals with interest that you're looking for, as well as individuals that are in a given region or area that you can then connect.

[00:27:14] Through to an advocacy webpage. Uh, and so that by far is the default for organizations that are really actively looking to grow their lists and looking to invest. But I will also just go back to my big challenge is before you look externally, look internally and what are the options with your internal events and internal lists to be able to grow your pool of advocates.

[00:27:38] And what I often see happen with nonprofits is the advocacy team. Siloed in a given area that says, oh, well that's your database, that's your list. You figure out how to grow it. And the organization is sitting on a list that is way bigger and way larger for their major trade association or major individual impact summit or movement.

[00:27:57] But it says, oh no, you can't use that list to do advocacy. And I think one of the key message. To share and highlight is that advocacy can be helpful in building a more robust relationship with your members, donors, individual participants, because they're looking for ways to be involved. And I think so often what you get is fundraising teams who go, oh, well, don't even ask our donors for anything.

[00:28:19] We're already asking them to give money every year. But if you're just asking, give money, you're sitting there saying, well, what's my connection? Why am I here giving resources and dollars to it? I don't feel like I'm helping. I want to be more. And so as you can have a donor who gives money and say, oh, thank you for it.

[00:28:35] Would you be willing also help us out and take action? There's more of an attachment, more connections, and so you can build on the ladders of engagement and actually end up with, you know, larger donations, more frequent donations, and people who see the work and connection that they're funding. Rather than just get hit up for a check every single year.

[00:28:53] I think the inverse of that too is also your grassroots advocates are the best people to identify future donors from. Because asking someone to go and write a hundred dollars check, like that's a big ask. Asking someone for two minutes of their time to click a couple buttons and write their member of Congress, that's easier.

[00:29:09] And so the challenge that I would give to any of the organizations listening, Is what percent of your grassroots advocates are donating and how do you help increase that percentage? And what I think you're gonna find is, is that very few organizations turn around and actually solicit the grassroots advocates because the advocacy teams are sitting in their silos saying, oh, well we don't wanna ask them to donate money.

[00:29:28] Like we're trying to get them to do advocacy. And really what we're seeing is the best organizations are connecting the two and making it part of a cohesive engagement.

[00:29:40] final. Uh, thank you for sharing that. It's, you know, helpful to see your framing on it. I'm now curious, you know, we're talking about grassroots advocacy communication, and it's not one size fits all. I feel like when we last talked, we were in peak moments of what I will call rage politic, right? Ra ra rage messaging was all the rage.

[00:30:04] I, I, I'll go out on one and say, what? , what do you look for in terms of tactics, guidance, advice, approaches for getting people to care when clearly, uh, we are, we're even postig of political messaging at this point, so I think one, you have to make it relevant to them. Uh, people are not as interested to be stirred up or responded in, uh, Aggravated per se based on whatever the issue is on left or right, because certainly there are people there that feel that way and feel really passionately.

[00:30:44] But you also have a whole series of people that just wanna go about their lives that aren't thinking about what's happening. The state capitol aren't thinking about what's happening in Washington, and honestly probably don't even know the names of the individuals that represent them. And so the challenge for most organizations, Is, how do you phrase the messaging in a way that gets at those people who are in the middle, who and are, who are often on the sidelines.

[00:31:08] And I go back to that American Airlines example, and there's many others. If you have to make it directly relevant to them of, Hey, your life is going to be impacted because of this. And that's how you get some of the most passionate and engaged stories. Because what you end up hearing is saying, Hey, if I'm sitting on the tarmac for another three hours, I'm not home playing with my kids and I already have to travel.

[00:31:28] X number of days a week. This is the personal impact that it has on me. That's the story that you want to tell the member of Congress, not the story around government funding and whether we should spend more money or less money on the f aa and how that impacts the federal debt. Um, because it comes down of that.

[00:31:43] They wanna hear the personal stories and that's what moves. And so making clear that individuals know, you know, what is the impact for them, and making that as hyper-relevant as possible, I think leads to both the best advocacy outcomes and also the most effective. . Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Making it practical, bringing it to your backyard, you know, the sort of act local and is what you started off by saying, which is , the state.

[00:32:08] The state, state, you know, is acting in your backyard. Um, super helpful. Anything else that you wanna share regarding Quorum Cool Tactics, uses of the platform that are. I, the big one I just go back to is this is the year of integration, the year of one stop shop, and it's time to get your data working for you.

[00:32:31] Um, and both, some of that runs through the work that we're doing is we work to string together, pack information, advocacy, legislative tracking, and have that sync. But it also comes to just simply donor databases and is your donor database talking to your email platform, talking to your fundraising tools, talking to your grassroots advocacy tools, and getting all the information from those back in a, you know, circular motion so that you can learn from it and apply more analytics and information.

[00:32:55] This is something that was really probably cutting edge as we think 5, 6, 7 years ago. But now is the time to make it happen. And we're seeing a lot more organizations make changes to their technology stacks to reflect that we're in 2023 and the technology is out there. It is possible to do, but it's really comes down to a matter of having both the willpower.

[00:33:20] As well as the encouragement to know that now is the time and that you don't have to be a trailblazer to go and, and make that happen. Um, and so I would just encourage folks to really think about that because as you think about 2024 and the advocacy opportunities coming presidential election cycle, like that's the time when you need your tools to be the most effective they possibly can be.

[00:33:40] And so take the time this year to go make those investments and make those changes, uh, to be your, put yourself in a position, uh, for. . Well, thanks for that. All right, we're gonna move into some rapid fire here. Please keep your responses brief and interesting. , what is one tech tool or website that you or your organization has started using in last year?

[00:34:04] So we finally started using a chat bot on our website to engage with people who were coming to the website. Uh, we were late on this, um, from a B2B perspective, and many of you have probably been to websites looking to buy and see the little chat bot pop up. But we've seen a whole new series of engagements, conversions, and people that wouldn't normally just fill out a form on the website that we've captured through the chatbot.

[00:34:29] And so my kind of out there challenge to the listeners on this podcast is what would it look like to put a chatbot on your website? Who would you wanna try and engage with? What information would you wanna capture and can you get more people added to your organization's list or engaged than you could from just a standard email sign up?

[00:34:47] I think we've seen a lot of B2B uses for it, but I don't think we've seen as many advocacy nonprofit and even B2C uses for it, and that there's a lot of low hanging fruit there, especially with the new AI coming out. As you know, as much as you wanna trust a pre-trained AI to answer on behalf of your organization, uh, is a good point though.

[00:35:07] tech issues. You are battl. Yeah, so we just bought Capital Canary, doubled in size overnight and literally had two of every system. Now, sometimes they were the same system in that we had two instances of Salesforce. Sometimes they were totally different. We had an instance of churn zero and an interest of Gainsight.

[00:35:25] For our customer software, uh, we have HubSpot and we have Marketo. And so we are currently in the middle of a major, major push to both select go forward systems and integrate so that we're operating as a combined business. And the advice and kind of mandate that I gave our team is that we don't wanna be Southwest Airlines.

[00:35:45] When you look at the challenges Southwest ran into at the end of December of 2022, they have not upgraded their technology yet the way that they need to. And so you saw a massive meltdown as a result of it. And I think that all organizations need to take a moment and just look within and say, do we have the technology infrastructure that we need to scale as we look to grow and expand our operations, or even keep the operations going right now?

[00:36:09] Because the, you know, if Southwest Airlines is culpable of not having the technology, I know that there's a lot of organizations out there that may be looking and saying, yeah, my tech really isn't working for me, so we're up to our next, just because of combining two businesses together and doing it. But I'm really excited because I know we're gonna come out stronger with more advanced tech than if we hadn't done the combination.

[00:36:32] What is coming in the next year that has you the most? Yeah, so we're launching a brand new pack product to help pack professionals run, manage, and distribute contributions from their pack. It's gonna be the first new software in the market in 20 years, and so we both have an incredible amount of excitement to come into a market that just has not seen a whole lot of innovation.

[00:36:56] And also we have customers that are really. Excited about for what that's going, uh, to bring. And then for us, it's the last leg of the stool on the integrated product strategy of finally putting together federal and state legislative tracking, grassroots advocacy, impact management at one place. So that's certainly gonna be, uh, a highlight for us.

[00:37:16] Can you talk about a mistake that you made earlier in your career that shapes the way you do things? So the biggest business mistake that I've made is signing a new office lease in downtown DC where I sit now. Uh, and I share this because I think organizations really need to think differently about both their office space and their work strategy.

[00:37:39] We signed this lease three months into Covid, so probably. Uh, probably a year or so after we last talked and, um, you know, we were focused in betting on a rebound of coming together and coming back to the office. We now have a fully remote development team, and about 35% of our team is fully remote and lives outside of dc And even for the folks that live in DC people are not coming into the office the same extent that they normally do.

[00:38:05] Now, luckily as a company we doubled in size, and so the amount that we're paying is a small percentage of our overall budget each year. But still, when you sit in 28,000 square feet of office space and have 30, 40 people coming in, you realize that is this really the best use of money? And is this also no longer is the way that you engage, retrain, uh, at attract and, you know, help, uh, skill and motivate team members, uh, because it's a whole new world.

[00:38:35] Uh, and so I really think that both has changed the way that I look at the world, both of how we operate as an employer in an organization. But also, you know, I was even in a board meeting, um, earlier this week of folks that are planning to renew their office and, you know, thinking really is that the best sentence?

[00:38:52] And looking at what are the other options? What can you do with less space? Can you do more flexible working? And that the way of working as much as I loved it or others may have that we've done for the last 50 years has completely changed with the pandemic and that we've gotta adapt our strategies to that.

[00:39:10] do you believe that nonprofits can successfully go out of. . Absolutely. So one of the things that we initially met through do something.org, uh, which is just an incredible organization, uh, working on efforts and getting more young people engaged in making a difference. And one of the things that I think do something really framed for me is this ideal of social impact and doing it in a way that.

[00:39:38] Funded by organizations that are looking to make a difference or by donors, um, that are looking to achieve a particular outcome that's clearly measured. And I think the same way that businesses can go out of business, if they're not consumers that are willing to pay for it or customers that are interested in the service.

[00:39:56] Uh, nonprofits should be able to successfully go out of business either because, one, they've solved the problem and so there's no more need to pay for that individual code or service. Or two. I think it's also okay to. And look at the number of startups out there that have tried to do successful things and the number that fail as a result of that.

[00:40:15] Um, and even with that, it's clear that hey, there's not a market or need to it. And I think the trap sometimes that, uh, smaller organizations, even larger organizations, can fall in of what, we're a big institution. We're here, the donors keep funding it, and so let's keep finding things that we can keep getting more donations.

[00:40:32] The push that I would say is, are you really making an impact at the end of the. And one of the clearest ways to do that is if someone is willing to pay dollars or services or time for what you're doing, even if it's a small amount, because that gives an indication that you know what you're doing is, is successful.

[00:40:48] And then the best ones, uh, you're eventually gonna run it out of that because hopefully you've solved your individual problem. How did you get started in the social impact sector? So I was involved, uh, in local youth advisory boards. Uh, I served on the Santa Fe Mayor's Youth Advisory Council, uh, and eventually chaired it for two years and gave me really a chance to start thinking bigger and broader around the community.

[00:41:13] And then realized that there was a whole series of opportunities to work with organizations that informed youth advisory boards do something. Dot org was one of those, uh, and had the chance to be on the do something youth advisory board. Uh, and then I sat there thinking about it and saying, look, we've got a whole series of governors, a whole series of members of Congress that have youth advisory councils.

[00:41:29] Why doesn't the president, uh, have one? And so I ran a campaign for probably four or five years to try and get a presidential youth council. Uh, we got this close, but ultimately, uh, we're not successful. With it. But what it really taught me was how to start and run an organization. How do you get people signed on?

[00:41:48] How do you delegate tasks? How do you put a website up? How do you send out email updates? Uh, basically everything but a whole ton on the financial side. Uh, and what I realized is that social entrepreneurship was one of the best lessons that I could have ever wished for, for doing actual entrepreneurship because as we were founding and launching the company, it felt really familiar and it was something that I'd.

[00:42:09] You know, a couple of years before, just in the social side for the Presidential Youth Council. Yeah. It's funny, I rare aside that, yeah, it is how we met. I'm getting flashbacks. I don't know if I was directly running it at that point, but I do recall at one point it might do something career, uh, needing to arrange a bunch of kids coming to New York, going to and from hotels to our office.

[00:42:31] I don't know if you were part of that adventure when I was running it, but that was pretty funny. Yeah, I remember it. , I'm glad I didn't lose you in the , the subway. Uh, alright. If I could put you in a hot tub time machine back to the beginning of your work, what advice would you give?

[00:42:54] So I think one of the hardest pieces is you have to be prepared to give things up. And there's a great article called Giving Away Your Legos. Um, but you have to train yourself and learn that you have to constantly be pushing and giving things to other people as you grow and scale. . And that's really hard because when you're a small organization, you have all the Legos and you know, the Legos are super, super fun to play with.

[00:43:20] But as you scale more and more Legos start falling on your plate and you have to start giving away your favorite Legos and that you can no longer send the emails or collect the invoices or spend all the time with customers or do these items and you need a team around that has their own Legos that they're playing with.

[00:43:35] But all those have to start with you. And so I think one of the most challenging lessons is we've scaled. Is learning, okay, how do you give away your favorite Lego set and say, I'm no longer involved in doing that, or I'm not gonna go do X. And that's a really core part of scaling that I think founders definitely struggle with because you care, you're passionate, you're engaged, uh, and I think also applies for individuals, even if you didn't found organizations.

[00:44:00] What are you doing that you can give your new team member that just joined or be able to delegate or give back to someone else to let you really spend time focusing on the things that matter the most? Uh, and that's been one of the most helpful framing things that we've learned over our eight and a half years of doing this.

[00:44:16] That's so funny. There's part of my brain that's saying Absolutely right. , you have to eve away tho those types of things. And the other part of me is saying, I don't want to give away my Legos. I think there is, you know, speaking to somebody who's approaching a decade of work in the organization, I think there are some Legos that I will say you have to hold onto because it fuels you in some part, because otherwise you're just left with all the little gray pieces that don't really match or anything.

[00:44:37] And you're like, these Legos stink. I don't like this Jack. So I'll put an asterisk on that. Alrighty, . Very fair. . What is, what is something you think you or your organization should stop? Uh, the number of meetings that we have. I am a big believer in the book time, talent, energy, and I think the shocking thing that the book starts out of is you have all these organizations, many listeners too, who have large finance departments that are really concerned when you go spend a hundred or a thousand dollars on something and all the approvals that are involved.

[00:45:13] Well, most organizations', largest expense is the salary. For their headcount, and each individual each hour of the day has a cost associated with it. But yet, so often you see, oh, let's put 10 people in a meeting, and suddenly you're looking around and you're running a $500 or a thousand dollars meeting.

[00:45:31] And most organizations, including ours, Don't have a whole series of protocols in place that limit the number of meetings or put standards around meetings the same way that you have to get your expense report approved or a budget approved. And so I certainly would love to see us reduce the number of meetings, reduce the number of people in meetings, and be more intentional about when we get together.

[00:45:52] But it is a fight that I've fought for many years and it is a challenge because we as humans wanna socialize. Wanna see each other and default to that, and also wanna be inclusive, and so add more and more people and suddenly you've got 15 boxes on a Zoom screen and it ends up being a pretty significant cost to the organization.

[00:46:13] What advice did your parents give you that you either followed or didn't follow? I love, I love this question. So, when I first told my mom, uh, that I was going to start a startup at Quorum to track what was happening on Capitol Hill, uh, her immediate response is she goes, oh, well that sounds like a nice thing to do between college and graduate school.

[00:46:34] Rest assured, both my parents are lawyers that would've loved for me to have gone to law school. Um, I did not have the opportunity to go to graduate school. I'm very happy to be here in growing the business. Uh, and so that, uh, immediately comes to mind because look, founding a company, Or a social, uh, impact effort or a nonprofit can be scary and you've gotta jump off and have confidence.

[00:46:56] And if you spend enough time working towards it and iterating, you will eventually get there, even if it's not the idea that you started on. If I were to hand you a magical wand wave across the social impact sector, what would it do? So for us, we're always interested in more government data, more information published online, more information in machine readable form, and more transparency, uh, that happens every day, uh, on both state governments and, and the political process.

[00:47:27] I think there's a ton of opportunities at the state government level of just being able to pull in much more information around the individual proceedings on the floor amendments, agendas, and committee hearings. Some state governments have individual transcripts of what's happening on the floor and committee sessions, and so there is huge opportunity, but oftentimes we'll see government organizations trying to hold it back where they don't want to give too much information to the public.

[00:47:51] They don't want to invite too much participation, and so that's the big area that I would love to take a magic wand and just fix that and make the government more accessible. What advice would you give college grads looking to enter the social impact? So my big advice would be go follow your passions.

[00:48:12] Go do the thing that you are most excited about doing, and that gets you up every day, even if it is not the given chosen path or the one that might be most exciting. And it's really interesting. Well, that most exciting, but most financially rewarding. When I look at my college classmates now, about eight years out, the ones that really went out and followed their passions, did the most risky things that at the time we graduated.

[00:48:38] You said, well, why aren't you going to take the really high paying. Consultant or financial job or going to law school and doing the traditional thing. Um, those are the folks that I think are both most successful and most fulfilled currently in their careers. And that is something that when you are leaving college at a given and current moment, you have this pressure of where everyone else is making high salaries and going to, you know, go work in business or go work in Wall Street or going to go do X or Y and a big encouragement that you will.

[00:49:09] Financial success, you will find fulfillment. You will find what's right. It might take you a little while to get there, but your twenties are the time to do that. And so use that time to explore because you'll end up with just a much more fulfilling career and you'll have more opportunities to pivot within it than say you will, you know, going into one of the more traditional paths.

[00:49:29] Well, Alex, thank you so much. Final question. How do people find you? How do people. Yeah, so we're super easy. Um, quorum.us. My email's just Alex quorum us. Uh, more than happy to be helpful. So if you're looking at your nonprofit technology and just want someone to talk to, certainly happy to bounce ideas off.

[00:49:48] Uh, if you're figuring out your advocacy strategy for next year or looking for advocacy software, we're certainly here. Uh, and happy to talk and in general, you know, looking to be able to give back to the community because I think it's so important that we help each other and realize that there's a lot of advice, uh, and favors and help that we've been given over the years.

[00:50:04] That's let us build the company, uh, and looking to see more people do that with NGOs, social impact movements, uh, and startups. Uh, thanks for the work you're doing in the sector. We appreciate it and good luck this year. Awesome. Thanks so much for having me on, George.

 

Nonprofit news summaries for June 7th

 

Direct mail price hikes and a push for transparency in politics by nonprofits.

USPS Price Increase May Lead To Headache For Nonprofits

The United States Postal Services (USPS) has filed for an increase in prices averaging nearly 6.9% system-wide, according to the Nonprofit Times. As many nonprofit organizations still rely on direct mail strategies for reaching donors, the average increase of 7.8% for Nonprofit Marketing Mail (NMM) could prove to be disruptive for organizations seeing slim net fundraising revenue from mail outreach. A decrease in mail volume of over 28% over the last decade has put the USPS in an awkward position, forcing it to balance public service with ever-decreasing revenue.

Read more ➝ Political Data Transparency Nonprofits Merge To Form OpenSecrets

Two leading “money-in-politics” accountability nonprofits, the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP), have merged to form OpenSecrets, a “state-of-the-art democratic accountability organization.” This announcement comes on the heels of a contentious 2020 election that far surpassed previous elections in terms of spending. “This merger brings together decades of expertise, massive data sets, and the kind of analysis that researchers, journalists, advocates and individuals rely on to understand the influence of spending on politics,” according to OpenSecrets Executive Director Sheila Krumholz. Nonprofits, PACs, and other advocacy organizations operating within this space should pay attention to increasing calls for (and expectation of) financial transparency.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Once a Bastion of Free Speech, the A.C.L.U. Faces an Identity Crisis
• Black-led nonprofit receives 'reparations payment' from slaveholder's descendant
• Charity: Water launches celebrity-funded Bitcoin Water Trust
• 50 brands giving back to the LGBTQ community
• Hackers Stole $650,000 From Nonprofit and Got Away, Showing Limits to Law Enforcement’s Reach
• Nonprofit 'spokescat' saving the world one post at a time

 

 

Inside the Movement to Ban Lab-Grown Meat | Mother Jones  

Nonprofits like the Good Food Institute are stepping into the fray, advocating against bans on cell-cultured meats and pushing for progress in alternative proteins, arguing that stifling this nascent industry could hinder innovation and fails to advance health or safety. These organizations emphasize the potential environmental benefits of lab-grown meats, considering the significant methane emissions from livestock, and seek to safeguard the freedom of consumers and businesses in the food system. Their involvement underscores the critical role nonprofits play in shaping food policy and promoting sustainable solutions in the face of legislative challenges that could impact the future of food and the environment.

 

 

 

Tax exemption on catered fundraiser meals for nonprofits

 

Michigan House Bill 5596 is on the legislative menu, and it's serving up potential savings for your next big event. This bill is all about dishing out a tax exemption for catered meals at nonprofit fundraisers, which could slice a nice piece off the costs of hosting those grand soirees. If this bill gets the legislative thumbs-up, nonprofits could find themselves plating extra cash towards their mission-critical programs instead of forking it over in taxes. It's a fiscal move that could have nonprofits saying "Bon Appétit" to more effective budgeting and amplified community impact.

Host Kariesha Martinez interviews Cami Hawkins, CEO of Austin-based non-profit, Marathon Kids, to talk about her experience creating a flexible workspace and how other organizations can implement one for their employees. 

Cami discusses:

• Job share: For increased flexibility, Cami has hired people on a job share basis which entails hiring two people to do one job, each working 20 hours a week.

• How she adapted during COVID: Marathon Kids already offered a flexible work culture, but she has made it even more flexible by letting people take off during the day to help their kids with school.

Marathon Kids engages kids in a positive, simple, goal-driven program that challenges them to run the equivalent of up to four marathons over the course of a season or school year. It allows kids of all abilities to unlock their potential, one mile at a time.

Nonprofitnewsfeed.com

Title: Nonprofit News Highlights: IVF Information, NRA Verdict, and Deforestation Crisis

In this week's edition of Nonprofit News Feed, we dive into three major stories that are making headlines in the nonprofit sector. From the legal implications of IVF to the NRA's guilty verdict, and the alarming increase in deforestation, these stories highlight the ongoing challenges and opportunities for nonprofits in our society. Join us as we explore the key details and implications of each story.

IVF Information: A Legal Debate with Nonprofit Ramifications

In Alabama, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court has put multiple IVF clinics on edge. The court's decision defines frozen embryos as legally "unborn children," raising concerns and potential criminal repercussions for clinics offering IVF treatments. This ruling has sparked a heated debate, with house Republicans and other political figures coming out against it.

Beyond the political debates, non-profit organizations like Planned Parenthood are advocating against the ruling, fearing its consequences on abortion rights and personhood laws. Planned Parenthood highlights the potential ripple effect of such rulings across the country, emphasizing the need for continued advocacy and support for reproductive rights.

The NRA Verdict: Implications for Gun Rights Advocacy

In a high-profile civil corruption trial led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the NRA and its executives, including Wayne LaPierre, have been found guilty of violating their duties and causing monetary harm to the organization. The verdict could potentially result in permanent barring from charity board service for the defendants, signaling a new era of oversight in the NRA's financial affairs.

While the NRA remains a powerful lobbying group for gun rights, with significant policy implications, the verdict raises questions about its future impact. The long-term consequences of the barring from charity board service in New York remain uncertain, with potential repercussions on the organization's ability to operate and mobilize resources.

Deforestation Crisis: A Global Challenge for Climate Change

The world's efforts to curb deforestation have hit a snag, with a 4% increase in global deforestation in 2022. This alarming trend surpasses the annual target set to eliminate deforestation by 2030 by 21%. The majority of deforestation occurs in tropical regions, posing significant challenges in the battle against climate change.

The political and economic challenges faced by these countries make it difficult to protect the environment while addressing other pressing issues. Adequate funding for forest conservation falls short of requirements, hindering progress in eradicating deforestation. The need to balance economic development and environmental preservation necessitates a nuanced approach to find sustainable solutions.

Khan Academy's AI Integration: Transforming Education

In a feel-good story, Khan Academy, the renowned education platform, has leveraged AI to create an innovative tool called Con Amigo. This AI tutor integrates with Khan Academy's educational resources, offering personalized learning experiences and meeting students where they are in their educational journey.

Con Amigo addresses the challenge of differentiation in the classroom, providing specialized attention to individual students' needs. With proper guardrails and a commitment to responsible AI integration, Khan Academy's Con Amigo has the potential to transform how students learn and improve access to quality education.

In conclusion, these four stories represent crucial developments in the nonprofit world. The IVF ruling raises critical questions about reproductive rights and the implications of personhood laws. The NRA verdict highlights the consequences of mismanagement within nonprofit organizations and its impact on advocacy efforts. The deforestation crisis demands urgent action to address climate change and protect biodiversity. Finally, Khan Academy's AI integration showcases the potential of technology to enhance educational experiences and promote equity in education.

Stay tuned for more updates and insights in the evolving landscape of the nonprofit sector. Together, we can create a positive impact in our communities and address the pressing challenges of our time.

 

Amazon Sunsets AmazonSmile Amid Cost-Cutting 

The AmazonSmile will be ending by February 20th, according to a statement from the company, as reported by NPR and others. While the program dispersed nearly $449 million to nonprofits globally, the company says that the donations were spread too thin, minimizing impact. Amazon pointed to other efforts, such as its Housing Equity Fund, which supports affordable housing efforts near its headquarters, as an example of a social impact program receiving investment. However, smaller nonprofits that received AmazonSmile donations say that the donation were helpful and would be missed. The move comes after Amazon announced 18,000 layoffs, amid a winter defined by tech layoffs across the industry.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Time's Up to halt operations, shift resources to legal fund | ABC News 
• People are only just realising what happens to the money IKEA makes - and it’s blowing their minds | The US Sun
• Founder of Seattle West African immigrant nonprofit accused of embezzling millions | king5.com 
• What if school was all outside, every day? N.J. ‘nature schools’ take class outdoors, rain or shine.  NJ.com
• The Eagles thought their Christmas album would fund a toy drive. It ended up doing much more. | https://www.inquirer.com

 

 

Rough Transcript

[00:00:00] George: This week on the nonprofit news feed. Well, we are talking about turning that Amazon smile upside down. I was first off, really happy to be able to come up with that subject line. Um, not as happy that this program is ending. Uh, Nick, how's it going?

[00:00:42] Nick: It's going good. George, this is, I think, gonna be one of those weeks where we are just focused on, on one-liners and, and puns. But alas, I'll take us into the top story, which you alluded to, which is that Amazon Smile. The program that donated a PORs, uh, portion of the proceeds from purchases on Amazon to nonprofits will be coming to a close on February 20th.

[00:01:07] This comes via reporting from NPR and other outlets. And in the history of the program, it dispersed nearly 449 million to nonprofits globally. However, the company says that the donations were spread too thin, minimizing impact. That's in quotes. Um, Amazon pointed in their statement to other efforts such as its Housing equity fund to support affordable housing.

[00:01:34] Here its headquarters as an example. Of a social impact program it was investing in. However, in the articles, smaller nonprofits said that Amazon SMILE donations were helpful and would be missed. And this comes amid broader economic headwinds that the industry is facing. Amazon has announced 18,000 layoffs.

[00:01:57] Tech layoffs are now commonplace across the board. Amazon Smile more like a frown these days.

[00:02:06] George: I'm sad to see a CSR corporate social responsibility program of this magnitude get sunset in this way in short order. I've been looking on LinkedIn, um, the reactions, and some folks are saying, you know, good riddens, this was a distraction for nonprofits because it sort of baits an organization into becoming an affiliate marketer.

[00:02:30] Meaning you get a portion of the sales based on a trackable link and you're pushing product as opposed to your purpose. , I hear that. I also see 449 million, uh, across nonprofits being something meaningful now. Yeah. You spread peanut butter too thin and it turns into nothing. Right. If I were to donate that, but like, that's still just, that's a lot of money.

[00:02:55] You know, there's, um, 1.5 ish million nonprofits, so I don't, I don't know that I buy that full narrative of like, it was too small to make a difference. , it was part of, for some organizations, a balanced fiscal diet. It was a diversification of revenue streams. You know, it was something that they, they got and ideally didn't have to push too hard for.

[00:03:19] So bad thing too bad. You know, I, I, I don't think that, I'm curious why, and, and I'll maybe never know the reason of like the actual, like, is this a cost cutting? Is there just a change in csr? Did they not get enough, uh, from it? Because on the same token, it actually served them as well because guess what?

[00:03:42] Somebody was buying something from them. You know, it was the affiliate marketing strategy. It was actually pretty darn clever, and it worked so sad to see it. And hopefully there'll be a, another solution that arises, an opportunity that shows up for, for those organizations.

[00:04:02] Nick: I agree. I. It can't have cost them that much money to run though. Like that's the thing, right.

[00:04:11] George: Well, the the other thing is like you can just sign up for an affiliate link and sell things, but I think the difference also with Amazon Smile is that, You could have your supporters put Amazon Smile on their purchasing. So I had it for, for my nonprofit, and it was just, anytime I buy, I had something on Amazon.

[00:04:27] A point went that way. So I, I, maybe you need to backtrack on like affiliate marketing versus actually it was adding a layer that said, for these customers, a portion of your proceeds go back to this organization. So that is uniquely different.

[00:04:43] Nick: That's fair. That's fair. We'll continue to see if we hear more about this, maybe they'll roll out something different or new. Alas, we move along to our next story, and this one is from a ABC News and others that the Times Up organization, the Me Too, the organization born out of the Me Too movement, particularly the that one in Hollywood, um, has Hal.

[00:05:13] Operations and is shifting remaining financial resources to the Legal Defense fund. So Times Out has had a. Go of it. Fallout from associations with Andrew Cuomo and that scandal, um, and has been something of an EM battered, uh, embattled organization rather, um, over the past couple years and is now closing doors and, and shifting that money to the legal defense fund, which does, uh, provide, uh, resources for women in, in specific industries. This is kind of a weird one because it's such a high profile organization that came up very quickly. I think there's probably some lessons to be learned here. George, what are those lessons and what is your take on this?

[00:06:03] George: I wish I was smart enough to actually understand the, the full implications of of this. The different narratives that I see here, one, are the types of organizations that pop up in these. Cultural moments have a lot of headwinds. Later they start off with a disproportionate amount of attention and funding upfront, which certainly times updated and they did remarkable work, certainly around if we're looking at victims of Harvey Weinstein, and then the way that they were able to, I'd say, update the way that victims were dealt with.

[00:06:44] In these cases from a legal standpoint and a lot of achievements there, but there's a certain type of what feels like immutable. What goes up must come down type of physics here, where the speed at which with which you rise to fame. also seems to all but guarantee the fall from Grace. That is kind of like the inverse Lindy effect.

[00:07:15] The Lindy effect is if you have been here for this long, you'll probably continue to be here. Uh, coming from the. Run of show for Broadway, uh, productions that if a Broadway production had been on, you know, it's a, it's a wonder that cats ever stopped being on Broadway. Cause cats had been forever on Broadway.

[00:07:32] And it was this, this joke of like, once you're in the line cafe, you'll sort of never be removed. Um, I've gone far from the topic, I'm gonna come back to it. So the first thought, the speed with which something rises probably dictates the speed with which it falls the next. Looking at organizations that need to sort of spin up with all of the overhead, with all of the infrastructure and hiring staffing, like to create a new organization takes a lot of, of work and wealth.

[00:08:08] And the fact that now at the end of it, you know, they, they talk about, and even in this quote, very simply, the Legal defense Fund really reflects who we were, not only at our inception, but really at our core. And that's a quote from, uh, Schultzer. And that's why, you know, the, the remaining 1.7 million, which is, is quite small, uh, in the grand scheme of the size of the organization, uh, is going back to that fund.

[00:08:33] And the question I guess in my mind is, you know, the fund administered by the National Women's Law Center in Washington? Which has provided and provides legal administration help to, to workers that identify as low income and 40% of people of color. I, I'm, I'm curious as to what the world would've looked like, had times Up simply been a branch of that organization, how much more could have been applied to it and the, the learnings and the staff and that ability rolled into an existing organization rather than saying, we need a new organization.

[00:09:08] You know, could this have. A campaign or a program of that legal defense fund. Those are just questions in my mind, and it's, it's tough with an organization under this level of scrutiny. I, I have a hard time getting behind some of those decisions they made with, you know, Andrew, Andrew Cuomo and, and consulting, allegedly consulting with them behind closed doors that was then later revealed by reports.

[00:09:33] Uh, It's tough. I think nonprofits are under, uh, a much, much greater microscope and it doesn't take much to set the, set the tide in the wrong direction because you exist at the public's. Will you rely on funding and funders and if those funders are then effectively being shown. as public donors because nine 90 s are all public.

[00:09:59] We can see donors and donations. Are you then saying, oh, a large donor has to then reconsider like, wait a minute, am I supporting an organization that supported Andrew Cuomo? Not saying that that is a direct line, but all things being equal, it doesn't take much to hurt in that reputation, and it's tough for organizations that are in that frontline type of work.

[00:10:17] Nick: George, I, I think that's, that's a great point. You bring up a lot of different nuances and the threads there, and it makes me think that your nonprofits have to play by different rules than businesses, right.

[00:10:33] George: They do. You can't just go on an apology tour being like, Hey, sorry, we fired him. We're all back to normal. Like, nevermind that our news station. Maybe let this kind of go by the wayside.

[00:10:44] Nick: Yeah. Yeah. Um. Yeah, I guess we'll, we'll continue to keep an eye on this story. It'll be interesting to see how that legal defense portion of it, which is still administered by, um, that, uh, the other organization, the, the woman's um, uh, legal organization, how that all pans out. Um, so we'll keep our listeners updated, but to that end, I will take us to our next story.

[00:11:12] And this one comes. From King five.com and the founder of a Seattle West African immigrant nonprofit is accused of embezzling millions. Um, so. Uh, the, the gentleman in, in question, Issa I apologize cause I know I'm mispronouncing. That was the founder and longtime executive director of the West African Community Council or W A C C, which is based in Seattle.

[00:11:44] Um, and after decade of service, um, he was ousted, uh, on December 16th. Accused of embezzling, which is, which is, you know, terrible, terrible, um, especially, you know, people who really, really need help. And then this long article kind of goes into it, it goes into, uh, in DA's started of the story, um, as well side of the story rather, and it kind of a complicated one.

[00:12:11] But, uh, George, what's your takeaway on.

[00:12:16] George: I look. Board members for this, and this is a reminder for the fiscal responsibilities that your board members take on. And I'm not saying send this article to your board members, but if you are on a board, if you are building a board, fiscal stewardship and hiring and firing the c e o, those the primary jobs and roles of a board.

[00:12:38] And so I see this and I don't look at, you know, in the D and say, oh, what a bad actor. Like there are bad actors. One out of a thousand people, one out of 10,000 people are not the, you know, folks that you should be trusting. The job of the board is to hire and fire and make sure the right people are in there.

[00:12:56] And the fact that this was an extra bank account started in 2014, like a secret bank account, and like hundreds of thousands of dollars going through there, you know, I'm looking at auditors, I'm looking at board members looking at that, and so paying attention to those things like, oh, it can't happen. . Um, it, it is just a function of odds and, uh, again, I wouldn't have put this in here actually if it had not been for the size of the, the embezzlement.

[00:13:25] We have millions of dollars. It's, it's brutal. Uh, so it's a reminder to, to board members out there that, uh, while those finance meetings may be boring, and also the people preparing them, like, here's, here's what you're actually doing. Um, you're making sure money gets to the. The right places and you're avoiding, um, tragedies like.

[00:13:45] Nick: Absolutely. I think that's a fantastic point and we always like to keep our listeners on their toes to protect themselves from this happening at their organization. I have our next story is an interesting one. Um, Georgia. Did you know that IKEA is owned by a nonprofit?

[00:14:11] George: Here's the thing. I didn't know that Ike. Was owned by a nonprofit. Frankly, this is like a non-story story, but it's fascinating because, uh, you know, in the , the rep reputable, the US Sun , and this title says no Ikea, uh, people are only just realizing what happens to the money IKEA makes, and it's blowing their minds.

[00:14:32] I mean, first off, a plus on a hook title. But it's funny because there is a nonprofit involved and owner of the main entity. So IKEA is actually a nonprofit organization. So the money made from those, uh, you know, fund to assemble wardrobes, uh, you know, beyond paying is, is put away into, um, a nonprofit. And the charity's big mission is to further the advancement of interior design.

[00:15:01] Nick: Novo, Novo.

[00:15:03] George: uh, They're putting it out there further, the advancement of interior design. I mean, you've gotta believe in that mission, I suppose. Um, I did. I didn't have anything else here. Just I thought it was funny.

[00:15:17] Nick: it's really funny. So the detail is I e Ikea store stores are franchised by a company called, Inga Holdings, which is fully owned by a nonprofit organization called Stitching Inga Foundation. Um, yeah, I , it's kind of funny. I wanna do a deep dive on this. We need like a little mini documentary on what the hell's happening, but.

[00:15:45] Uh, I am willing to bet there is some criticism in the wonderful Scandinavian world about, uh, whether this is truly because people are passionate about, um, easy to assemble interior design pieces, or whether this is some kind of, uh, super duper clever, uh, tax loophole that is being taken advantage of.

[00:16:09] George: Yeah, I mean, look, there's some definitive, like this is a tax play very clearly. They pay according to online mba, 33 times less taxes than the average business. The Economist, the overall setup of IKEA minimizes taxes and disclosure handsomely, rewards the founding camra Cam Prad family, and makes IKEA immune to takeover.

[00:16:32] So it's interesting. That when you're saying like, this is a strategic reason, like frankly as a business owner, now you have me thinking, should a nonprofit own whole whale and suddenly we don't have to pay taxes. We have, I'm gonna go ahead and say a loftier mission then to improve, I'm sorry, I want to get it accurately to, uh, to further advance, uh, the advancement of interior.

[00:17:00] Further the advancement of interior design. So I would say ours has built a healthier, more just and sustainable world as an agency. I, uh, I don't know. One of the funnier quotes here is, uh, no wonder why you gotta put everything together yourself at Al Okaya, because they rely on a bunch of volunteers to put their stuff together.

[00:17:20] So, you know, they have a lot of volun, big volun. I have volunteered for Ikea on more than one occasion,

[00:17:29] Nick: Volunteering on for IKEA is a, a family pastime. Um, That's funny. Here's another one for you, another light story. We're, this is a good week. There's nothing too traumatic in

[00:17:42] George: I mean, just, you know, massive embezzlement, half a billion dollars of CSR stopping at Amazon. This is a good week,

[00:17:49] Nick: Yeah, this is,

[00:17:50] George: on

[00:17:51] Nick: this is a good week for

[00:17:53] George: this. Okay, you're classifying Good week on this. Okay.

[00:17:55] Nick: I, you know, maybe it's just because it's sunny out. But that is a perfect segue into our next story, where one New Jersey school asked What if school was outside all the time? Every day. So New Jersey Nature schools are taking class outdoors, rain or shine. Um, and this article talks about bundled up kindergarten students at a Star Child Nature School in Medford, New Jersey, outside collecting tree sap to make glue.

[00:18:28] Four handmade ornaments. So this is an immersive, you are outside, you are learning, you are one with nature type situation at this school. And that brings us to, uh, the relevant question of making, uh, the question of nature versus nurture ever. The more salient.

[00:18:46] George: Wow. It's, it's all, it's all nature school here. Uh, and I know some are nonprofits, some are for-profits, but there's a number of them, and I'll call out one quote here From the South Mountain Nature School, our programs promote social and emotional development and instill confidence and foster independence.

[00:19:01] Said Mary Claire Solomon. Who also in other news happens to be my sister. And so I'm incredibly proud of my sister for starting one of these nature schools, pushing through the pandemic and growing to the size that they have, uh, in New Jersey. And, you know, I get to see the, the pictures and the approach that they take in.

[00:19:23] There's, you know, that question that comes up, well, what about when it snows? And it's like, you know, there's no bad weather, just bad apparel. So they, they are out there, rain or shine. I think this is a, a really healthy way for, for young people who are inevitably going to wander into the world of screen first learning and engagement and work to realize that, you know, food comes from the ground.

[00:19:52] SAP is fun and it's, uh, it's great to see. I'm very proud of my sister, though. In other news,

[00:20:00] Nick: That's super. George did you know that's mine, hometown, A South Mountain Reservations with in walking distance from where I grew up.

[00:20:07] George: He can go over and say hi.

[00:20:09] Nick: Go over, say hi. Maybe a little too old for, uh, the Nature School thing,

[00:20:14] George: you could volunteer perhaps.

[00:20:17] Nick: love it. All right. How about a feel good story?

[00:20:21] George: Yeah. What do we.

[00:20:22] Nick: This one comes from the Philadelphia Inquirer, uh, and it's about the eagle. The team, not the group, uh, thought that their Christmas album would fund a toy drive and it ended up doing so much more. So the Philadelphia Eagles of a football and. Sports fame can tell.

[00:20:44] I follow football. Uh, thought that they were just raising a mere $30,000, um, for this charity toy drive, when in fact they raised

[00:20:59] George: Quarter million 250,000 I believe.

[00:21:02] Nick: million. Wow. Wow. Good for.

[00:21:07] George: Yeah. What it's nice is also going to be funding not just one, but two toy drives and a summer camp, uh, which. Objectively I, while I respect toy drives and I like those moments, it's great to also say, what about dealing with, uh, the summer learning gap and supporting communities when, um, when you are needing a potentially even more.

[00:21:29] So, uh, congratulations. Also, full disclosure here. Nick thought that this wasn't the team, the Eagles, but the band, uh, the Eagles. And it took him a couple of reads to realize that it was a fact about the sports ball. So Nick, I think we all learned something today.

[00:21:49] Nick: We've learned a lot.

[00:21:51] George: Have we, well, before I give you a terrible joke, I have a bit of a sponsored post here and it. A note that we are opening up our, as far as I know, we only do it once a year and it's the ad grant cohort and we're teaching. Organizations how to run the ad grant, the Google Ad grant, the thing that you get 10 K a month in in-kind ads for placing ads that drive traffic and value to your organization.

[00:22:20] We're doing a five week live cohort. This isn't pre-recorded. This is hands-on and we're sharing exactly how we run this ad grant to maximize the ROI for your organization. And so we're gonna help, uh, only I think it's limited, 25 organizations. It always sells out. Registration is now open. Uh, and you can find that link in the show notes or wander around whole whale.com/university and you'll find it there.

[00:22:47] Alrighty, question Nick, for you.

[00:22:52] Nick: Uh oh.

[00:22:53] George: Why, why did the clown donate his salary?

[00:22:57] Nick: Hmm. I don't know about the clown thing, but why did the clown donate his salary?

[00:23:02] George: Uh, it was a nice gesture.

[00:23:05] Nick: Ah, ah, ah.

[00:23:09] George: He, he laughs sometimes he doesn't know. And then we like, go off, Nick, did you actually get this one or is this gonna be the one where you like pause and you're like, I didn't get it. Explain it to

[00:23:17] Nick: I, I got this one. I'm a huge Shakespeare Stan. I, I'm very familiar with a court gesture and this was, yes, but offering to explain was as well a nice gesture. Um, cuz

[00:23:30] George: I just wanted to do it cause I feel like I cut off. I'm like, this would've been much funnier if he didn't understand it. He was like, I laugh, I don't get it. Alright. Thanks for humoring me and this is what you get for staying to the end of the podcast. Leave us a review. Thank you. Bye.

[00:23:46] Nick: Bye.

On episode 201 our host Kariesha Martinez interviews Firdaus Kharas the author of Creativity: Key to a Remarkable Life. With great nonprofit examples of how creativity has been used to save lives in public health, Firdaus shares some of the key lessons from the book. 

 

Buy the book on Amazon

 

About Firdraus Kharas

Hailed as the "modern equivalent of Dr. Seuss," Firdaus Kharas is a master global communicator and humanitarian who has influenced hundreds of millions of people's lives for the better. Desmond Tutu calls his creative work, which has been viewed by more than a billion people worldwide, "outstanding" and "powerful." A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he was named one of the world's "50 Most Talented Social Innovators" and has received more than 110 awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award.

Nonprofit news for the week of Jan 24th, 2022.

 

‘Red Flags’ At Nonprofit Backing U.S. Capitol Rioters

Experts see lots to worry about with the far-right endorsed Patriot Freedom Fund, a registered nonprofit organization fundraising money to support people charged with crimes involving the events of January 6th, 2021. As reported by NPR, the fund, led by an avid supporter of the U.S. Capitol rioters, and backed by far-right nationalists (chiefly Steve Bannon) , is sourcing donations using cryptocurrency. However, many nonprofit experts and even backers themselves are upset with the lack of transparency, lack of independent oversight, and potential failure to meet legal requirements. Laurie Styron, chief executive of rating organization CharityWatch, said the fund would undoubtedly receive a failing grade.

Read more ➝

 

ICRC Data Breached By Hackers

As reported by The NonProfit Times, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements have been targeted by hackers in what amounts to a significant data breach. Nearly 515,000 clients have had data stolen, according to organization communications. Those clients were part of the effort to help “people separated by migration, violence, war and other causes,” according to The NonProfit Times.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Chicago Public Media acquiring Chicago Sun-Times as nonprofit newsroom (The Spokesman Review)
• FBI investigates Minnesota nonprofit for allegedly misusing millions of dollars meant to feed kids (KARE11.com)
• Nonprofit proposes $50 million low-cost housing project on industrial site near Truax Field on North Side (madison.com)
• Bay Area Student-Run Nonprofit Offers Free STEAM Virtual Classes (Patch.com)

 

 

 

This week on the podcast we talk about the most recent nonprofit news for the week of 1/25/2021. 

Whole Whale has created a weekly newsletter and article board for people in the industry interested in staying up-to-date with the sector's most important news. Pulling from over 100 sources, NonprofitNewsFeed.com is a free way to stay updated about nonprofit news.  Top articles: GivingTuesday Generates Garganutan Giving

GivingTuesday saw its biggest single-day fundraising amount since its inception, generating $2.47 billion in revenue from donors. This represents a 25% increase from 2019, which saw $1.97 billion in total donations. Online giving in the United States, which B Corps Digital Agency Whole Whale predicted would surpass $605 million, actually came in at over $808 million. This represents a stunning increase of 58% compared to the previous year.

  Updating Definition of Domestic Violence To Include “Coercive Control”

Lawmakers and activists alike are engaging in important conversations about “coercive control,” a new and critical way to describe patterns of domestic violence that are not physical, but cover a variety of behaviors related to “social, financial and psychological abuse.” While select countries and states have already started to introduce laws to address coercive control, experts also emphasize the need for “evidence-based training to identify and respond to coercive and controlling behaviours for police, lawyers, judicial officers, frontline health workers, child protection workers” and others.

 

Ouster of GOP Speaker Hampers Ability of Congress To Function Amid Looming Shutdown

The ouster of House GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy nearly two weeks ago continues to hamper the ability of the legislative branch to advance policy, even as the spectre of a government shutdown continues to loom large. Nonprofits like the National Low Income Housing Coalition say that the shutdown (which would go into effect on November 17th) as well as the current political standstill and dysfunction threaten what they percieve as must-pass legislation related to HUD and housing assistance, which advocates say need to increase every year as the cost of living goes up. The volatility of the status of the government (a shutdown would pause non-essential government services) has put nonprofits on edge. Food banks can expect increased demand as hundreds of thousands of government workers and contractors go without pay, and programs like WIC and SNAP are at operational risk in long shutdowns. The Chronicle of Philanthropy also cites domestic violence shelters as also vulnerable to shutdowns because many rely heavily on government grants.

Nick Azulay, Maura Paxton and George Weiner share their predictions for the nonprofit industry in 2022. They cover Email shifts, USPS hikes, social movements associated with the election and potential Roe V. Wade rulings and many other trends that may come. 

 

 

Virtual reality can seem like a far off technology, mostly used for video games and tech conference demos. But, what if we could use virtual reality to provide situational training for emergencies? Neilda Pacquing, Founder and CEO of Mind Glow, is using virtual reality to make companies more prepared for workplace emergencies, starting with active shootings. Listen to our episode as she explains how she came up with her idea, how effective her technology has been at assorted companies and universities, and how you can get involved in virtual reality programming.    Bio: Neilda Pacquing is the Founder and CEO of MindGlow, a company using VR to maximize workplace safety and prepare employees for emergencies, starting with active shooter training. She is also the creator of VR Training 101: How To Design VR Trainings For Businesses.    Prior experience includes working as a Senior UX/UI Designer at Sephora and Bank of America. She is an Oculus Launch Pad, Mozilla XR Studio, and Nasdaq Milestone Makers alum.    She received her B.A. from UCLA and working on an M.S. Integrated Design, Business, and Technology at USC Iovine and Young Academy.   In her spare time, you can find her riding her motorcycle in the backroads of California.   About MindGlow: ↠ MindGlow helps businesses train better with VR. We use the immersive experience of Virtual Reality (VR) to maximize workplace safety and prepare employees for emergencies, starting with Active Shooter Training. ↠ www.mindglowinc.com   About VR Training 101: ↠ VR Training 101 is the first-ever program that offers a cross-disciplinary approach to designing virtual reality (VR) trainings for businesses. We turn VR newbies to VR creators.  ↠ Applications are open and start Monday, June 15, 2020.  ↠ More information and application here: www.vrtraining101.com 

**Nonprofit News Digest: Honoring Jimmy Carter, ESG & B Corps Scrutiny, and a Homeless Advocacy Victory**

This week's episode of the Nonprofit News Feed, hosted by George Weiner, Chief Whaler of Whole Whale, and Digital Strategist Nick Azulay, celebrates President's Day with a tribute to former President Jimmy Carter's legacy in the nonprofit sector. The conversation also delves into current challenges facing ESG frameworks and B Corps, and highlights a legal victory for a homeless advocacy organization in Houston.

**Jimmy Carter's Enduring Nonprofit Legacy** - Jimmy Carter, now 99, has made significant contributions to the nonprofit world through his involvement with Habitat for Humanity and his own Carter Center, focusing on peace, democracy, and development. - The Carters' hands-on work in building homes showcases their commitment to affordable housing. - Reflecting on Carter's life reminds us of the importance of political figures in the nonprofit sector, especially in times of division.

**ESG and B Corps Under Fire** - ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and B Corps face backlash, with financial firms like JP Morgan and State Street Global Advisors withdrawing support from climate initiatives. - Greenwashing, the use of environmental certifications to improve public reputation without meaningful change, is a growing concern. - Scrutiny of ESG and B Corps certification processes calls for a reevaluation of how businesses are held accountable for sustainable and ethical practices. - The discussion emphasizes the importance of setting norms and improving transparency in corporate behavior.

**Food Not Bombs Wins Legal Fight in Houston** - The organization Food Not Bombs achieved a legal win when a federal judge ordered the city of Houston to stop ticketing members for feeding the homeless. - The case raises first and fourteenth amendment rights issues, balancing the organization's free speech rights against the city's public health and safety concerns. - The ruling is a positive step, but it also highlights the problematic criminalization of aid to the homeless.

The episode closes with a light-hearted joke about SpaceX's matching donation program, bringing a bit of humor to the discussion of giving atmospheres.

 

This episode of the Nonprofit News Feed underscores the significant impact individuals and organizations can have in the nonprofit sector, while also reminding us that accountability and integrity are crucial in upholding the values of social responsibility and advocacy for those in need.

 

In this internal Whole Whale episode, we talk with Rhea Bhambhani our Ads and Analytics Whaler. We discuss her time at Whole Whale, what she has learned and what the impact of the U.S. H-1B policy. Though Whole Whale has won past petitions for H-1B's, the hostile current climate has stacked the odds too far and we lost in our attempt to add talent to our team. 

We discuss how xenophobic H-1B policies staff and small companies that depend on this diversity of talent. 

Nonprofitnewsfeed.com

 

Fight Over Phonics Forces Curricula Revisions In Number Of U.S. Schools

Lucy Calkins, an education professor and creator of the popular “Units of Study” curriculum used by a quarter of U.S. elementary schools, has significantly revised her approach to early reading instruction, as reported by The New York Times. In response to mounting criticism from parents and educators who promote the “science of reading” and an increased focus on phonics, Calkins has overhauled her curriculum to include daily structured phonics lessons and more rigorous texts, swapping out light reading assignments. The revised curriculum, due for release this summer, also includes a 20-page guide summarizing 50 years of cognitive research on reading. Calkins has traditionally championed “balanced literacy,” which emphasizes thematic exploration and personal choice in reading, over phonics-focused approaches. Her shift reflects a growing consensus on the importance of phonics in early reading education, with brain science and educational policies increasingly favoring this method. Critics of Calkins suggest that her previous approaches have contributed to a literacy crisis in America and critique her singular influence on literacy education, although assessments of her methods' effectiveness have been mixed.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Turned Away and Left at Sea  |  nytimes.com
• ProPublica Adds More Than a Million New Records to Nonprofit Explorer
• For the First Time Ever, Human Rights Campaign Officially Declares ‘State of Emergency’ for LGBTQ+ Americans; Issues National Warning and Guidebook to Ensure Safety for LGBTQ+ Residents and Travelers  |  Human Rights Campaign

 

Sponsor: Nonprofit.ist 

Request for Conversations (RFCs) can save a TON of time in figuring out the type of project you need done and experts at Nonprofit.ist love to have those conversations. Nonprofit.ist is trusted by over 4k nonprofits and is a network designed specifically for nonprofits like you.

At Nonprofit.ist, we understand the pain of finding the right expert to help with your specific needs. Endless searching and sifting through irrelevant information can be frustrating and time-consuming. This is why for 5 years we have built up experts across a breadth of areas for the sector: 

Accounting & Finance Human Resources Board Development Leadership Development Coaching Legal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Marketing and Communications Evaluation and Learning Organizational Assessment Executive Transition Strategic Planning Fundraising Technology Web Design Ad Grants

 

 

We interview EU Whalers Michaela Luecke and Luciana Padua about their experience expanding Whole Whale's digital agency services to Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. After over a year of work and a few clients, Whole Whale has decided that the experiment just didn't work. 

There are many hard-earned lessons that we discuss starting companies in Germany and the different financial, legal, and social barriers that exist. This podcast is a must-listen for anyone looking to expand services to these regions.

Too often we only hear stories from the people that take risks and win - feeding the survivor bias in entrepreneurship that it is easy to succeed. We need people more like Luciana and Michaela, people willing to take a risk to start something new with a social purpose in their countries. 

Special thanks to them both for their efforts in pushing this initiative and taking a risk.

With less than a week in preparation, Upaya shifted their in-person Gala to a Virtual Event that raised $302k against a $200k stretch goal. Kate Cochran, CEO of Upaya Social Ventures shares the story and lessons of this amazing virtual event with Whole Whale host, Kariesha Martinez. 

 

About: Upaya Social Ventures is fighting extreme poverty through dignified jobs. Founded in 2011, Upaya provides investment and consulting support to early-stage businesses aimed at creating jobs for the poorest of the poor. Upaya’s continually growing portfolio of impact investments has created over 15,000 lasting, dignified jobs. Endorsed by ImpactMatters as a high-impact, cost-effective nonprofit, Upaya’s teams in Seattle and Bangalore are committed to a goal of helping entrepreneurs create jobs for 50,000 people in India by 2023.  Link to the blog / webinar on the gala:

• https://www.upayasv.org/blog/2020/3/10/virtual-reality-making-an-online-fundraiser-connect-with-donors     

Social media links

• https://www.facebook.com/upayasv/ 
• Twitter: @UpayaSV   
• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/upaya-social-ventures/

Digital Agency Whole Whale Announces Official 2024 GivingTuesday Predictions

Digital agency Whole Whale, the publishers of this podcast, have announced their annual GivingTuesday generosity predictions. Based on Whole Whale analysis that incorporates an adjusted linear regression, trends in Google Search terms around “Giving Tuesday,” and national giving trends, we predict that $3.5 Billion will be raised on Giving Tuesday 2024. This will be a 11% or ~$470 million increase over 2023’s record-breaking $3.1B.

This year is less predictable due to a number of factors that we see impacting this macro-giving.

Some of the negative indicators that we think could slow giving:

• National US election pulling attention and funds leading up to the day.

• Inflation concerns with rising rates cooling the economy.

• A hangover from reduced giving in 2023 continues to depress giving this year.

 

Some of the positive indicators that may help Giving Tuesday results:

• Low unemployment traditionally maps to increased giving.

• Consumer spending is increasing YoY.

What Happened in 2023?

“$3.12 Billion was raised on Giving Tuesday 2023, with a 10% decline in participation, sadly missing our expectations of $3.45B”

– George Weiner, Whole Whale

 

The GivingTuesday Data Commons estimated on Nov 30th that giving in the United States alone on November 28th (Giving Tuesday) totaled $3.1 billion, a modest increase of 0.6% from 2022. 

 

The GivingTuesday Data Commons has excellent resources on quarterly fundraising data from the nonprofit sector. Reports like the GivingTuesday GivingPulse report can be beneficial to nonprofits trying to analyze trends throughout the year.

Kariesha Martinez and George Weiner exchange ideas for using Spotify playlists to increase the impact of nonprofits. Public playlists can be completely customized and embedded on websites and across social. This medium can be used to thank donors, motivate volunteers or even educate stakeholders. There many was to start playing with this tool for free and they are explored on this episode. 

Part of the Nonprofit.ist nonprofit podcast network. 

 

We interviewed Carol Hamilton from Gracesocialsector.com about how nonprofit strategic planning could be improved. Not involving enough people. Often only senior leadership and the board do the planning, thinking they alone have the vision. But all levels of staff should participate to gain buy-in. Surprisingly, there is often 80% agreement on goals across roles. Failing to operationalize the plan. A common mistake is creating an overly complex, long plan that gathers dust. The plan should be simple, focused, and integrated into existing processes. Define who will do what by when for the first year. Crafting an unrealistic plan. While visionary, the plan must connect to current organizational capacity. If the goals are too aspirational without a path to achieve them, they won't be implemented. Having too many goals. Limit the plan to 3-5 key goals maximum. No organization can successfully focus on more than that at once. Not designating responsibilities and timelines. For each goal, define concrete action steps and who will complete them by when. Don't worry about years 2-5. Just focus on year one.

Navigating New Social Media Frontiers and Celebrating Giving Tuesday Success

In this week's episode of the Nonprofit News Feed by Whole Whale, hosts George Weiner and Nick Azulay delve into the evolving landscape of social media for nonprofits and celebrate a major milestone in charitable giving. The discussion kicks off with an analysis of BlueSky, a burgeoning social media platform touted as a polite alternative to Twitter. Originally a Twitter project, BlueSky has gained traction with approximately 21 million active users. However, George and Nick caution nonprofits about a significant vulnerability in BlueSky's API, which allows extensive data access that could pose risks to brand identity and security in the context of AI data usage.

Key insights include the importance of treating all social media posts as public and the need for nonprofits to establish clear social media guidelines and conduct AI risk audits to safeguard their brand reputation. The hosts emphasize that while BlueSky offers a promising platform, nonprofits should remain vigilant about data privacy and the potential implications of AI-driven content analysis.

Shifting gears, the episode celebrates Giving Tuesday's impressive achievement, with donations reaching $3.6 billion, closely matching Whole Whale's prediction. This success signals a hopeful trend for increased investment in the nonprofit sector, driven by economic tailwinds and potential shifts in public funding.

The episode wraps up with a feel-good story from Metro Detroit, where high school students raised over $146,000 for a children's charity through a creative public speaking program. This initiative highlights the impact of youth-led philanthropy and community engagement.

Key Takeaways:

• Explore new social media platforms like BlueSky cautiously, ensuring data privacy and brand protection.
• Celebrate the continued growth of Giving Tuesday as a key moment in the nonprofit calendar.
• Encourage youth involvement in charitable activities to foster future nonprofit leaders.

Reflection: As the nonprofit sector navigates new digital landscapes and celebrates philanthropic successes, it remains crucial to balance innovation with vigilance, ensuring that missions align with evolving opportunities and challenges.

Daniel Newman, president and co-founder of MapLight, joins to discuss how their technology improves government transparency and direct democracy. MapLight builds software for state and local governments to provide easy public access to campaign finance data, e-signatures for petitions, and other services. Their goal is to counter the undue influence of money in politics by empowering citizens and journalists to hold officials accountable. Newman argues digital petitions could enable more grassroots, people-powered ballot initiatives. However, institutional resistance and polarization often block reforms, even those that would help voters across the political spectrum. Newman wrote the book Un-Rigged to explain major democracy reform issues in an accessible, solutions-oriented way.

 

Links:

Maplight.org

Un-Rigged Book

Daniel on LinkedIn

Planned giving can be difficult for nonprofits to incorporate into their giving strategy but it shouldn't be according to our guest Tony Martignetti. Tony, the evangelist for Planned Giving, shares how and why nonprofits that are over 5 years old should be adopting this fundraising strategy. 

 

About Tony

Tony Martignetti is the evangelist for Planned Giving. He’s been starting and growing Planned Giving programs since 1997. A former attorney, he’s now launched Planned Giving Accelerator, a membership community to create 1,000+ new Planned Giving programs in the U.S. It’s at PlannedGivingAccelerator.com. 

He’s also the aptly-named host of Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio, the #1 podcast for nonprofits, with 13,000+ weekly listeners in small- and mid-size orgs. It’s Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%. It’s at tonymartignetti.com

 

On Twitter: @tonymartignetti

Supreme Court Ruling Criminalizes Homelessness

In a controversial decision, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, did not violate the Eighth Amendment by criminalizing homelessness. This ruling has far-reaching implications, allowing cities to enforce ordinances that penalize behaviors associated with being unhoused, such as sleeping or camping on public property. Justice Sotomayor, in her dissent, emphasized the cascading harm this decision could cause to the already vulnerable homeless population. The ruling has been met with shock and dismay by advocates for the homeless, who argue that it is both unconstitutional and inhumane.

Los Angeles Public Schools' AI Chatbot Fails

The Los Angeles Public School District's $6 million investment in an AI chatbot named Ed has come to a sudden halt. Developed by the startup All Here, the chatbot was intended to assist students with academic and mental health resources. However, the company faced financial difficulties, leading to the CEO's departure and staff furloughs. This incident raises significant concerns about the sustainability of AI startups and the ethical implications of using AI in sensitive educational contexts.

Nonprofit Sector Faces Burnout and Staffing Issues

The Center for Effective Philanthropy's 2024 report highlights ongoing challenges in the nonprofit sector, particularly burnout and understaffing. A staggering 95% of nonprofit leaders cited burnout as a major concern, with many organizations struggling to retain staff due to budget constraints. Despite these challenges, the sector shows signs of financial stability, with most nonprofits experiencing balanced budgets or surpluses. However, leaders facing budget deficits are contemplating difficult trade-offs that could exacerbate burnout.

Nonprofit Buys Building for Migrant Housing

Breaking Ground, a nonprofit organization, has purchased a building in East Harlem for $172 million to create housing for migrants. The building, currently used as a temporary migrant shelter, will be renovated to provide 261 units for people transitioning out of homelessness and additional units for low-income families. This initiative addresses the urgent need for physical space and infrastructure to support migrants in New York City.

Feel-Good Story: In Tandem Cycling Expands Programs

In Tandem Cycling, a New York nonprofit that pairs sighted riders with blind and low-vision riders on tandem bikes, is expanding its programs. These activities offer not just exercise but also socialization, mental health benefits, and teamwork for participants. The organization's efforts highlight the positive impact of community sports and inclusive activities.

Closing Thought

The stories covered in this episode underscore the complex and interconnected challenges facing the nonprofit sector, from legal battles and technological missteps to staffing issues and innovative housing solutions. As always, the resilience and creativity of nonprofits continue to shine through, offering hope and inspiration.

In this week's episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed by Whole Whale, hosts George Weiner, Chief Whaler, and Nick Azulay, Senior Digital Strategy Manager, delve into significant developments affecting the nonprofit sector. They kick off with an enticing offer from Whole Whale University, providing a substantial discount on their end-of-year course bundle, aimed at empowering nonprofit professionals with essential digital insights and strategies.

WordPress vs. WP Engine: A Tech Showdown

The episode’s main story unpacks the escalating tension between WordPress and WP Engine, a hosting service provider. The conflict, rooted in trademark disputes and accusations of unfair profit-making, has led to public legal threats and internal turmoil within WordPress. With WordPress powering over 43% of global websites, including many in the nonprofit sector, this drama has significant implications. George and Nick discuss how these tensions might affect nonprofits, especially those using WP Engine, and emphasize the importance of understanding the tech landscape that supports nonprofit operations.

Veblen Giving: A New Perspective on Philanthropy

George introduces the concept of "Veblen Giving," a term he coined to describe donations made primarily for social prestige. This type of giving is becoming more prevalent as fewer individuals account for the majority of charitable donations. The hosts discuss the implications of this trend, highlighting the need for nonprofits to tailor their communication strategies to engage high-net-worth donors effectively. George's innovative approach to redefining philanthropy in the context of AI and SEO strategies is also explored, illustrating how nonprofits can adapt to the evolving digital landscape.

Addressing Homelessness: Contrasting Approaches

The episode also covers contrasting strategies to tackle homelessness in San Francisco. The city's aggressive homeless encampment sweeps, part of a broader revitalization plan, have faced criticism for lacking long-term solutions. In contrast, the nonprofit GLIDE advocates for a more compassionate approach, focusing on relationship-building and sustainable transitions to permanent housing. This segment highlights the critical role of nonprofits in addressing complex social issues through innovative and empathetic strategies.

Feel-Good Story: Broadway's Philanthropic Impact

Closing on a positive note, the hosts celebrate the philanthropic efforts of Broadway, particularly the musical "Hell's Kitchen," which has donated over $1 million to Alicia Keys’ Keep a Child Alive organization. This gesture continues Broadway's long-standing tradition of charitable giving, as exemplified by the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS initiative, which has raised over $300 million since 1988.

Weekly NonprofitNewsfeed.com summary with hosts Nick Azulay and Kariesha Martinez from digital marketing agency WholeWhale.com.

 

NYC Owes Homeless Nonprofits Millions In Unpaid Invoices

The City of New York owes its homeless nonprofit organizations over $150 million in unpaid invoices, according to a survey of homeless shelter operators. Catherine Trapani, the executive director at Homeless Services United, the umbrella organization that represents shelter operators, says “there needs to be a recognition of just how on the precipice of a system’s failure we are.” The crisis comes as the city faces its own struggles with cash flow due to the pandemic.

Read more ➝

 

ICE Signs $86.9 Million Contract With Nonprofit To House Migrant Families

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has signed an $86.9 million contract to house migrant families at the border. The contract is with Texas-based nonprofit Endeavors, and will provide up to 1,200 beds as a short-term housing solution for families not turned away at the border. Nonprofits again prove that they are the last stop-gap for providing critical services during crises.

Read more ➝

 

  👋 Did someone share this with you? Considering subscribing for weekly updates.    ✅ The Summary... Having trouble reading these articles with popups? Use the Feedly Boards linked at the bottom to quickly go through curated articles.

• Amy Klobuchar and Other Democrats Push $50 Billion Aid Package for Nonprofits
• Increased PPP Eligibility for Larger Nonprofits
• Jesuits pledge to raise $100 million to atone for slave labor, sales
• Federal support has shored up nonprofits during the coronavirus pandemic, but many groups are still struggling
• Bill Ackman donates stock worth $1.34 billion to charity

 

 

 

 

PSLF Program Eliminated $51 Billion In Student Debt For Public & NPO

 

As reported by Philanthropy.com, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, initiated in 2007, was designed to alleviate student debts for those dedicating a decade to nonprofits or government roles. However, the program was largely unknown and challenging to secure until recent rule changes and promotion. The Biden administration's reforms in October 2021 breathed new life into the program, erasing an astounding $51 billion in student debt for over 700,000 public service workers. Yet, only about 15% of the 9 million eligible workers have applied. Despite earlier bureaucratic challenges and a high rejection rate, recent changes like loan consolidation and credit for past payments have transformed the lives of many by freeing them from significant student debt. As the cost of higher education skyrockets, nonprofit organizations should be actively promoting this program both to its employees as well as future employees.

 

 

Read more ➝

 

Summary

Nonprofit Funded by Crypto Billionaire McCaleb Buys $500 Million in Nvidia Chips for AI Computing | Reuters

A new nonprofit called Voltage Park, funded by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb, has purchased $500 million worth of advanced AI chips from Nvidia. Voltage Park plans to set up AI computing clusters in multiple data centers and lease capacity to companies for artificial intelligence projects. This comes as demand for AI hardware has surged following the release of chatbot ChatGPT, with chip shortages plaguing businesses. By providing low-cost access to powerful Nvidia H100 chips, Voltage Park aims to make AI computing more accessible. The tax-exempt nonprofit is a subsidiary of McCaleb's Navigation Fund, meaning any profits will be donated to the philanthropic fund.

 

St. Louis nonprofit director stole millions from child nutrition program, feds say | STLtoday.com

The former head of a St. Louis nonprofit has been charged with fraudulently spending $20 million in federal child nutrition funds on luxury homes and goods. Connie Bobo of New Heights Community Resource Center allegedly falsified records to net $11 million in bogus meal reimbursements. If convicted on the wire fraud, identity theft and obstruction charges, Bobo faces up to 22 years in prison and forfeiture of illicit purchases. The indictment follows reporting on questionable practices by Missouri nonprofits administering pandemic aid, as authorities crack down on abuse of the loosened oversight.

 

 

Nature Conservancy Bets on Startups to Boost Climate Mission and Returns |FastCompany

The Nature Conservancy is now investing part of its $3 billion endowment directly into climate tech startups, leveraging its scientific expertise to support companies like Overstory and Yard Stick. The nonprofit sees an opportunity to back high-impact startups aligned with its conservation mission that also have potential for strong financial returns. Direct investing represents a shift beyond TNC's past practice of relying on outside managers and index funds for its endowment. The approach shows how nonprofits with sizable endowments could strategically deploy capital to advance their mission as well as financial goals.

 

Nonprofitnewsfeed.com

• George Weiner and Nick Azulay of Whole Whale discuss various topics including a milestone for Whole Whale's YouTube account, the first nonprofit-backed satellite launched into space, election concerns for nonprofits, and a nonprofit initiative to eliminate medical debt.
• The Environmental Defense Fund's MethaneSAT, the first nonprofit satellite, aims to map methane emissions globally.
• Nonprofits are preparing for the upcoming election season and its impact on communications and fundraising.
• Legal challenges faced by the Annunciation House, a nonprofit supporting migrants, highlight the political pressures on nonprofits.
• RIP Medical Debt's partnership to alleviate $700 million in medical debt in Wayne County is celebrated.

Critical Insights, Statistics, and Quotes:

• MethaneSAT is a game-changer, providing high-resolution data on methane emissions to the public, which could hold industries and governments accountable for climate change mitigation.
• Methane, though less discussed than CO2, is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for 20% of global warming from human activities.
• Nonprofits are both concerned and optimistic about the upcoming election; they must navigate a political climate that could overshadow their messaging.
• Legal battles such as the one faced by Annunciation House underscore the intersection of nonprofit work and political agendas.
• The collaboration between nonprofits and municipalities, as seen in the partnership with RIP Medical Debt, showcases innovative approaches to solving pressing social issues.

Calls to Action:

• Nonprofit professionals should consider how their messaging may align or conflict with political narratives in the upcoming election season.
• Organizations might explore partnerships similar to RIP Medical Debt to amplify their impact.

Closing Thought: The nonprofit sector continues to innovate and push boundaries, from space missions to social justice, demonstrating the power of focused efforts and strategic partnerships on Earth and beyond. Let's celebrate these milestones and brace for the challenges ahead, always remembering the core mission of serving communities and the planet.

Whole Whale has been working on our most comprehensive online course in history focusing on Online Fundraising. Dean of Whole Whale University, Meredith Esquivel walks us through every step along the way to creating this course. From idea, planning, writing, editing, filming, marketing and launching. 

 

This podcast dives into how the sausage is made when it comes to our online course creation including the costs and tactics involved. 

 

Resources

Online Fundraising Course for Nonprofits

Online Fundraising guide 

CVS Shows “Pledges” Do Not Equal Direct “Donations”

In November 2021, US pharmaceutical giant CVS’s social responsibility team announced a $10 million commitment to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to be delivered over three years, as reported by Quartz. However, what CVS omitted is that the donations collected from customers through in-store fundraising weren’t going to be in addition to the initial pledge. Rather, they would be used in lieu of donations coming from CVS’s coffers. Customers subsidized CVS’s generosity without knowing it, as their donations were part of a larger pledge that CVS had made to the ADA. A new lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, claims that by failing to disclose the exact way in which the funds raised would be used, CVS committed fraud. Nonprofits (and donors) interested in better understanding corporate partnerships should heed the word “pledge” as merely marketing lingo until actual monetary donations are received by the NPO organizations such corporations purport to support.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

 

• How a Hotel Was Converted into Housing for Formerly Homeless People | nytimes.com
• Stacey Abrams’s Georgia Nonprofit Could Face Criminal Investigations for Unlicensed Fundraising | Washington Free Beacon
• Crain's 2022 Notable Women in Nonprofits | Crain's Detroit Business
• Santa Clarita Nonprofit Organization Unveils 'Horseless' Carriages – NBC Los Angeles | NBC Southern California 
•  

Nonprofit news for the week of 6/28/2021

 

Warren Buffett Gives Away $4.1 Billion To Charity, Steps Down From Gates Foundation

Warren Buffett, one of the richest people in the world, has announced a donation of nearly $4.1 billion to charity. This donation comes on the heels of other massive philanthropic donations from wealthy individuals like MacKenzie Scott. Buffet has previously said he seeks to give nearly all his money away to philanthropic causes. Also last week it was announced that Warren Buffett would be stepping down from the board of the Gates Foundation, just weeks after the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates.

Read more ➝ Raiders DE Carl Nassib Comes Out, Gives $100k To Trevor Project

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out last week, making him the first active NFL football player to come out as gay. In the announcement video, Nassib states his intention to donate $100k to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBTQ+ youth.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Woman Gets 6 Years in Prison for Embezzling From Nonprofits
• Nonprofit News Media Pace Picking Up
• House GOP Members Demand Details of $350 Million in Grants From Nonprofit in 2020 Election
• Former drug dealer sparks nonprofit to train more young people to be welders for shipbuilding and repair
•  

 

Nonprofit RFPs vs RFCs

 

[00:00:00] . Following on with our favorite guest of the moment right now, Heather Yandow, of course, founder of nonprofit.ist, nonprofit ist, and consultant at third Space. We are talking about whether or not, because this has been coming up a lot, will G p t destroy RFPs? And I know you are the, like captain of the team, of folks that think RFCs request for conversations are superior and many ways to RFPs request for proposals.

[00:00:54] So we're gonna throw a lot of acronyms out here. Where and how do you think our conversation since the last time we had it with regard to R F P? Versus R F C is in the landscape now of G P T. So I think it's just gotten more complicated, more muddy, and I lean even more towards requests for conversations now.

[00:01:17] You know, one of the things that I have already started seeing is chat, G P t AI generated cover letters. So I just hired for a position. Hmm. And one of the cover letters was clearly generated by ai. It used exactly the same language, and it didn't mention that the person who was applying had a personal connection to me.

[00:01:39] So to those, those were red flags. Didn't even have to use any tool, just read it and thought, this is not right. So we're already starting to see it. I suspect that if I was a nonprofit putting out a, a request for proposals, I would've already gotten some that were AI generated. So it's becoming, RFPs in my opinion, are becoming increasingly useless, increasingly challenging when the goal is to actually find the right consultant to help you with your challenge.

[00:02:10] For sure. I think, you know, we're using G P T synonymously with any generative AI tool that will create an output based on an input. I think there are ways of designing this, but I think there are tiers, right? Mm-hmm. I think, frankly, legally speaking, if you have government funded projects you have to solicit for, and with RFPs, request for proposals is just part of the game.

[00:02:35] You need three competitive bids. And that's just how the government cookie crumbles. Yep. There's a lot of white space below that though, however, where, you know, I see small projects, we'll call them projects under 60 K or even under 30 K, where if you put out an R F P, like is disturbingly easy to generate a proposal?

[00:02:56] Like I have a proposal generator for for whole whale. I don't use it because it's just not how we go about it. But let's say I was a do anything now shop. Literally, I could just go through, copy a proposal, put it in, see if I get it, and then go forward. And I think there's real risk of having massive you know, signal to noise issues in that process.

[00:03:20] Does, how does that land for you? Yeah, I absolutely think so. I mean, you know, putting together proposals. Is super time consuming especially for small shops. You know, there are two and a half of us, so to muster the resources it takes to put together a really good proposal is a heavy lift, and I can absolutely see why using chat G P T or something else, like it would be really attractive, right?

[00:03:48] It's certainly going to reduce the amount of time I'm gonna have to spend writing. It can be a, a good jumping off point. I think that what we're likely to see is that those. Organizations who can take advantage of it. So particularly those organizations, those nonprofit consulting firms who have people who write proposals are gonna probably take advantage of it.

[00:04:11] And George, they might be, you know, doing it with all of the respect and within the bounds of good AI usage, which I know you think and talk a lot. But I do think it's gonna create more proposals and not necessarily more useful proposals for nonprofits to review.

[00:04:28] Yeah, I think all roads lead to conversations, though. They do. I think at some point, you know, you'll vet, you'll go through, there's just a lot more processing that ends up happening on the nonprofit side, albeit ironically, you could also use AI for synthesizing that. And we end up back full circle to just have the conversation front.

[00:04:47] Have, have the, you're gonna have to have it anyway. So being like our, you know, like our request for information or intent could lead to a conversation round and. That would maybe filter out a lot of this because the number of proposals you are going to get is simply gonna increase over this threshold because it's so easy.

[00:05:06] Literally. Yeah. If you are saying like, oh, he's talking about some advanced technical thing. Here's what I want you to do. If you're a consultant right now or if you're a nonprofit, I just want you to understand how simple this is. You just go on ideally to check GT four or Anthropic. If you have an account there, what you're gonna do is prime the conversation with who you are, what you do, and the role of that ai.

[00:05:27] The next thing you're gonna do is here is a sample of the structure of my proposals. Here's a couple case studies now. That you're clear, please write a and respond to the following context of this new proposal. And you're gonna toss that in and you're gonna end up with something that's disturbingly good as a first draft.

[00:05:47] And frankly, if you're lazy, just send it as mm-hmm. Whatever your first, your, your final draft. Uh, I do, as you mentioned, talk a lot about keeping human in the loop as soon as you send it out to the world, if it's. If it is all within your control, please, please make it a first not final draft policy of using AI and keep humans in the loop for now when exposing LLMs publicly to individuals especially if you are in I'd say crisis or trauma adjacent conversation.

[00:06:19] For, for folks, what is L L M? Large language model. I feel like this is just alphabet soup. Uhhuh, you're a generative AI thingy. It like there's nuance, there's fine. It's what we're talking about. So going back to that, what you're gonna do is create that. Now, if you're on the nonprofit side, here's how you go about it.

[00:06:37] You say you are a selection criteria. AI that evaluates proposals for our organization. Here is the proposal we created. Now, evaluate this and break out based on price, competency likelihood to deliver on time elements, and shove it into the spreadsheet for me. And ta-da. You're just gonna go back to having.

[00:07:00] A conversation. A conversation. Absolutely. Absolutely. 'cause it's, it's not buying the best digital camera, right? It's not a spreadsheet able thing. Finding a consultant, most of the time you actually wanna know if you're gonna be able to work with this person. You wanna have an understanding of who they are, of what their personality is, of what their style is, and.

[00:07:19] Certainly we talk about that in proposals but it comes back to having a conversation and really seeing where that conversation goes. And that's something AI at least currently can't actually do for you. No. And the truth is, you're gonna be working with a person, not an ai. That's right. Uh, one of the things I do and have always loved about non-profit is, is that you can just go shopping for folks and just say, Hey, I wanna have a quick conversation.

[00:07:44] One click sends them a message so that you're like, all right, look. I have this fundraising campaign. I could put it on our feet. Lemme just talk to a few folks and see That's right. What they think about the project. What am I missing in here and how do I go about that? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And that's, that's, we designed it that way on purpose, right?

[00:08:02] It's people's pictures there, not their logos. We know that you're connecting with a person and we wanna make that as frictionless as possible. Call 'em, email 'em, send 'em a message through the site, any way you wanna get in touch with them. And then yeah, have that conversation. What does this look like?

[00:08:20] What do you think? What are the questions you have for me? What would the timeline be for this? Yeah. And I, I do think there's some risk as well, which is why I want more foundations to do this. I'm to, to pay attention and to communicate to grantees about the, the risks here, because when you go out there with.

[00:08:40] An R F P, you can get a lot of inbound and potentially unethical inbound where folks can just sort of fake it till they make it, but they're using language borrowed mm-hmm. Stolen from other groups or agencies, and they can mimic that style and confidence. And suddenly, you know, you're, you're selecting a an inferior option or someone who has no clue what they're doing, but the jargon lines up just fine.

[00:09:04] So you're like, oh yeah. And. Oh, they're half the price isn't that nice? Like Uhhuh. Uhhuh as many times as you need to. You get what you pay for. Yeah. You'll learn that it's an immutable truth. It is. And you know, obviously having conversations is gonna help break through that. And then always checking references.

[00:09:22] Who else have you done similar work with? Can I talk to them? Let's have a conversation with those folks about what the experience was like working with these people. Yeah. I don't know if there's any other points in here. I have already just broken the entire system by literally explaining how to build a R F P generator and then R F P proposal evaluator, so that you just have this little disturbing, dystopian mm-hmm.

[00:09:47] Cyclical behavior. But you know, to come back on, you know, where this sort of started requests for proposals, RFPs are so anachronistic like they date back because in the industry of the 1880s, they needed to put this stuff in papers. So they needed to put it in a paper to be like, here you go. All come, come find my, you know, my road construction project or train my railroad construction project, Uhhuh.

[00:10:13] And it wasn't until the 1960s, thereabouts, where the government really adopted this as a standard practice for large purchasing projects. Yes. Government size stuff. Yes. Not. Tens of thousands of dollars, right? Yes. You're like, oh, it's so much money. It's not, it was created when the government's about to spend, you know, you know, X millions, hundreds of millions of dollars.

[00:10:37] That's what it was designed for. The government, as you remind, like I I said, is like, is requirement when you give to a nonprofit and use government dollars, like, oh, no, no, you gotta do that. R F P process. Mm-hmm. But understand that's where that comes from. That's where that comes from. And there's, there's a belief that that's the right way to do it.

[00:10:57] That's the professional way to do it. That's the equitable way to do it. And I would argue for all of those, that's, that is not necessarily true. It is not always the best way. It is always not always the most professional way, and it's certainly not the most equitable way to find someone to work with.

[00:11:15] Yeah. I don't know. Maybe to play the other, other side here potentially. One of the things that, when you use the word equitable, in my mind it, it means you have to have the capacity and resources and capability to go about the very lengthy process of creating a proposal. Yeah. And that process. And there's many folks in the nonprofits network that like definitely bristle.

[00:11:38] They don't even like go after. Yeah. They're like, no, no, no. I won't even bother. Which means you've already precluded a lot of qualified candidates from applying. That said, I just explained how you could create a proposal builder so that you could get to the conversation. May, maybe the, maybe there's a bright side there.

[00:12:01] Maybe there's a bright side there. I, you know, I'm one of those folks who I, I, I don't do cold proposals. And that doesn't mean necessarily that I have worked with a nonprofit before, but I need to at least be able to have a conversation. Very rarely. Does a two or four page R f P have all the information I need to know even what to pitch as a first option for how I might be able to support this organization.

[00:12:26] I often have lots of questions. I wanna know a little bit more about the history. I wanna know about why now. I want, you know, I wanna understand why the budget is where it is and what the board's buy-in is things that people don't often write down in their request for proposals. So even that first conversation again, Warming it up a little bit, having a sense of who's really there, what the real challenges are is, is super helpful.

[00:12:52] I will say for Whole Whale that we do respond to RFPs, but only if there was a conversation first. Yep. There you go. Like everything starts with a conversation just to make sure we're aligned. Yeah. Are we in the ballpark? Is our type of service, meet your type of need and. We do churn out a lot of proposals.

[00:13:10] However, they're much more like project plans, like mm-hmm. We literally take that we and move that into a contract parts of it and say, this is what we're gonna execute on. 'cause that's what we talked about. And you know exactly what you get. So you're already doing pragmatic work now? Yes. We, uh, we do lose a number of proposals.

[00:13:29] But that's, you know, that's part of the game. Yeah. And I think of them less as proposals, maybe more as like project plans to make it. More tangible. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. We often put together proposals that are those project plans, and then the very, if we get the work, the very first piece of that is let's actually dig into this project plan and figure out if it makes sense.

[00:13:51] We were basing this on an R f P in a 20 minute conversation. Right. Like, we don't, we, we need some more information. Well, I'm excited to put this out there. I think the more we talk about it, it's just like, it's like this quiet secret and you're like, oh. Mm-hmm. Like nobody knows that a hundred million plus people are using G P T tools to like write all manner of thing.

[00:14:11] Like we know Yes. We just aren't talking about it. Yes, yes. You know, it's like if the, if the teacher in the classroom accidentally left the entire answer key on the chalkboard while you took the test and everyone was like, Is anyone gonna tell the teacher that it's there? Like, can we just start having this conversation?

[00:14:29] We know it's happening, we know it's going on. And by the way, if you're doing it lazily, if you're doing it in a poor way if you're ever curious, you can go to tools like G P T Zero. Put in that text and you're gonna get a what's called perplexity and burness score, which is, uh, was this probably created by, uh, an AI or not a generative ai or not.

[00:14:52] Uh, and so if you are bad at prompting, if you're doing this in a lazy way, uh, it's very much detectable. Mm-hmm. But you don't realize that. But people that know, know, mm-hmm. And I, I, you know, The plus side is there's lots of ways that these tools can help us as nonprofit consultants. You're actually doing a webinar on that very soon.

[00:15:12] There's lots of ways that these tools can help nonprofit leaders. So there is a positive side. Just, yeah, be careful with the RFPs. Agree to agree. All right, Heather, all, thanks again. Thank you. And folks can find you at nonprofit, do IST nonprofits. That's correct. And thanks for the community you're building.

[00:15:30] Thanks, George.

Nonprofit Board Fires Sam Altman At OpenAI In High-Stakes Drama

 

So, what happens when a nonprofit board meets with a Silicon Valley CEO?

 

The two factions of OpenAI clashed like the resistance fighting the empire in a scene from Star Wars but with fewer special effects. Here’s what we think is happening based on reports…

 

OpenAI, initially a non-profit dedicated to beneficial AI development, has undergone a significant transformation via high-speed drama this weekend. After former CEO Sam Altman was ousted, executive Greg Brockman decided to quit OpenAI, with Twitch's ex-CEO Emmett Shear stepping in. Microsoft's Satya Nadella announced Altman and Brockman, along with others, would join Microsoft. This move represents a substantial gain for Microsoft, which already holds a perpetual license to OpenAI's intellectual property, and now acquires key talent without financial or antitrust risks. This shift signals a loss for OpenAI, heavily reliant on Microsoft for funding and resources. OpenAI's flagship product, ChatGPT may face uncertainties given these developments.

Some observers critique the evolution of OpenAI's non-profit model, originally aimed at advancing AI for humanity's benefit without financial constraints. However, financial pressures led to the creation of OpenAI Global, LLC, with Microsoft as a minority owner, altering OpenAI's commitment to openness and non-profit principles. The release of ChatGPT, while a massive success, exacerbated internal ideological rifts within OpenAI that contributed to Altman's ouster. Microsoft, heavily invested in OpenAI technology, finds itself in a more advantageous position, now directly acquiring the talent and technology it was partnered with. Analysts suggest this to mean a consolidation of AI advancements under large, well-funded corporations, with OpenAI's original non-profit vision and structure becoming increasingly untenable.

 

So for this episode the score is: nonprofit ethos 1, Silicon Valley CEO 0

- but this is definitely not the end of this saga, expect many sequels and prequels.

 

 

Billionaires including Eric Schmidt plow $300 million into a non-profit that is France's latest push to catch up in AI  | Fortune

The new French AI research lab Kyutai, backed by a budget of nearly €300 million (around $330 million), is set to make significant strides in artificial intelligence. Spearheaded by French billionaire Xavier Niel and supported by figures like Rodolphe Saadé and Eric Schmidt, Kyutai aims to be a nonprofit hub for artificial general intelligence research, collaborating with researchers and PhD students on open-source projects. The lab boasts considerable compute power, including a thousand Nvidia H100 GPUs, and is led by a team of seasoned AI experts. It distinguishes itself by encouraging researchers to publish their work, a practice increasingly rare in big tech firms. This initiative aligns with France's broader strategy on AI, as articulated by President Emmanuel Macron, focusing on open source development as a national asset and advocating for regulations that ensure safety and innovation in AI applications​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

 

 

Rosalynn Carter, mental health activist, humanitarian and former first lady, dies at 96 | CNN

Rosalynn Carter, who passed away at 96, was a trailblazing First Lady, redefining the role by actively championing mental health reform and advocating for human rights. Her tireless work set a new precedent for presidential spouses, emphasizing social impact and public service. Rosalynn's enduring legacy is highlighted by her efforts to destigmatize mental health issues and her pivotal role in The Carter Center's humanitarian initiatives. Her commitment to these causes and her influence as First Lady have left a lasting mark on social advocacy and the evolving role of presidential spouses in public service.

 

 

Donor-Advised Fund Report: Grants to Charities Increase 9%, Hitting a New Record High | nonprofit

The 2023 Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Report reveals a robust increase in DAF philanthropy in the United States, with grants to charities growing by 9% to a record $52.16 billion. Despite challenges in the broader economy, donors consistently increased their DAF contributions for the 13th consecutive year. The report notes a shift to what might be a 'new normal' in DAF growth rates, post-COVID-19. Key findings include a 9% increase in contributions to DAF accounts, totaling $85.53 billion, and a 2.9% rise in the number of DAF accounts to 1,948,545. The average DAF account size decreased slightly, and the grant payout rate dipped to 22.5%. Eileen Heisman, CEO of National Philanthropic Trust, highlights the growing variety of giving tools and the critical role DAFs play in easy, streamlined philanthropy, expecting this trend to continue benefiting charities globally

High Inflation Continues To Impact Sector, Including Food Banks

As inflationary pressures keep year-over-year price increases high, food banks see both an increase in demand and a shortage of supply. Food pantries across the country are dealing both with an increase in demand due to broader consumer-facing prices, as well as a harder time keeping up with supply because of the same price increases. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that “Some of Feeding America’s food pantry partners have closed because of dwindling donations and higher costs for receiving and delivering food. Others have less food on their shelves even though they have higher demand.” The article goes on to highlight the vital importance that food banks serve and that folks who need the assistance they provide might be more diverse than the broader public realizes.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Nonprofits on Both Sides of Abortion Issue See Increase in Donations | The Chronicle of Philanthropy 
• Independent Sector Issues Statement on Mass Shooting in Buffalo
• The Guggenheim Museum, Which Long Resisted Calls to Drop the Sackler Name, Has Finally Quietly Removed It | Artnet News
• HFPA Considers Selling Assets, Dropping Nonprofit Status | Yahoo Entertainment
• Oregon nonprofit that turns trash into art lands permanent display at the Smithsonian | KGW.com 

 

 

Transcript

[00:00:00] This week on the nonprofit newsfeed, we're talking about high inflation and how it's having impacts on food banks, as well as a bevy of other social impact issues. Nick, how is.

[00:00:12] It's going good, George.

[00:00:13] it's just trying to, always just trying to keep up last week was a little weird from the financial side. I'm glad we're not a financial podcast, but a few things went sideways and you know, I think that comes back to the larger issue of inflation going on.

[00:00:27] That is. Great segue into our first story that is talking about some of those broader trends, economic trends that you were talking about. Namely inflation and our lead story comes from the Chronicle philanthropy, which is supporting that hi Felician is continuing to impact many nonprofits, but food banks in particular.

[00:00:50] And it turns out that many food banks across the United States are being. From both directions, essentially, you have more people needing food assistance because of higher food prices and food banks, having trouble keeping up with that higher demand because of higher food and supply chain issues. So.

[00:01:14] Yeah, lots of food banks are feeling the pinch, both with supply and demand, kind of impacting their ability to, to provide for, for folks. The article goes on to state that some of feeding America's food pantry partners have closed because of dwindling donations and higher costs for receiving and delivering food.

[00:01:34] Others have less food on their shelves, even though they have higher demand. So you kind of have the economics of this. Hitting where Hertz in both directions. And unfortunately the inflation numbers came out and it slowed marginally with the most recent data. But inflation continues to be a really serious problem heading in this case, food pantries, where it hurts.

[00:01:56] I think it's important to note that the general consumer price index CPI is it's not accurate for everyone. It is not inclusive of what might be hitting. Some people that are maybe more dependent on travel by car or at the grocery store for different types of materials. But the high-level here.

[00:02:19] Compared to last year at this time, we're about 50% down and where we have received and past feral food donations, and about 20% down from food drives in our collection of food from the grocery store, says the executive director, Tyra Jackson there. And it's it. It's tough. It is tough because you're also talking about donations that may have come and picked up by truck by car.

[00:02:43] And there are a few donations being. In addition to people needing it more. So, you know, you're going to see this certainly at food, food pantries among others, but something that we really wanted to pull out as a, as a major, a major narrative as only gonna continue as as inflation and gas prices continue to, to pinch organizations that serve the most vulnerable in our.

[00:03:06] Yeah, George, I think that's a great analysis. And just as an aside, I was talking with a colleague at our company who she and her partner volunteered at a food bank down in the Nashville area. And. When they were volunteering there, they found out that the food bank was actually closing two weeks later and that all of those resources were disappearing.

[00:03:28] So this is very real. This is being felt tangibly by a lot of people. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable people and just calling out to an article. Or featured on this podcast almost a year ago now, but when you look at the statistics of folks on food stamps or folks needing food assistance, it is much more broad and diverse than I think a lot of Americans realize, and that food insecurity is a much bigger and.

[00:04:00] Yeah, I'm a much bigger problem than I think most people realize. So it's something we'll continue to follow.

[00:04:06] Great. Should we move into our summer yard? Yeah.

[00:04:10] Let's do it. Our first article from the summary comes again from the Chronicle of philanthropy. And this is that nonprofits on both sides of the abortion issue are seeing an increase in donations. This was something that we predicted. It's not that hard, a prediction to make. Something we've talked about would happen a couple of weeks ago, of course, with the draft Supreme court decision propelling Roe vs.

[00:04:37] Wade. And at this point How the Supreme court is poised to strike that down, back into the forefront of the narrative here. And there are so many organizations on both sides of this issue, local organizations, national organizations, and this is now the most important or most salient, I should say, policy debate in America right now.

[00:05:02] So no surprise that non-profits are seeing an increase in donations. It will be interesting to see. How long this lasts. We often talk about how giving because of various news events and attention to these issues have very short life cycles. We talked about donations to Afghanistan, which lasted, everyone was talking about Afghanistan for about 10 days and then nothing.

[00:05:30] Right. So it'd be interesting to see here. Especially as it relates to broader kind of political narratives in the United States. The one difference with this is that that decision from the Supreme court has actually not been officially dropped down yet. It's expected to be released in June.

[00:05:48] So that, that news cycle we'll get another bump in June when it eventually does drop. But what's your take on the story?

[00:05:55] Yeah, it's kind of hard because we're still just sort of pulling in this article at anecdotal evidence and narratives, large narratives like planned parenthood, Federation of America, talking about how. , spokesperson, they're saying they got 70,000, 70,000 new supporters that had signed on with the organization either as donors or volunteers and had received tens of thousands of new one-time gifts.

[00:06:21] And the thinking is that if Roe is overturned, the organization's base of supporters are only going to continue to grow and counter narratives there. Pro-life across America, probably of. Groups has not seen a rise in donations since the week, but other smaller ones have said, there's a couple extra thousand here or there coming in.

[00:06:40] So still, , I, I, I'm hesitant to draw a macro narratives other than to say, there's going to be an increase amount of volume here. I think this is the first sort of earthquake social earthquake. This announcement ripples are starting to be felt, but I think the big ones still to come. Potential actual decision would be landing.

[00:07:01] That would be the summer. Right? Nick, you know, I, I don't know why July is in my mind, but

[00:07:05] Yeah, I think end of June a lot has something to do with the docket. Yeah,

[00:07:11] so we'll see. But within the next one to two months, general,

[00:07:16] I would say from a strategy standpoint, this was the first press it, but the, the wave of. News and attention is going to be very, very intense. And as all things intense, it will burn brightly and briefly, unfortunately, and then come down to that steady drum beat. So you are an organization that is near or adjacent to this topic.

[00:07:38] I would be very much prepared for how you pull in. Monthly sustaining donors in that moment of emotion when emotions are at its peak, because the work is going to take quite some time and it's not a one and done it is something that should it should be part of a, a longer term movement that is is going to take a lot of resources.

[00:08:01] Absolutely. That's a great framing. I for one I'm done with earthquakes for, for another decade, no more society altering earthquakes. But unfortunately we have another one. To talk about. And we're framing this around a press release from independent sector, which is a national membership organization that brings together nonprofits and foundations and corporate giving partners.

[00:08:28] But they put out a press release, acknowledging the violence in Buffalo over the weekend. That being that over the weekend, a white supremacist went into a supermarket in Buffalo, New York shot. 13 people, 11 of whom were black and 10 of whom died. This was an over act of racism and white supremacy was very, very clear.

[00:08:52] And We see the nonprofit community responding here. I don't really know. What more to what non-profits can can do about this. This is, this is hard, a hard, very hard problem to solve. And of course, there's lots of organizations that work in this space, the Southern poverty law center and civil rights organizations that of course over the past couple of days have been really highlighting how national political discourses lending itself to this, these far right ideologies and extremist ideologies.

[00:09:25] But Yeah, just unfortunately, and another tragic day in a long string of mass shootings that we experienced in this country.

[00:09:32] We saw the narrative, certainly of gun rights and organizations like our town saying reasonable things. Like, I dunno, maybe we shouldn't allow citizens to run around with assault rifles , these high capacity magazines and the ability to, to do that much damage in that period of time, there was another narrative around.

[00:09:51] How this was actually streamed on Twitch, which can lead to copycats and narratives that this shooter was partially inspired by Christ church shooting, which was also incredibly terrible, but this sort of mimicry of when people see it is a, a dog whistle and just very dark motivation for, for certain people that clearly need help.

[00:10:14] Like this is somebody who needs. Folks that are, , drawn to this type of thought, unfortunately, and this type of action then there's a new piece that seemed to be coming out, which I I'm starting to see nonprofits touch on, which is the narrative around replacement theory. And I'm not going to go into it in so much as, you know, giving it any sort of, even the word theory there it is.

[00:10:39] It is a white supremacist fever dream, and I don't curse on this podcast, but I would, if I could, because it's it's a narrative that is unfortunately use because it's pulled into media narratives and reiterated on shows like Tucker Carlson, but it has a very, very dark and dangerous, extreme narrative to it.

[00:11:02] And so there may be opportunities for if this does touch on a non-profits work in association with. You know, immigration, anything that supports black or brown people and their rights in this country to, take a look at it and see where your voice on it could, could lend a larger and more clarifying narratives on it.

[00:11:25] Absolutely George. I couldn't agree more. And quite frankly, I want to see tech companies take a far more aggressive stance on combating this quite frankly. It's unacceptable. The video was five streamed and is just it's. So you type it into Google. It's the first thing you see that is unacceptable. And I would love to see greater efforts behalf of big tech to work with nonprofits and civil society to, to attempt to mitigate this.

[00:11:58] Because quite frankly, it's the pervasiveness of these kind of fringe ideas. And I know that's a whole other thing, but I think that there can be a lot more done. And I think that nonprofits and civil society should be invited to play a role in.

[00:12:13] Yeah. I don't know what the right answer is. I get worried sometimes about. The narratives that take hold and whether or not it's used as an excuse to go after big tech. The truth is Twitch took that down within two minutes, which is a heck of a lot more impressive in terms of a timeframe than what Facebook did.

[00:12:32] A company, 10 X its size with Facebook live. The truth is the ability to publish on the web. Can't be fully blocked. And by saying like, if only it was taken down, what in thirties. If only it was taken down in 10 seconds, I just don't understand the channeling of the social solution. Can't be a faster form of censorship.

[00:12:56] Would've stopped this. I'm not, I'm not buying that as a solution, giving that child that 18 year old, maybe not access to a assault rifle. Would be maybe where I start followed by again, pointing toward being very careful when someone's consuming certain types of content in an extreme environment. And also this individual was given access to body armor.

[00:13:26] And so the whole narrative of good guy with a gun didn't matter because this person was actually shot at. And it didn't matter because we have turned extremists into super soldiers with over the counter shit. You can get it well, So I, I'm sorry, I'm not buying if only Twitch took it down and got Dan two minutes, I'm not, I'm not buying that sale.

[00:13:45] That's fair. That's a fair, that's a fair argument. I agree with you the much more. Proactive way of dealing with this is a gun laws in New York actually has this red flag gun law that should have prevented the shooter from accessing this firearm. And for whatever reason,

[00:14:02] Yeah, I haven't seen the full near, I mean, just, I haven't seen the full narrative, but you know, there's more, there's more guns and people in this country. So I don't know.

[00:14:10] I agree. Our thoughts are with the families and everyone affected by, by this fine. Our next story comes from news.art net.com. And this is about the Guggenheim museum, which has long resisted calls to drop the Sackler name, the Sackler family, being the family owners of the Purdue pharma corporation has finally quietly removed the Sackler name from. From the building, the Guggenheim has come under lots of criticism and there's been sit in protests at the museum and attempt to bring to light how this family's money is, is as you know.

[00:14:53] highlighted throughout this museum as a donor.

[00:14:56] And yeah, George authored this to you. I think I have. Complicated FOBTs here and being a new Yorker, we're both new Yorkers. You walk through any museum, the Guggenheim, the met every exhibit is a who's who of corporate power in America, half the ma is named after the Koch brothers. You know? So it's yeah, I wonder what your take is on this.

[00:15:21] It's kind of dovetails a bit also with when we were talking about how. Russian oligarchs were giving in the west to legitimize and cause wash disreputable actions and reputation, and to build themselves up, the nonprofit industry does offer this sort of pathway to respectability at a price. And the question is.

[00:15:48] Is it appropriately priced? Should that be for sale? I think this is a big move because clearly the Sackler name like has donated quite a bit to, to the arts and the arts are incredibly important, but maybe not as important as the fact that what they have done to. Drug addiction. And this country is probably unparalleled from other companies in terms of it's devastation.

[00:16:20] And , maybe you don't give them the social acceptance pass, but hopefully this is something that reverberates out there that it's also hard. If you're an art, I try to put on the other side of it, like there's somebody on the fundraising team of a struggling museum trying to preserve.

[00:16:37] You know, history and legacy of fill in the blank type of art that already struggles. And to say like, oh, you're not allowed to take, you know, money from somebody who that happened to make it from oil from this. So like, you know, where do you draw the line? I mean, I draw the line there, the Sacklers, but you know, it is, it makes, it makes for an interesting conversation, I think in philanthropic communities and maybe even.

[00:17:02] Just to bring it back to a listener right now you might want to have with, you know, your board and your supporters being like, you know, who would we not take money from if we did Y what would we do? You know, I think there's a lot of folks that take it and be like, oh, you can make a donation, but sorry, we can't name you.

[00:17:18] Like, what did you just do? They're like, all right, we're, we're playing this weird sort of moral shell game.

[00:17:25] Yeah, I think that's as an interesting analysis and to your point, I would not want to be the fundraiser I'm responsible for that, but definitely something to talk about. Within your organization. Another organization that's been doing a lot of talking within itself is the Hollywood foreign press association, which you may know as the obscure organization that is responsible for hosting and promoting the golden Globes in Hollywood.

[00:17:55] So the Hollywood foreign press has been criticized pretty substantially in the past couple of years for. And I think rightly so and incredible lack of diversity kind of opaque voting processes. And as it turns out this organization, which is a nonprofit actually is reincorporating itself as essentially a business they're selling off assets, they're going to drop their nonprofit status and attempt to boost the golden Globes As a ceremony, I guess.

[00:18:29] I'm not as well versed in pop culture as nearly anyone, but it's kind of an interesting move.

[00:18:38] Yeah, I don't know. I thought it was just funny that it didn't even Dawn on me that the Hollywood foreign press association was a nonprofit. There are a lot of non-profits out there operating for, for better or worse or for interesting. And I'm always curious when there's a transition, either from a non-profit to for-profit for-profit to nonprofit.

[00:18:57] I tend to see this a lot less, the, the move. And I just curious to watch what the net effect is. If anything interesting comes of it, you know, we'll bring it up, but you know, good luck. Sorry. You're leading the team. Am I.

[00:19:12] I.

[00:19:13] don't know if it gets us. Ricky Jervais is one more year of cringe-worthy. Self-loathing Hollywood criticism all sign up for that highlight reel.

[00:19:24] Yeah. As long as, you know, I feel maybe touch better that any profit they happen to be making off of that particular spectacle isn't tax tax subsidized

[00:19:34] Hmm.

[00:19:35] touch better.

[00:19:35] There you go. All right. How about a feel-good story, George?

[00:19:39] Sounds perfect.

[00:19:41] All right. This is from a local NBC affiliate. K G w. Dot com out of Oregon and it talks about an Oregon nonprofit that's on a mission to bring awareness to plastic pollution by turning trash into treasure and has landed a permanent display at the Smithsonian museum of natural history in a.

[00:20:04] Washington DC. And essentially they've processed 37,000 tons of plastic from Oregon's beaches. And they've created 87 works of art and the art as looking at some of the pictures kind of like wide ranging implications. But the, or vision it's a wide vision. But it seems to me that you're keeping trash out of the ocean and creating something beautiful.

[00:20:31] Sounds like a winning company.

[00:20:33] I look at this just incredibly creative to take the exact problem that is destroying sea life and turn it into incredible works of art, which then forced people to, to see this. And, you know, there's this beautiful picture of a turtle created by all of the plastic junk and it just hits you so tangibly to see something at one striking beautiful something you'd associate with nature, but then realize that that that is exactly.

[00:21:03] These animals are consuming in the wild increasing amounts of plastic, which have a devastating, devastating impact on ecosystem could be ideas also, as you work on various issues of how do I take the thing that is the biggest threat and turn it into the medium of awareness. And there's something beautiful about this.

[00:21:24] I love it. Thanks George.

[00:21:27] Thanks Nick.

 

Greg Baldwin CEO and President talks about the current needs for volunteers across the VolunteerMatch network. What are the macro factors causing the return to normal volunteering behaviors and what can nonprofits do?

Greg also discusses the CEO transition and how the organization is approaching finding his replacement.

"Volunteer Demand has rebounded to over 10M but volunteers are in shortage"

 

VolunteerMatch is the most effective way to recruit highly qualified volunteers for your nonprofit. We match you with people who are passionate about and committed to your cause, and who can help when and where you need them.

And because volunteers are often donors as well, we make it easy for them to contribute their time and money.

The Topline numbers from VolunteerMatch

• 8.5 Million were needed pre-COVID
• 4.35 Million were needed in 2021 Jan
• The number is now 10.5 Million open opportunities starting 2022

 

 

About Greg Baldwin

Greg Baldwin is the CEO at VolunteerMatch. He joined what is now VolunteerMatch in the spring of 1998 as its Chief Imagination Officer to finish hot-wiring the Internet to help everybody find a great place to volunteer. Today, VolunteerMatch is the web's largest volunteer engagement network strengthening communities and organizations across the country by making it easier for good people and good causes to connect. Greg completed his undergraduate studies at Brown University in 1990 with a degree in Public Policy. He is a life-long volunteer and currently lives in the Bay Area with his wife Kathryn and kids Ellie and Matt.

Nonprofit news for the week of Oct 25th, 2021

 

Hong Kong nonprofits are forced to leave and Facebook Whistleblower is supported by nonprofit.

Amnesty International Forced To Pull Out of Hong Kong

International human rights organization Amnesty International has announced that it will be pulling its operations out of Hong Kong, according to a press release. The decision comes on the heels of Hong Kong’s controversial new national security law, which makes it incredibly difficult for groups like Amnesty to operate. The law, which was introduced in June of 2020, has already been used to crack down on non-violent political protest and stifle civil society and other activist groups. According to reporting from The Guardian, more than 35 other civil society groups have also been forced to shut down under the threat of arrest. Amnesty says local offices will close by the end of the month while its regional headquarters will shut down by the end of the year.

Read more ➝ Nonprofit Group Backs Facebook Whistleblower In Huge Gamble

The nonprofit Whistleblower Aid says that it’s seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel” after secretly working with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, according to a report from the Washington Post. The nonprofit, which had an operating budget of only $2 million, has taken on the huge task of representing one of the highest-profile corporate whistleblowers of the decade, who went public with internal Facebook reports that show it was aware of potential harm. The nonprofit was forced to divert a huge amount of resources to a singular case in a huge gamble that seems to be paying off, according to Libby Liu, chief executive of Whistleblower Aid. The organization provides things like free legal protection, security, and even mental health support for whistleblowers.

Read more ➝

Summary

• US surgeons test pig kidney transplant in a human
• Hundreds of children waiting for adoption in Ala. foster care system, nonprofit holds fundraiser
• Gates Foundation invests $120 mn for Covid pill access
• Nonprofit pilot program to bring 50 housing pods for homeless in Kzoo

 

🤩 Sponsored: Online Courses for Nonprofits Whole Whale University and free and low-cost courses to increase traffic and fundraising.

• HOW TO RUN EFFECTIVE FACEBOOK FUNDRAISERS
• CONTENT MARKETING + SEO TO DRIVE IMPACT
• ONLINE FUNDRAISING ESSENTIALS

 

On the 200th episode of the podcast George Weiner, Chief Whaler and Megan Anhalt, Chief Strategy Officer discuss what a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris America mean for nonprofit giving. 

They also discuss five major trends across the technology landscape that will impact the way nonprofits need to plan for 2021. 

 

Nonprofit News Feed: AI Transparency, Environmental Impact, and Ethical Tech Shifts

Hosted by George Weiner and Nick Azulay of Whole Whale

Main Topics:

1. Adobe's AI Controversy:

   • Adobe faces backlash over changes to its terms of service, sparking fears that user data might be used to train its generative AI models without consent.
   • Adobe clarified it does not train its AI models on customer content and committed to updating its terms by the end of June.
   • The Department of Justice has filed a suit against Adobe for its opaque subscription models, adding to the company's woes.

2. Transparency Issues with OpenAI-Backed Nonprofits:

   • Nonprofits backed by OpenAI, like Open Research and UBI Charitable, have stopped disclosing financial statements and internal policies, breaking previous transparency pledges.
   • George emphasizes the importance of transparency in research, especially in universal basic income (UBI) studies to maintain credibility and trust.

3. Environmental Impact of AI:

   • AI's significant compute power demands are leading to increased carbon emissions and higher operational costs.
   • Google's new AI search feature, rolling out to a billion users, is estimated to use 30 times more energy than traditional search methods.
   • The conversation touches on the broader implications of AI's energy consumption and the potential for more efficient models in the future.

4. Ethical Concerns in Tech Infrastructure:

   • The discussion extends to the physical infrastructure required for AI, including the ethical implications of mining precious metals.
   • George notes the importance of monitoring the human rights impacts of resource extraction and the need for innovative solutions to mitigate these effects.

Feel-Good Story:

• ProtonMail's Shift to Nonprofit Foundation:
  • Proton, known for its secure email service, is transitioning to a nonprofit foundation model, prioritizing mission over profit.
  • This move echoes Patagonia's shift and reinforces trust in nonprofit tech companies' commitment to user privacy and data security.

Critical Insights:

• Transparency and ethical considerations in AI and tech are paramount to maintaining user trust and ensuring sustainable practices.
• The shift of tech companies to nonprofit models can offer a more trustworthy alternative, free from shareholder pressures.

Call to Action:

• Stay informed about changes in terms of service from tech providers and advocate for transparency and ethical practices.
• Consider supporting and using tech services that prioritize privacy and nonprofit values.

Closing Thought:

• The nonprofit sector continues to lead by example in prioritizing ethical practices and transparency, underscoring the importance of mission-driven work in tech and beyond.

Nonprofit news for the week of 7/26/2021.

Bezos Blasts Off Into Space, Donates $200 Million        

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and the world’s wealthiest human, has announced a $200 million donation to the activist Van Jones and humanitarian chef José Andrés. The money, with no strings attached, was part of Bezos’ new “Courage and Civility Award.” Bezos announced the award shortly after returning to earth from a ride to space via his aerospace company Blue Origin’s spaceship.

Read more ➝ New Report On Trust In Civil Society Released

The report, published by Independent Sector, finds that trust in institutions overall is declining across America, and that nonprofits and philanthropic organizations are not immune from this trend. While overall trust remains high, residents with lower income, lower education levels, and those who live in rural communities contributed to the downward tick in trust. Gen Z also exhibited decrease metrics when it comes to these institutions. How the public perceives nonprofits and philanthropic organizations broadly needs to be at the forefront of conversations around nonprofit development, fundraising, communication, and marketing.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• "Your Shot Texas" Boosts Vaccinations With Nonprofit Grant Money
• Bloomberg To Fund Tech Upgrades For The Arts
• Red Cross signals blood emergency with lack of donations
• A Nonprofits flowers carry meaning at The Tokyo Olympics

 

A deep conversation on the topic of shadow moderation, a feature that lets moderators on platforms like Facebook and Reddit censor posts without alerting the person who posted it.    We discuss how pernicious this problem is at scale with Rob Hawkins, the founder of Reveddit, which is a tool that lets users discover which of their content has been removed from Reddit.   This may seem like a small UX feature on the surface, but the implications of silencing speech in this way has large ramifications for the increasing polarization of discord online.       About Rob Hawkins Rob is a grassroots software developer living in Taiwan and is the founder of Reveddit, which is a tool that lets users discover which of their content has been removed from Reddit. Before Reveddit, Rob worked as a data scientist in the financial services sector to extract key information from large datasets. Rob also spent a year developing websites with DoSomething.org, an organization that inspires young people to change the world.   Resource links https://www.CantSayAnything.win - A hub for everything Rob is doing to advocate for reviewable moderation on social media. https://www.reveddit.com https://twitter.com/rhaksw       Ai Image generated Created with DALL·E, an AI system by OpenAI “progression of a match being put out with smoke rising, Photojournalism ”

Nonprofit News summary.

 

Nonprofits Gear Up For Annual GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday, the annual fundraising event held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is already beginning to drive nonprofit communication and marketing strategies as we enter the holiday season. Agency Whole Whale (the creators of this newsletter) predicts over $3 Billion in total GT revenue, while organizations like the Giving Block are trying to bring crypto donations to the forefront. Meta (the newly named parent company of Facebook) has announced $8 million in matching GivingTuesday donations, while organizations like CARE are marketing giving opportunities with a substantial 5x match.

Read more ➝

 

Give.org Releases Nonprofit Donor Trust Report

Give.org, associated with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) has released its “Donor Trust Report 2021: Profiles in Charity Trust and Giving” report. The report seeks to understand the relationship between donors and charities with the mission to strengthen existing ties and strengthen trust. Other reports include a study on “Charity Impact” and “Sexual Harassment and the Charitable Sector,” which further illuminate how charities can build genuine trust among staff, board members, and the general public.

Read more ➝

 

 

Summary

• Labor shortage hits nonprofit organizations harder than other business sectors
• UN to Elon Musk: Here's that $6 billion plan to end world hunger
• Tech Supported Uptick In Nonprofit Financial Liquidity
• The ‘Fearless Girl’ Statue Is in Limbo
• Expenses are up 140% for CT nonprofit's food pantries. Person to Person CEO says it's due to inflation and high need.
• nonprofit creates parks in empty city lots | STLPR
•  

 

Have we lost the ability to have conversations with folks on “the other side”? Kamy Akhavan is debunking how to have polarizing discussions that are actually productive. Making connections with people from opposing views is hard to do but it’s very powerful when we do get through to each other.   With 20 years of experience bridging divides, Kamy’s work has helped people fight polarization, master essential skills for the modern workplace, and start and grow successful nonprofit organizations. 

 

3 Steps to Bridging the conversation Gap

1. Be curious and listen to the other side

2. Ask pointed clarifying questions to learn more and build trust

3. Bring the heat down and find the larger common ground, what Kamy calls Superordination.  

 

About Kamy   Kamy Akhavan, former CEO of ProCon.org, the nation's leading source of nonpartisan research on controversial issues, now leads the Center for the Political Future (CPF) at the University of Southern California.With more than 20 years of experience in bridging divides at national levels, Kamy’s work has served more than 200 million people, including students at more than 12,000 schools in all 50 states and 100 countries. Kamy writes and speaks on numerous topics including the origins of and solutions to political polarization, improving interpersonal communication, the awesome power of debate, nonprofit leadership, digital marketing, civics education, and how to teach controversial issues.     Rough Transcript

[00:00:00] Today on the whole well podcast, I am

[00:00:27] incredibly excited to invite Kami Ahkavan. the former CEO of procon.org, a leading source of nonpartisan research on controversial issues that I'm a boy lot to get into there. And currently he is the executive director, executive director of the center for the political future at university of Southern California.

[00:00:51] Kamy. It's great to see you at least over zoom.

[00:00:55] Yeah, that's right. Well, great to see you too, George. It's been a while. I'm a big fan of your company and a

[00:01:01] view, so it's a

[00:01:02] Oh, thank you. Well, I mean, I just, I have to start

[00:01:06] with I know that a few years ago, I believe you left as the CEO of pro con maybe we can just sort of start there. Inspired that transition. Cause it wasn't at all a politically heated moment at all three years ago because I blacked out what happened.

[00:01:23] I started at ProCon in 2004. I was hired as a managing editor and then became president and then became CEO. the

[00:01:31] reason that I fell in love with that organization is because it was the only one in the country that was focused on presenting extensive research on both sides of

[00:01:40] controversial issues and doing it in a

[00:01:42] very accessible way.

[00:01:44] This is not for policy wanks or super motivated politicos. This is for soccer moms and for people like my, my neighbors and my parents and my, my siblings that I wanted everybody in the country to be able to understand both sides of controversial issues so they can make their own informed judgment and make their own informed opinions on these very tough issues.

[00:02:11] Most people didn't have the time. They didn't have the wherewithal and they frankly didn't have the balanced media diet that would give them access to all those perspectives. So when I leaned into that organization and find out that it wasn't just me, who wanted to have both sides represented really well and understand what all the viewpoints were on issues like, should we legalize marijuana?

[00:02:37] Should the death penalty remain legal? Should abortion be legal? Should you spank your children? Should felons be allowed to vote? Should we put up a border wall? All these controversies, it turned out that tens and tens of millions of people also cared a lot. We ended up reaching an audience of over 300 million people over the course of my 14 years there.

[00:02:58] But to answer your question, 14 years is a long time to be doing anything. And after a while, I just started looking for the eggs. Over the course of my time at con I had worked with over 13,000 schools in all 50 states and nearly a hundred different countries. One of those schools was USC university of Southern California and at one of our events, and this is a true story.

[00:03:23] We were hosting. Remember Anthony Scaramucci, the mooch was going to go on stage with, with a guy named Mike Murphy, who was. The campaign manager for Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush and John McCain and Arnold Schwartzenegger big deal. Republican guys. They went on stage and then the current executive director said, Hey, comedy, you want my job?

[00:03:46] I'm going to be moving. And I said, well, I'm super interested because I'm 14 years in a pro con. What, tell me more. And then she told me more. I ended up applying, ended up getting the position and it's been three years since. So even though I'm a two time UCLA graduate, I'm a proud Bruin. I am now a Brogan Brogan because I can now put up my two fingers and say fight on because USC pays my bills.

[00:04:14] It's a fabulous university. I've always had great respect for USC as well as for UCLA, my, my Alma mater. So happy to be here at USC and pro-con meanwhile, lives on and has since been acquired by encyclopedia Britannica and they run it. That was part of the exit strategy. Was to make sure that it lived on.

[00:04:34] So they great content is still widely available to millions of millions of people. I couldn't be more proud of that operation and what it has done. And we can talk a little bit more about the impact that it has made. I know impact is your, is your currency. And, and I'm very proud of that. And an eager to talk about as well.

[00:04:54] What's going on here at USC and in all the side

[00:04:57] projects that I'm involved in and you're involved

[00:04:59] in.

[00:05:00] It's so interesting because you go from this really immersive. You know, 300 million type level impressions and over a decade of work, which is certainly I would, classify as a mile-wide and that's just the nature of a mile wide reaching many, many at a very top level to now it's looking like you're going a mile deep, a mile deep with the ability to craft and look at an educational experience in a very fraught, political time full of, as you mentioned , media, bubbles media, bubbles that are doing the work of getting and keeping attention.

[00:05:40] I want to actually just pull back though to that moment. You said I started, you know, 14 years are

[00:05:46] people listening and I'm also kind of, we had a recently Greg Baldwin on who is announced that he is moving on from volunteer mattress. a lot of I think, changing, changing of the guard,

[00:05:58] like. What is that first initial moment.

[00:06:00] And then from that moment of , it's time, , what about that

[00:06:05] gives you that like, all right, now I need to put

[00:06:08] this in place. And what is putting this in place? Look like.

[00:06:12] Yeah, it's, it's a profound question and a lot of ways, because it has so much to do with the sense of purpose in life in general. So for me, my purpose professionally and personally had been as a bridge builder. I was bringing people together sometimes against their will on issues so that they can discover that the

[00:06:36] people that they thought

[00:06:37] were opposite from them, that they considered enemies, not just opponents, but enemies, but those people were actually quite rational and that those people got to their viewpoints based on.

[00:06:49] Reasons and education and moral guidance and family values and things that were deeply, deeply reasonable, and they were not caricature. So for liberals they might read or watch Tucker Carlson and think, oh, conservatives, they don't know anything. Or conservatives might watch Rachel Maddow and think, ah, she's such an extremist.

[00:07:20] The reality is that most of us are somewhere in the middle and those viewpoints were not being represented because as you know, for example, 90% of tweets come from 20% of its users. The people who'd speak. The loudest are the ones who are hurt. And most of the time, most of us are kind of in the middle.

[00:07:43] are not extremely. So to answer your question about the, that moment. For me, the moment came when I realized that my personal and professional mission of bridging people, I had been doing it digitally, virtually reaching large audiences. But when I would have conversations offline with friends or family or colleagues, sometimes those conversations got heated.

[00:08:08] And sometimes those conversations went sideways and got ugly. And I thought that's, I'm the master of bringing people together and getting people to recognize their common humanity and recognize the merit in each other's viewpoints. And yet I'm not able to do it on an interpersonal basis. Why is that?

[00:08:28] And there was a new challenge. I thought this is a different kinds of challenge. It's very different. When you're reading information online, where you can be vulnerable, someone is not confronting. You are allowing yourself to be open and allowing yourself to intake new information and be considerate in a heated exchange that is gone.

[00:08:52] And the defensiveness goes up dramatically. The stakes go up and it becomes more of a context. And in those situations, the person wants to win. They don't want to listen. And I thought this is a great area for me to focus on. If I really care about bridging divides, I need to know how to do this interpersonally.

[00:09:15] And so that became my focus. As I said, I need to challenge myself for the next thing and take what I can do virtually and bring it to a interpersonal level. And that was a real challenge. Learning how to disagree better. Is difficult learning how to navigate fraught conversations is a super challenge.

[00:09:37] And it's something that we all face. If an employee is doing a bad job, how do you tell them in a way that won't make them defensive? How do you tell them in a way that will make them think, thank you for telling me I'm so glad that I have this feedback. It's really difficult. Or if you're having an argument with someone about the merits of the corporate tax rate, should, is it too high or too low?

[00:10:00] How can you get a conversation like that to not go off the rails where suddenly you're insulting each other? That's what I've been focused on. And I think I learned a lot in that process over the last few years, so much so to where I can now travel the country and talk about how my experiences in bridging divides online now matches my experiences bridging divides in small group and one-on-one conversations.

[00:10:29] So that we can bring those best tactics and strategies to bear in our workplaces, in our schools

[00:10:36] and in our dinner tables.

[00:10:39] so it sounds like you got wooed by A new problem and challenge that you saw in your

[00:10:45] backyard, and you realize that it is part and parcel with the larger goal that you seem to just have adopted as there needs to be a bridge here. This is ridiculous. Most of us are in the middle. How do, how do we talk to each other about very important issues in a country?

[00:11:00] We all, you know, pay taxes and pledge to.

[00:11:04] A hundred percent or that I haven't told you this story, but let me just tell you what motivates me. I said it's personal. So I was born in the backseat of a taxi cab, Ted Harani, Ron. I moved to south Louisiana when I was one year old. I

[00:11:17] was an who grew up among sash reason tippy-toes and Columbias and arsenals

[00:11:23] good Cajun names like that.

[00:11:24] I stood out like a sword bound with a name like

[00:11:27] Acabar and I had to constantly build these bridges so that my agent friends could understand what Iranian culture was about and vice versa. Then I ended up moving to Southern California where my neighbors names were Coya

[00:11:43] a lot of Japanese people in the Torrance community where I lived, but also Gonzalez and Lopez and a lot of Hispanic names. So again, bridging divides, I had a Cajun accent. And I'm an active on, and I have to represent all these cultures. I lived in twenty-five homes. By the time I was 20 years old, constantly building bridges.

[00:12:02] That's something that I had to become good at as a, as a human being, just to exist and to recognize that all these different cultures were so interesting. And they have so much to offer. And I had so much to learn and I wanted those cultures to feel the same way about the cultures that I had come from and the kinds of foods and music and language and experiences that I had to share.

[00:12:27] So it became a compulsion of curiosity and curiosity to me is the most underrated of all motivations. It is the thing that will drive empathy that will drive respect, and that will drive learning drive. Open-mindedness I remember asking a prominent rabbit. Of all the things in the world, which characteristic do you value the most?

[00:12:49] And he said, Kami, it's not love. It's not love. It's not passion. What do you mean? It's not passion. And he went on to name all the things that's not. And then he said curiosity. And I said, exactly, it's curiosity. So all that's to say that that's what motivated me personally, to want to build these bridges is this intense curiosity from my upbringing of bridging divides and seeing the value that it can bring for inner peace and for happiness and for life satisfaction to feel

[00:13:22] like you're constantly learning from other.

[00:13:24] It makes a lot of sense now, and also why you've probably excelled at doing this because you have the outsiders view, you have this outsider point of view, which is a tremendous advantage, especially when you're talking about the types of themes that ProCon did. And now you are now training people to talk about.

[00:13:43] Maybe we can just dive right into this and let me frame this for people that are listening. There are executives, fundraisers, marketers. There are people that are working at nonprofits that are, needing to deal with diverse stakeholders. They are, let's say sitting in front of a donor that may not even match their political ticket and they're talking.

[00:14:05] And inevitably there's a statement that is made that you're like, Ooh, wait a minute. You know, maybe it's like, I can't believe they're pushing CRT at my preschool. And you're like, oh boy, here we go. And.

[00:14:16] Can you help me? What is the Kamy playbook for looking at a one-to-one conversation where we got identity that need to win and all of the baggage that humans bring in that moment?

[00:14:28] how do you sort of step back and frame a conversation? You know, like somebody's listening right now. You know, there's going to be a couple of hundred people listening to someone's about to walk into that conversation. What are the three things or items that you, you pulled together for them?

[00:14:42] Okay, so number one is

[00:14:43] listen, and let me explain what I mean by

[00:14:46] that. When we surveyed our audience at pro con and asked how many of you changed your mind on an issue based on

[00:14:52] what you read? I thought if we got

[00:14:55] 5% of people to change their mind,

[00:14:57] Home run. We got to 36%. The first time we

[00:15:01] did the survey and then I couldn't believe the numbers.

[00:15:04] So we did it again a year later, it got to 40%.

[00:15:07] So how do you do that? How do you change? 40% of people's minds on very controversial issues with information. And I learned about listening, the reason why we changed minds, and that was not our goal. By the way, our goal was to inform the reason we changed minds is because if someone came to the website with a very strong view on let's say the death penalty, they would see their view represented so well better than they could ever express it, that are articulated better sources, better formatted, better explained all of it.

[00:15:42] They felt hurt. That's exactly what I think. Absolutely what I think then the defense went. As soon as the defense goes down, the receptivity to new ideas is open and staring them right on that page. On the other side of the page was the other side of the argument. Here's all the reasons against the death penalty.

[00:16:02] And perhaps for the first time, they were able to see real compelling arguments that were very well sourced, very well articulated, not caricature lovers. And they thought, wow, I never thought of it that way. And the while I never thought of it that way moments when those happen, those are opportunities for change.

[00:16:23] And those opportunities for change cannot happen without first listening. This is a tool that we know from the playbook of peace negotiators, from marriage counselors, from a conflict resolution experts at all level. Step number one in those fraught moments is listen. And what I mean by listening is you have to ask clarifying questions.

[00:16:50] If you are listening for words versus meaning. So if someone says a word and then that word somehow triggers, you think, oh my gosh, they just use that word that makes me upset. What is their meaning? So ask clarifying questions. What did you mean when you said X? How did you get to that belief? You seem to have very strong views on this issue.

[00:17:15] Where did those views come from? How long have you had those views? You ask clarifying questions. The reason you ask clarifying questions is sometimes in the heat of a moment, the heat is coming from the amygdala part of our brains. That is the reptile part of our brains that says fight, flee or freeze.

[00:17:33] But the prefrontal cortex, that's where our reason comes from. That's where we're able to say what's where our empathy comes from. That's where we're able to say, oh, that's a good point. I hadn't considered that. I never thought of it. That way. What we need to do is ask is listen. So we listen for, listen with curiosity, listen for meaning, not just listen for words, but meaning if we don't understand the meaning, ask clarifying questions so that we can understand meeting and to so that we can.

[00:18:02] Get our brain out of the hypothalamus and into that prefrontal cortex. So we can go towards our second thoughts. We want to go from fast thinking instinct knee-jerk to slow thinking, slow things down and get to that second or third or fourth thought. So that's how you can reduce the heat in the conversation.

[00:18:23] So I'd say if you go into a conversation with the intent to listen with curiosity, with the intent to ask clarifying questions, when you get triggered or where you hear, oh my gosh, they just said CRT and the preschool. This is ridiculous. If we hear that ask clarifying questions. Oh, well, why do you think that they're teaching CRT in the classroom?

[00:18:44] You feel very strongly about CRT. Where did that view come from? What is it about CRT that you feel like you want to understand better and, and that gets you and the person you're talking to. On a much different level of a conversation where it's not emotion versus emotion. It is listening to understand it's not a battle.

[00:19:04] It is a tool for comprehension. So I'd say those two things listening and asking clarifying questions are number one and number two. And I'll see a third thing which I call super ordination. And that means when there is conflict, you hear people say, oh, try to find common grounds. So finding common ground is sometimes like trying to find a unicorn, you know, good luck.

[00:19:28] It's not going to be there, but there is something called super ordination, which is recognizing that you already have common ground. So for instance, I'm in LA and you've got offices in New York. I might like the Dodgers.

[00:19:42] You might like the Yankees, but Hey, we both like baseball. That's super

[00:19:45] ordination

[00:19:47] or.

[00:19:47] quick edit here. Let's go Mets just to that all up. Right, right then and there.

[00:19:53] Let's go, man. It's fair enough. We'll then if you, like, let's say we both like baseball, you're med sundowners, but we both like baseball and then we meet someone else who likes football and they don't care about baseball. And we say, oh, well we all like sports. That's super ordinating. We have expanded our in-group.

[00:20:10] So now there's no one on the outside of our circle, everyone's on the inside of our

[00:20:14] circle. And then let's say we find someone who does not give a care about sports. They don't care, but they love politics and say, oh, we've now expanded our in group to say you love competition. We all love competition.

[00:20:26] That's what super ordination is. So if we come into a conversation ready to listen and ask clarifying questions and think about the fact that we're not looking to find common ground, that we already have common ground. It's just a matter of thinking about what common ground we share. Then suddenly the stakes get a lot lower.

[00:20:45] We are not, the other person is not the enemy. The other person may be our opponents. Right. And in a debate or discussion, but that doesn't make them an enemy. It's not I'm right. You're evil. It's I'm right. And you're wrong. And that's okay. It's okay to disagree. The trick is to disagree

[00:21:01] better.

[00:21:02] It's really cool to hear the data that you just talked about in terms of the percent of your audience when you survey them, that actually sort of had their minds changed. And I think that's a loaded term. And I think just to dig into it, it would be your mind opened or

[00:21:17] shifted. I think of it. I never think of any issue as a binary.

[00:21:23] It is always on a scale. And so what I imagined and what I hear, and maybe you can clarify is that change their mind actually means you moved one tick away from where you were before and a less extreme center center, maybe mindset of like, ah, I still firmly believe this, but maybe minus one on this scale between extreme.

[00:21:44] Your understanding is exactly right. It doesn't mean we shifted our opinion fully from from one extreme to the other extreme.

[00:21:52] It's just that it, it changed somehow our

[00:21:55] viewpoint changed. We learned something

[00:21:57] and that

[00:21:58] has so much value in a person's life. Because if we thought the same thing we thought when we were

[00:22:04] five years old, we'd be idiots, right?

[00:22:07] So our life is a constant process of learning and adapting and changing. And we need to recognize that this is a normal human behavior, and we should not be scared to. This is something we should strive for. Of course you should change when you have new information to adjust to, then you pivot your thinking.

[00:22:27] And right now it seems like a lot of people are very bent on maintaining their exact viewpoint that they've had for years. Well, I've always thought this way. Well, why have you always thought this way? Have you considered other views? Have you really read other views? Have you discussed these other views?

[00:22:43] And if you have, then it's very likely that you will shift your thinking, which is of

[00:22:49] course fair and reasonable. Why not?

[00:22:51] I want to come back to

[00:22:52] this, this approach because it's, you know, if you take one thing away from hopefully listening to this episode and it really hopefully is that, that approach, because it impacts the way you're going to have to do the actual work necessary to achieve what your larger vision is at the individual level.

[00:23:09] You mentioned peace and peace talks in that strategy. And you obviously are calling that up because it is a, a fundamental in hostage negotiations and intense conversations and the following where you just said it, you listen. And then also in order to sort of move from that a type one to type two, thinking that like fast versus slow thinking to get out of that fear state, it is about restating their.

[00:23:38] So, what I'm hearing is you're frustrated about CRT in the classroom because you're afraid that it will make them hate America is, do I have that? Right? And what you're looking for is that's right. Not you're right, but that's right. You hear me? You want to have that,

[00:23:53] that echo, cause you're out of sync, right?

[00:23:55] Like you're talking about a high state, low

[00:23:57] state, you're talking about two high states talking to each other. You're out of rhythm. And so by getting into that rhythm of conversation, it seems like that's what you're getting people to do between the listen, ask clarifying questions and then identify The super ordination.

[00:24:14] Meaning the ground that is around the ground. We currently are fighting on we're living in.

[00:24:19] You said it so well, George, I think that's exactly right. The fact that we shift our focus from the person to the issue,

[00:24:29] then the issue becomes something that we can beat up.

[00:24:33] You know, we can have different views of the

[00:24:35] issue without any animosity towards the

[00:24:38] person. I'd say you, when listening has such a profound impact on the person who feels hurt the chemical that's released in the brain, when a person feels hurt is the same chemical that's released in the brain.

[00:24:51] When a person feels loved, it is profound to feel hurt. And that's something that we don't do often enough, but as a superpower, because when a person feels heard, that's when their trust in you goes up. And when you have a person's trust, you have a certain power. And with that power, you can use it to then influence their thinking on on an issue in the way that you want.

[00:25:17] But you can't gain that power. You can't gain that trust without first listening. So people who try to just shout their opinions over other people, that's never going to work. Right? So in some cases where activists feel like the best thing they can do is tell the other person you are so wrong and here's the facts.

[00:25:37] Let me just correct. You immediately they'll find that that strategy doesn't work and they can sometimes be frustrated with that and think, gosh, that other side, they're a bunch of idiots. They just don't get it. Well, help them get it, listen to their views, gain their trust, gain that power. Then use that power to help influence their thinking in the way

[00:25:57] that you would like. But it has to start with

[00:26:00] listening.

[00:26:00] Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And you know, that's just, it's helpful. And it's it's simplicity is misleading because when you're actually in that moment to pay attention to where you need a conversation to go while also ignoring the fact that you might be pissed off because you have as well firmly held beliefs that align with your identity and they are being. So you have to do two things at once. Turn down that response and play toward this end goal, which is really about, you know, not, you use the word influence, which is exactly

[00:26:32] right, but the connotation is toward this larger view of us getting along. So we can actually solve

[00:26:38] these things instead of throwing up walls. I want to ask a little bit more and challenge you on that statement of most of us are somewhere in the middle. I believe that you believe that. Can you help me believe that?

[00:26:55] there was a study that was done about polarization and it was called more in

[00:27:01] common. And what this study found is that approximately 65% of the survey respondents considered themselves

[00:27:08] part of the exhausted majority. And that is the group of people who felt that we can ensure would

[00:27:16] try to get along.

[00:27:18] And many of us believe that our country is hopelessly divided, that we're never going to get along. And that we're, we're breaking apart at the seams. Democracy is in peril. And that we're, we are in a state of civil war. Only our war is being fought with keyboards and pens versus guns and knives.

[00:27:41] Right. So for. That is the perception of the state of our division by many, and yet survey after survey, after survey, including the one I referenced says, most people don't feel that way in their hearts. They don't, they don't actually have animosity towards their neighbors or their coworkers. There's this backdrop in our country of hyper-partisanship.

[00:28:06] And we certainly see that in our elected offices, and that comes from a lot of systemic reasons that we can get into. But the reality is that most of us don't Harbor those same extremist views. Most of us are not in the 10% margin on either side of these partisan issues. And the reality is most of us have not really changed our views over the decades on these controversial issues.

[00:28:30] It's not that we're drawing more to the polls. What's happening is that our identities are drawing more to our political affiliations. So that means that our political identity is becoming more of a meta identity. And so that means if I hold a certain view on abortion, then that means that you can guess which political party I belong to.

[00:28:53] If you have a certain view on immigration, you can guess what political party that person identifies with. So somehow that party identification becomes a very strong predictor of where a person's ideologies are across a wide spectrum of issues, identity equals politics. That means if I challenge your view on abortion, I am challenging you as a person.

[00:29:18] And if I challenge your view on immigration, I'm challenging you as a, as a person. And those kinds of that's why those attacks feel very personal. It didn't use to be that way. It used to be, there was such a thing as a liberal Republican, or a conservative Democrat, where there was this, the south was all democratic.

[00:29:36] There were Dixiecrats, right? So there were conservatives in the south, but now conserves in the south are dumb, predominantly Republican. There's very few liberal Republicans, very few conservative Democrats. It's just degrees of, are you moderate or progressive Democrat? Are you a tea party far right.

[00:29:57] Republican, or you're more of a moderate Republican. That's the big change that's happening in our society is identity. Politics have become the way that we have self-organized and that is what makes it to where our. Conversations on issues can take that quick turn because we feel that our identities are being challenged and no one wants to have their individual identity challenged or threatened.

[00:30:23] And that's where, that's where we are. So our, have we become more extreme now? No, but it's, our identities have become more connected to our political identities and that's why it feels like we're more

[00:30:35] extreme.

[00:30:36] It's so interesting because the identity is really what we're talking about and someone's ego and the way they see themselves. And they define themselves by the beliefs they currently have at this minute in the moment. And they hold them fervently because they're terrified of what it means, if not, but however, in terms of defining themselves, I'd be hard pressed to say, if you look through bio, after bio, after bio, on LinkedIn, on Twitter, on you name the social media platform, you know, for me, , I'm a dad.

[00:31:10] I care about social impact tech. I make beer. I don't put, I vote for this party or that part. I don't put my party affiliation at the top of it. So it's this weird. Kind of like dormant monster that is like unspoken, but everyone

[00:31:28] kind of knows it based on trigger words that are fired off

[00:31:31] in a conversation.

[00:31:32] So I'm not publicly identifying others don't seem to

[00:31:36] be, but yet we have this

[00:31:38] feeling that we're, and here's a sort of

[00:31:41] overused quote, more divided than

[00:31:43] ever. And so how do you know, how do you really

[00:31:46] respond to the, the feeling that we're more divided than ever? Is that what percent of that

[00:31:51] is real?

[00:31:52] if you measure, well, first, those are great points and I love the way that you think about this. You have such a clear way of expressing your views. I'm envious of it. The. If you measure how divided we are based on party polarization. So that means the number of times that one, a member of a political party will co-sponsor the legislation from another, from the opposing party that is becoming increasingly rare.

[00:32:21] In fact, it is surpassed the level of partisanship in the, from the period immediately following the civil war. We're past that. So if you measure how divided we are based on party polarization, we are more divided than we've been. However, if you measure it based on our actual ideologies and viewpoints, those viewpoints have not really changed across across our society.

[00:32:48] They're pretty widely and uniformly distributed. So it's not that we have become more extreme it's that we perceive each other as more extreme. I gave you another example. In the 1950s, there was a survey done asking parents, if you'd be upset, if your son or daughter married someone of the opposing political party.

[00:33:05] And in 1950, nobody cared. It was around three to 4% would be upset if their son or daughter married someone of the opposite party flash forward to 2010, just 10 years ago. Or so that number was close to 46. Parents would be upset if their son or daughter married some of the opposing political parties.

[00:33:20] So it's really about that. The perception what's, the politics is introduced into the equation. Then suddenly the defensiveness goes up the identification around a party affiliation increases, and the perception of the other as an enemy versus an opponent, all of that stuff kicks in. You called it a hidden monster.

[00:33:40] I think that's right. That quickly comes to the forefront because we feel. We know that we've seen a few studies that said, what percentage of, of Americans consider the opposing party as a threat to the nation's well-being it's over a third of Democrats and Republicans who perceive the other side as a threat to the nation's well being, and you don't invite a threat over for barbecue, you know, to come and have a play date with your kids, right?

[00:34:08] It's a threat is not someone you want to hire in your company. We have all of these mechanisms to, to defend ourselves against the threats, not to to make nice with them. So that's, to me, the, the overarching phenomenon that's happening and social media is fueling a lot of it. So when you are posting on your LinkedIn or Twitter about a tech events or about an upcoming podcast, or about things that are nonpolitical.

[00:34:37] That's all great. It, as soon as certain words come into the equation or certain issues coming to the fore, then the potential for things to go off, the rail increases exponentially. And we have to be really, really careful and mindful about how we're communicating to one, make sure we're not triggering other people unintentionally.

[00:34:56] Right. So that our meaning does not get distorted. But also, so we don't get in trouble. No one wants the, the firefight, the food fight. That's going to follow from some, someone being upset about what we said politically. So the additive. Parents taught us and our parents, parents thought is always avoid discussions around a politics and religion.

[00:35:18] It's it seems like very good advice because those discussions can get too heated and ugly too quickly. But at the same time, we have the luxury of living in a democracy, in a Republic form of democracy. And that means our system is designed for it to be participatory. We have to discuss issues. That's part of the deal here.

[00:35:41] And if we don't like that as part of the deal, then we don't like a fundamental aspect of being American. It requires per informed citizenry and participation. So on the one hand, we have to discuss politics and issues. And on the other hand, we are punished when we do, because those conversations are so fraught and go off the rails.

[00:36:01] So that's why we are kind of stuck in these uncomfortable situations. And it's not just stuck in our, in our work lives. Or professional lives. We're stuck all the time. We are feel like we have to walk on eggshells so frequently. I can't tell you how many studies I've seen, where people are afraid to say what they actually think on issues, unless they're with people of their same ideological bent, then they are like, ah, let me tell you what I really think about the outcome of the 2016 election.

[00:36:30] This is what I really think about Trump or Clinton is literally what I think about, about Trump or Biden. And that's when they can relax and let loose. So our communities are becoming increasingly homogenous because no one wants to live with the discomfort and the feeling like my, my neighbors or my conversations are going to go off the rails.

[00:36:48] It's why people are going to companies that reflect their values and their ideologies, because they don't want to be in workplaces. That will make them feel like an other or like they can't say what's truly on their mind. So are, we're becoming more homogenous in our social media circles and in. Our offline communities because of this, this feeling that we have, that we can't say what we think and the antidote to all of that.

[00:37:17] And the solution really for our democracy is you have to be courageous. We have to have conversations knowing that sometimes they can be awkward and uncomfortable, but that's where we learn. And that's where we can make progress. We have to be bridge builders, or we threaten a few things when we threaten our own knowledge and our own self-exploration and our own capacity to learn and grow as human beings.

[00:37:40] But we also endanger our capacity to function as a country because it is it's oxygen is participation. So if we don't participate and engage in these issues, then we are starving our system of what is essential to it. So that's why I think the best solution. Is this intention that I will be unafraid.

[00:38:01] I'm going to accept that there's bees, there will be some conversations that don't go the way I want, but damn it. I'm going to try, I'm going to try to make these work. I'm going to try to listen with curiosity. I'm going to try to learn from people with whom I probably disagree on a handful of issues, but I probably do agree on the vast majority of other topics we can discuss.

[00:38:23] And we shouldn't let that small fraction of things. We disagree on the finest and instead let the vast majority of things that we do agree on. Let that define

[00:38:33] us.

[00:38:33] I mean, I love the sentiment of having the bravery to have those courageous conversations. I also firmly agree that you are hurting your understanding of an issue to the detriment of the outcome you want actually, by not allowing that dialogue and not allowing your own mind to move a point toward the center for talking about that spectrum.

[00:38:53] Can you comment though, because there is a cost to. Um, When you look at cancel culture and its rise, there is a real threat. This is no longer an imagined, oh, I'll be ostracized. There is a real threat that a

[00:39:09] very vocal minority to your point, only about 20% of Twitter is actually making the comments and grabbing the pitchforks. But there's a real threat to, to voicing an opinion that strays from the extreme party line so much so that you would lose your job. Where's the upside there. We're having that conversation.

[00:39:32] It is a very difficult

[00:39:34] question to answer. And I think most people will say, forget it. It's not worth it. There's a

[00:39:38] risk. So I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. I don't want to bring up politics in this conversation. I can tell things are going to get ugly fast. Most people are, are unwilling to take those risks, but I'll tell you what is the

[00:39:51] heavy downside of not having those courageous conversations

[00:39:55] is we will continue to divide further and further and further.

[00:40:00] We will continue to deprive ourselves of the ability to grow as individuals, and we can continue to starve our system of the oxygen. It needs to function, and we will lose some of the greatness and the great value of America. What are the stories? I didn't tell you. George is in 1979, after the Iranian revolution, my parents moved back to Iran with me as a young boy, and we thought we're going to rebuild this country help rebuild it.

[00:40:25] Now that the dictator has gone. And within a few months, the Ayatollah came back, the religious clerics took over. They started executing the revolutionaries and then the Iraqi under Saddam Hussein started attacking. We went from rebuilding the country to hiding in the basement because there's bombs dropping planes, dropping bombs on the city and turning off all the lights at night and living in terror that we're all going to die.

[00:40:54] That was the feeling. So we said, we have to get out of here. What have we done? We were living in the United States. And so we moved to Turkey and thought let's apply to go back to the United States through Turkey and. The U S embassy said, no, you left. And that's, that's on you. We president switched from Carter to Reagan and we weren't allowed to move back.

[00:41:15] So we've moved to Bulgaria and said, let's try this again. Let's try to get back in the U S same thing. Couldn't get in move to France. Same thing. Couldn't get back in through the U S embassy. We thought, gosh, we can't move back to Iran. We can't move back to the U S I guess we're going to live in Turkey.

[00:41:31] So we ended up going back to Turkey, tried one last time to get in. And then that time it worked, we got back into the U S and the reason why, and this is the point of my story here is because of one man, Mr. Jack Tolson in Lafayette, Louisiana, who was my dad's boss as an architect, who's spent bunch of his own money to hire an immigration attorney to help us get back in the country.

[00:41:54] And Mr. Tolson, I knew we were good people. He knew that we belonged in America. And I think about America as people like Jack Tolson, I think about, I do not take that American dream for granted. I know what it represents for the, for much of the world and its freedoms and its aspirations for economic success.

[00:42:17] And anybody can make it in all those ideals that so many people in this country have achieved and lived so many have nots, of course, but so many have in a way that is unique to this country. So when I think about conflict and courage and not will be willing to have these conversations and what's at stake, I think about.

[00:42:36] The how precious this system of government is and how, if we do not have those conversations, we do this system to failure. So we have to have the courage, not just for ourselves and our growth, not just for our country and for its success, but also for what it represents for the rest of the world. We lead as I believe president Biden once said not by the example of our power, but by the power of our

[00:43:07] example.

[00:43:07] hi. I just really identify with the, you know, talking about, I imagine the H1B process , I look at my own, like I've succeeded three times. I'm very grateful in getting securing H1B at, at expense for amazing individuals. And I failed one time and it, it really kills me that there's a talented individual out there that I just, you know, I, I couldn't do it.

[00:43:30] And it. Um, Quite a bit um, while I was happy as I am on that side and getting back to putting in context, like the courage, you know, you're just trying to say , you know, by the way, there are larger things that you make an, a mistake in a tweet. But I, I will say, , I understand that sort of like the context is relevant to each person, right?

[00:43:49] So, you know, what is stressful for me is different than for someone else. And I think, you know, especially for, for leaders listening there, there are a few things in play. One is that sort of risk of a miscommunication and a misunderstanding. And there's no trial by jury. There's no fair and equal thought.

[00:44:09] There is a fire that burns insatiably hot and will take down your organization. And that's a, that's a legitimate fear. On top of it, I feel like there's also this like easy level. Given right when you just sort of like play into the game of extremism, there's an easy level lever that media companies use that by the way, non-profits raised quite a bit of money on and the lever goes as follows, take a dash of anger, mix it in with enough attention and you get acquisition acquisition of donors, acquisition of leads, acquisition of engagement. And how do I stay away from this like button I can just press over here. Did you see what happened at the border

[00:44:53] wall? Donate here. And by the way, it's, you know, we've switched administrations. I can't help, but

[00:44:59] notice it doesn't seem like a lot has changed just

[00:45:02] objectively looking at the fricking numbers. So how, how do you communicate,

[00:45:08] , that that sort of desire to press the money button

[00:45:10] the attention plus angry equals acquisition

[00:45:12] and,

[00:45:12] and, , having these brave bridge

[00:45:14] conversations.

[00:45:15] The money button is a very tempting button to press. I believe author Amanda Ripley called them conflict entrepreneurs. They benefit when there's conflict and there's certainly money to be made there. Network television am radio. There's a big audiences for this, right? There's certainly plenty of book sales and listen.

[00:45:38] There's two ways to go. I think two ways to go about this one is we can lament the prophets of doom, the ones who are saying the sky is falling. The enemies are within a, and they're sounding the alarm and scaring the crap out of us, right? By making us think that bad things are imminent. That's on them.

[00:46:01] Shame on them. We wish there were fewer conflict entrepreneurs, but they're there. And the reason why they're successful is because shame on us, we are consuming. Hook line and sinker we're buying it. All right. And so part of it is I think we need to develop some type of resiliency, media literacy skills to where, when we are exposed to this kind of content, we don't just think, oh my gosh, I'm going to hide in the corner.

[00:46:30] I never opened my mouth or else I'll really be in trouble. And instead think that is an extreme view. That is not a view that is held by a large number of people, or I should try to understand that viewpoint better so that I can have conversations with those people and really understand them and help turn them around.

[00:46:53] Or I can just dismiss it and ignore it because I know that it is, it's not valid. I can fact check it. I can present a counter-argument to it. I can ask for clarifying questions about it. I think that. There's the shame on them and there's the shame on us. And I think

[00:47:10] Them are, are valid. So for the conflict entrepreneurs, I would say that that's the best thing to do is.

[00:47:18] Is through gird ourselves and defend ourselves with as much media literacy skills as we're capable of mustering. And then to realizing what's at stake, if we don't because that's a motivator too. And I'll tell you one more quick story. When I visited the jet propulsion laboratory, one of the scientists there said, come and make a triangle with your fingers and you can try it, just make a little triangle here.

[00:47:41] And he pointed it up to the night sky and found a patch of sky where it looked like there was no stars. It was just blackness. And he thought we're GPL. We're gonna point the Hubble telescope. And that particular patch where it looks like there's nothing. And he then took me into a room. Where the room is about third, a wall of about 30 feet long.

[00:48:03] And all I see on it are little white lights, little blips. They look like stars. And I said, what's this wall. And he goes calm. When we pointed the Hubble at that dark patch, these are the three plus billion galaxies that we discovered in that empty patch. And I felt so insignificant as a human being. I'm on one person in one little patch of land on one planet in one galaxy.

[00:48:26] And here I'm looking at 3 billion and we're in a place where we thought there was nothing. And when I think about that feeling of cosmic insignificance, it makes these issues. Just immaterial. They don't matter. It doesn't matter if you think the corporate tax rate should be 20%. And I think it should be 25% who cares.

[00:48:45] It doesn't matter. I think we feel those feelings of cosmic insignificance when sometimes when we travel sometimes when, when we're in love, sometimes when we're in nature and for in the ocean or in the forest in the mountains we feel that feeling. And I say, remember that feeling, that feeling of humility.

[00:49:04] Sometimes we feel it in, in our houses of worship, in our churches and temples and synagogues and mosques that feeling, remember that feeling. Cause we need to have that humility in our hearts when we are, are interacting with other, other people and recognizing that our differences are.

[00:49:24] Insignificant and relative to the vast majority of things that we hold in common.

[00:49:30] And I know it's hard to think that way sometimes when we get and there's heat in the equation and when we feel like there's a lot at stake, but I think we just have to be mindful of those

[00:49:40] things in order to live a happy life.

[00:49:43] it sounds like this is going back to our sort of listen, ask clarifying questions and then the super ordination. This is like a, you know super ordination, but framing, right? Put it in the context of you're on a tiny blue dot whipping around us. And

[00:49:57] an insignificant sort of way. And now you're very, very angry about the corporate tax rate move of 5%.

[00:50:04] Right. Exactly. Right.

[00:50:06] I want to be respectful of your time because I could just let this go for two hours. It's not something we do. I could easily do it. I have rapid fire questions, but I

[00:50:16] want, I just like you're out there bridging original worlds. You're teaching classes. I don't want to make sure I'm not interrupting a class.

[00:50:22] So how are we doing on time for you?

[00:50:23] We're good. I'm ready for the rapid fire. I'm excited about that component. I love it on your podcast in general. So I'm

[00:50:29] I'm excited to be part of it.

[00:50:31] All right, here we go. Please keep your response. Well, you know what you're doing? what is one tech tool or website that you or your organization has started using the last year?

[00:50:39] The telephone, the telephone, we don't use it enough. The thing that we

[00:50:45] keep in our pocket is a computer, but it is also a telephone. I can't tell you how many times when I'm driving or just taking a walk, I'll call someone out of the blue. How are you doing?

[00:50:57] What's new with you. Like come, I haven't heard from you for six

[00:51:01] months.

[00:51:02] That's right. And sometimes I'll call someone I haven't talked to for five years and just say, I know we don't keep in touch. I'm not looking to rekindle our friendship. I just want you to know that those times that we had together were very special to me and that I always think finally of that and that's it.

[00:51:19] And then I feel great. They feel great. And you're able to connect using human voice where you can hear tone and inflection in a way that is really hard to communicate via apps and texts and slacks and emails and tools that we

[00:51:34] typically use. So the phone that's my tool.

[00:51:37] Tech issues. Are you currently.

[00:51:39] I'd call it a social media of FOMO posting. So that is, there are maybe three or four or five main social media channels. There's probably another 50. And when we hear about what as an organization, we think, oh, I need to get on Tik TOK right away, or, oh, Pinterest. I hear people are still using Pinterest extensively.

[00:52:03] It's a different demographic. I know I should I don't want to give up my Twitter game. I need to stay in Twitter. So the tech issue is, do we really need to be on all these social media platforms and all hundreds of them, or do we need to be on two or three? And do we need to have different strategies to use each one?

[00:52:22] So I need to stop thinking about the fear of missing out to be on all of them and instead think super strategically and surgically

[00:52:30] about which handful that I do want to be.

[00:52:33] What is coming in the next year that has you the most excited.

[00:52:36] Growth growth has me the most excited, the mission of the center for the political future is to bring practical politics without hyper the baggage of hyper-partisanship. And we are trying to train the future political leaders over the three years that I've been here. We've been doing that for not just more and more USC students, but for more and more students across the country, as we expand our

[00:53:00] partnerships and then for more and more people in our local community.

[00:53:03] And then for more and more people who are just generally interested in the subjects that we're we're raising. So for me, that growth is very exciting.

[00:53:11] Can you talk about a mistake you made earlier in your career that shapes the way you do things today?

[00:53:16] I in high school was a debater and college was a debater. I knew how to get things done by talking. I thought talking was my super weapon I have since learned. Talking is to a lumber too. And that listening is tool number one. And that mistake of trying to talk my way out of situations versus listen. My way

[00:53:39] out of situations is something that has dramatically changed how I resolve conflict and ultimately my life satisfaction

[00:53:46] Do you believe NGOs can successfully go out of business?

[00:53:50] in theory. Yes. In practice, not really of view has NGOs declare bankruptcy. They don't lose their status with the IRS. It just kind of limps on, or just fades into the sunset. I'd say a few do, but in theory, yes, they can successfully

[00:54:11] just stop operating and fade away.

[00:54:14] Tara toss you in a hot tub time machine, back to the beginning of your work with procon.org. What advice would you give?

[00:54:21] I'd say a focus on the mission alignment with staff. And if somebody doesn't really care about your mission and you think they'll come around, I can convince them. Maybe they'll fall in love. Eventually. It's just like a relationship. Sometimes they're just not that into you.

[00:54:40] And if they're not, the best thing to do

[00:54:43] is, is, ended. We need to avoid those 80 20 traps. And then with some of those employees, I found that I was using, you know, 80% of my time on those 20% of the people. And it's really just, if they don't align with the mission, then do them and do yourself a favor and cut them

[00:55:00] loose.

[00:55:00] What is something you believe that you should stop doing?

[00:55:04] Stop competing with like-minded organizations. The, a lot of NGOs think about zero sum in their spaces. It's a finite pool of resources. And if we don't get the money, somebody else will. I think we should stop thinking that way. And instead think about partnering because when we can expand the pie and I think partnering is going to help our organizations achieve their missions more effectively and it can lead to consolidation.

[00:55:34] So rather than compete and make an enemy out of someone, make them an

[00:55:38] ally. And you'll both go from.

[00:55:39] Magic wand that you could wave across the industry. What would it do?

[00:55:43] Well in the NGO space, I'd say consolidate to amplify and it does not happen hardly ever, but it should happen more consolidation in the for-profit business, acquisitions and mergers. These happen all the time in the NGO world, extremely rare. And yet boy is it needed. There's so much redundancy in the, in these spaces and unnecessary competition.

[00:56:08] I'd say partner, liberally, pursue evidence-based intervention strategies

[00:56:13] and just consolidate to.

[00:56:15] How did you get started in the social impact sector?

[00:56:18] My favorite story for this. And I, my point of origin, I think is in 10th grade, I had gone to my second meeting of the junior state of America, which was a debate organization for high school students. And even those all on my second meeting, they said, who wants to be president next year? And I raised my hands.

[00:56:36] I don't know why I did. I just did it. And then I ended up competing and winning that, that position, getting that

[00:56:42] position. And then I ran again, the following year, grew the chapter from 20 students to about 120 students. It really drove so much of my self-confidence my ability to communicate my ability to get along with other people.

[00:56:57] My. The of my ability to have empathy for other viewpoints and other people. And I really say that my social impact motivations came from my experiences in speech and debate, and it all came from that one day. I still don't know why I raised my hand to be president.

[00:57:15] What advice did your parents give you that you either followed or did not follow.

[00:57:19] My dad always told me Cami, be consistent, be consistent. I think he said it cause he was not well, I was not either. And did not take that advice. I was not consistent. I have a gazillion different kinds of interests. I, my attitude is Intensely curious about other people. And I am a sponge. When I get an opportunity to talk with someone who's

[00:57:42] not like me. I want to learn about where they're from, what was their life experience? What kind of things are they into? What are they like? What are some of their lessons for me? And from that I can build momentum for more, for more curiosity and learn about the world and satisfy my curiosity is and

[00:57:59] passions that way, but it was not through consistency.

[00:58:01] what advice would you give college grads currently looking to enter the social impact sector?

[00:58:07] Persistence trumps talents. It really does. Nonlinear career paths are okay. And the norm get your personal and professional mission to overlap. Know your, why ask advice from people that you

[00:58:22] trust?

[00:58:23] Final question. How do people find you? How do people help you?

[00:58:26] Google center for the political future. And you'll find my organization. If you can spell my name, Kamy Ahkavan you could try to Google me and watch some of my talks and presentations about a polarization and partisanship. How bad is it? How did we get this way? And what can we do about it? You can write to me as well.

[00:58:48] You can reach me on LinkedIn. I'm very accessible,

[00:58:51] very eager to engage with people, very eager to grow my social networks and to expand the mission of the center for the political future as best I can.

[00:59:00] Well, thank you for your time. We'll have all of those resources in these show notes. Thank you for the work you do. And I really, really hope you succeed.

[00:59:10] Well, thank you, George. I appreciate your support and the opportunity to speak to this whole whale audience that appreciates you and your work very much.

 

 

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Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott outlined the details of the almost $2.1 billion she donated in the last year, bringing the total amount of donations up to almost $16 billion since 2019. In a blog update, Scott outlines the nonprofits that have directly benefited from her gifts. This contrasts with the announcement of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who committed donations  in the form of shares, with a release from his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate detailing that 1.5 million shares are going to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, as reported by CNN. The contrast between Scott’s direct donations and Buffets donations (via shares) to a family foundation is particularly underscored by potential generation changes in giving.

 

Is a gift always a gift? We asked the audience about whether giving to your own family foundation really counts.

 

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2024 is the biggest election year in history | The Economist

 

In 2024, a pivotal year for global democracy, 76 countries are set to hold elections, yet the quality and fairness of these elections vary significantly. Major democracies like Brazil, India, Indonesia, and the United States, labeled as "flawed democracies," face significant elections, with America's political culture scoring lowest in democratic aspects. Europe and Africa present contrasting democratic landscapes, with Europe scoring high in the Democracy Index and Africa facing challenges, while the scheduled Ukrainian election stands as a potential act of defiance amid ongoing conflict.