Episodes

Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
267: (news) Infrastructure $ for Nonprofits & COP26 Pledge Updates
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Passes, Includes Energy Updates For Nonprofits
The $1-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Friday, to become one of the most significant investments in infrastructure in U.S. history. The bill includes provisions for helping religious and nonprofit organizations update the sustainability of their spaces and buildings, according to reporting by Haaretz. “The Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Act in the bipartisan infrastructure bill fixes that by providing critical funds for nonprofits to upgrade decades-old buildings with inefficient heating and cooling systems, lowering energy costs and reducing their environmental impact,” according to Elana Broitman, the senior vice president for public affairs at the Jewish Federations of North America. The funding includes up to $50 million in grants as part of the program.
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Governments and Private Foundations Announce $1.6 Billion In Support of Indigenous People
Governments including those of the U.K., Germany, Norway, U.S., and the Netherlands have announced, in partnership with numerous private foundations, a $1.6 billion pledge to support indigenous communities at the COP26 climate summit. The program seeks to both promote anti-deforestation efforts and support local communities. The Ford Foundation, one of the initiative's partners, notes that “a growing body of evidence shows that Indigenous Peoples are the most effective guardians of biodiverse tropical forests.” The partnership seeks to include local and indigenous communities in the decision making process regarding climate mitigation. “Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage half the world’s land and care for an astonishing 80% of Earth’s biodiversity,” according to the press release.
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Summary
- EducationSuperHighway eyes free WiFi to solve the digital divide
- WFP chief responds to Elon Musk's challenge on world hunger - CNN Video
- Jeff Bezos pledges $2 billion toward combatting deforestation
- #NFTuesday - The Giving Block
- Nonprofit helps those with former convictions find jobs

Thursday Nov 04, 2021
266: What I learned at Whole Whale | Exit Pod interview with Janai
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
On this episode George, Chief Whaler of Whole Whale does an exit interview podcast with Janai Cornwell, Senior Digital Advertising Associate. They talk about what is great about learning at an agency, the decision to go in-house at a nonprofit, and why mobile matters in ads.

Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
265: (news) Climate on Agenda & Nonprofit Ad Spending Study
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
nonprofitnewsfeed.com
Climate Takes Center Stage At COP26 Summit In Glasgow
The world’s attention is focused on Glasgow this week as the global COP26 climate conference begins. With world leaders like Joe Biden and Narendra Modi in attendance, the summit will again push collective climate action to the forefront of a global conversation about sustainability. The summit, which has drawn lots of attention including from grassroots activists, is seen by many as a follow-up to the previous meeting of this scale held in Paris. This summit represents one of the rare instances where nations, NGOs, and International Organizations meet to collectively debate the next steps for addressing the climate emergency. Notably absent are the leaders of China and Russia, two of the top four climate emissions emitters.
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The 2021 Nonprofit Advertising Benchmark Study: $12k is the mean
Certified B Corps digital agency Whole Whale, the creators of this fine newsletter, have released a nonprofit advertising study designed to give nonprofit communication professionals a look into broader trends in how the industry approaches digital advertising. Based on data from over 7,100 organizations, the study includes advertising insights broken down by an organization’s age, size, type, and number of employees. The report is publicly available for free, and the dashboard plus raw data is available for purchase. This study is a partnership between Whole Whale and Cause IQ, the leading nonprofit data platform, and the data sampled are representative of the organizations that fit the study criteria.
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Summary

Thursday Oct 28, 2021
264: Using Inclusive Language for writing online | InclusivityTool.com
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
Interview with Marielle Sumergido, Senior Strategist and product lead for The Inclusivity Tool by Whole Whale. Also joining in the conversation about how we think about and use inclusive language online is Leo Quintero, Founder of Quintessential Tools, a DEI Consulting company.
The inclusivity tool is a tool that scrapes a URL that you input and analyzes the text on the page. You’ll get warnings for any language on the page that could be considered offensive, as well as any alternative language to use in its place.
- Use InclusivityTool.com to check your website.
- Learn more about the tool here!

Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
263: (news) Whistleblower Aid vs Facebook & Amnesty out of Hong Kong
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
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.
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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.
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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

Thursday Oct 21, 2021
262: Fundamentals of Copywriting for a Cause
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
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/

Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
261: (news) Volunteers kidnapped & Breast Cancer Fraud
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
Nonprofit news for the week of October 18th, 2021
Nonprofit Fundraising Off Of Breast Cancer Has “Deep Ties” To Scam PAC Groups
In an investigative report done by OpenSecrets and The Daily Beast, the nonprofit The American Breast Cancer Coalition appears to be a “scheme to extract millions of dollars in donations, mostly from small donors.” Since the organization was launched two years ago it has brought in nearly $3.5 million, most of which gets kicked back to a telemarketing company that was fined $56 million last year for fraud. The group is not a 501(c)3 but is instead registered as a special type of PAC, which allows it to skirt the usual legal and financial transparency requirements. This particular case represents a broader trend of sketchy political groups masquerading as honest charities, according to the report. The FBI has a handy list of tips for avoiding charity scams during the holidays.
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U.S. Missionaries & Aid Workers Kidnapped In Haiti
16 American missionaries and one Canadian were kidnapped in Haiti over the weekend, according to reports. The kidnapped included 5 children. The missionaries, associated with Christian Aid Ministries, were working as aid workers in the region when they were kidnapped by a large, heavily armed gang. The threat of violence to not only foreign aid workers but Haitians themselves indicates the fragility of a country continuously teetering on the brink of collapse following the assassination of its President and a deadly earthquake earlier this year. This story highlights the immense danger and complexity faced by aid organizations operating “in the field,” particularly those working in underdeveloped countries in response to conflict, disaster, and other humanitarian catastrophes.
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Summary

Friday Oct 15, 2021
260: What happens when Cryptocurrency meets DAFS? Endaoment
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Friday Oct 15, 2021
This week host George Weiner interviews Zach Bronstein, the Chief Operating Officer of Endaoment and DAF built on Ethereum helping people donate cryptocurrency.
About Endaoment
Endaoment is a new Community Foundation & public charity offering Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) built atop the Ethereum blockchain, allowing folks to donate to almost any U.S. nonprofit organization.
Our mission is to encourage and manage the charitable giving of cryptocurrency.
We're a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation headquartered in San Francisco, federally tax-exempt under IRS revenue code section 501(c)(3). All donations to Endaoment or Endaoment DAFs are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
We're focused on making the most secure and easy-to-use giving platform for both Donors and Organizations interested in cryptocurrency.
Grants are paid out via ABA bank wire as US dollars or via Ethereum transaction as US dollar coins (USDC - a form of stablecoins, a cryptocurrency)
Resource Links
- Main Page: app.endaoment.org
- Documentation site: docs.endaoment.org
- Org page (all granted to orgs): app.endaoment.org/orgs
- Etherscan: https://etherscan.io
- Eth2: https://ethereum.org/en/eth2/

Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
Nonprofits On Front Lines of Afghan Resettlement Seek More Foundation & Government Support
Nonprofits on the front lines of helping the thousands of Afghan refugees settling in the United States say that they need more financial support to continue to provide services for resettlement. Many of these organizations, accustomed to relatively limited numbers of people who need assistance, have gone into overdrive to help refugees who have been coming to the U.S. over the past several months. However, because these refugees are being admitted primarily through a process called “humanitarian parole,” they receive almost no federal assistance beyond a one-time $1,200 stipend. Organizations carrying out the bulwark of the resettlement work say that in order to provide for so many people who arrived with almost no possessions, they will need additional assistance.
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The “Land Back” Movement Brings Reparations To Indigenous Communities To The Forefront
The “Land Back” movement, akin to Black lives Matter in its relatively decentralized usage, is a call for recognizing that Indigenous land has been stolen through genocide and calls for reparations to Native Americans, largely in the form of the returning of land and disassembly of colonizing structures. In this article for Nonprofit Quarterly, the authors lay out a framework for providing adequate reparations to Indigenous communities who still face the repercussions of colonization. The article also calls for the philanthropic sector to work in partnership with communities to work to repair the damage done throughout history. Curious about the Indigenous land where you live? This interactive map shows you which tribes existed on the land based on your address!
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Summary
- Crain's 2021 Notable Nonprofit Board Leaders
- Binance Charity launches NFT tree planting project 'Tree Millions' to plant 10M trees worldwide
- California Nonprofits: New Changes to the Corporate Laws
- Greenwich nonprofit holding job fair to fill 70 openings
- Sandusky donut contest brings in dough for nonprofit

Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
258: (news) Changes at Change.org and NYC Housing self-dealing
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Jack A. Brown III And Other NYC Nonprofit Housing Executives Benefiting From Organizations They Run
A feature investigative report by the New York Times has found that Jack A. Brown III and other executives associated with homeless and housing nonprofits in New York City have derived significant personal financial benefit from the organizations they run. “An investigation by The Times, based on hundreds of pages of legal filings, business records and tax documents, as well as interviews with homeless people, city officials and shelter employees, found that under the cloak of charity, executives at nonprofits have collected large salaries, spent their budgets on companies that they or their families controlled and installed relatives in high-paying jobs.” The article goes on to highlight self-dealing, nepotism, and a disregard for the people who are supposed to benefit from NYC’s expansive homeless housing infrastructure. A government audit ordered by NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio is expected to wrap up in the coming months.
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Change.org Now Housed Under Nonprofit Foundation
Change.org, a site almost synonymous with online petitions, has announced that it will now be housed under the Change.org Foundation. Change.org itself was established in 2007 as a Public Benefit Corporation and will continue to operate as such, though it will now be owned in its entirety by the nonprofit Change.org Foundation. This change represents a significant shift for a company that has become increasingly adjacent to the nonprofit sector during its tenure. More than 50 investors will donate their equity back into the Foundation, according to the Nonprofit Times.
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Summary
- Another Record For Texas Giving Day – $66 Million
- A play-to-earn NFT game on a mission to save the earth
- Many borrowers turn to nonprofit mortgage lenders
- ‘Ghouls’ to raise money for nonprofit groups at annual Wyandotte Zombie Pub Crawl