Using the Whole Whale - A Nonprofit Podcast

227:(news) Homeless Hotels & Nonprofit Jobs Rise

NonprofitNewsFeed.com Summary of news for April 19, 2021,

California Program Pays To Convert Hotels Into Homeless Shelters

California’s new Homekey program will spend nearly $600 million to buy hotels and motels and convert them into homeless shelters. The program is a positive step for both addressing issues of homelessness as well as aiding a hospitality industry hit hard by the pandemic, giving owners the chance to sell properties for a good cause. The state received $550 in federal coronavirus funds, and will include nearly $50 million in general state funds.

Read more ➝

Nonprofit Jobs Soar In March

March saw an 8.9% jump in nonprofit jobs, according to a new report published by The Center for Civil Society Studies (CCSS) at Johns Hopkins University. The additional 81,000 jobs represent the largest monthly rebound of jobs in the sector since August of last year.  All nonprofit fields saw gains, with education leading the way with an additional 45.6k jobs. Despite the gains, the sector is still down jobs totaling 830,000 (6.6%) from its pre-pandemic levels.

Read more ➝

Summary

• EveryAction Announces Acquisition of GiveGab, Combining Two Leaders in Nonprofit Solutions
• It’s Not Just Young White Liberals Who Are Leaving Religion
• Increased blood usage from hospitals creates heightened need for blood donors | Local News
• Mick Jagger Partners With Dave Grohl On NFT Fundraiser For Music Venues
• 11-year-old girl gives back to community through nonprofit

 

226: The Social Policy of Homelessness

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.

225:(news) Fraud to the left, Fraud to the right

Nonprofitnewsfeed.com  summary of the week of 4/12/2021

 

GOP Fundraising Platform Under Fire for Deceptive Donation Forms

A recent New York Times article highlighted the potentially deceptive nature of fundraising forms hosted on the GOP’s WinRed donation platform, resulting in the Trump campaign having to issue nearly $122 million in refunds and causing a spike in fraud complaints to banks. These donation landing pages were criticized for aggressively pushing users to become recurring donors by automatically checking off a “Make this a monthly recurring donation” box (a practice not limited to GOP fundraising). The onus on the user to “opt-out” of a recurring donation is being criticized as unethical, especially as the forms became increasingly difficult to navigate as the election drew nearer. The blowback aimed at the campaign, from its own supporters no less, should give pause to any organization seeking to dupe its donors.

Read more ➝

Multiple Alleged Nonprofit CEO Fraud Cases Make News

A lot of fraud among nonprofit employees and leaders has made the news this week:

• Former Employee At Nonprofit Charged With Stealing $4.7M
• Religious nonprofit CEO arrested by FBI in fraud case
• 68-year-old woman accused of stealing $4.72 million from Huntington West Virginia nonprofit

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Facebook Helps Raise $5 Billion
• The iOS14 Update and Facebook Ads
• America's Charities Named Best Nonprofit to Work For
• Two Philanthropic Strategies Aim to Boost Faltering Local News
• Billionaires John, Laura Arnold to give 5% of wealth yearly
• Union workers at Festus Goodwill reject latest proposal from nonprofit
• Local Nonprofit Advancing Knowledge Of The Holocaust Through Art
•  

224: How to 10x $ to Build Inclusive Affordable Housing

Micaela Connery, Co-founder of The Kelsey talks about how they use financing and grants to 10x investment in affordably disability housing in San Francisco and San Jose. She also gives her reaction to the $60k per tent that San Francisco paid during the Pandemic. 

 

About Micaela

Micaela co-founded The Kelsey with her cousin Kelsey, who continues to inspire and inform the mission and work today. Micaela has been working on inclusion in communities her entire life. She has seen firsthand the housing crisis facing adults with disabilities and their families. As a research fellow at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, she spent a year studying the issue in detail. The Kelsey exists to turn the challenge of disability housing into the opportunity of inclusive community.

Micaela completed her MPP at Harvard Kennedy School focusing on housing, disability inclusion, and community development. She was a Cheng Fellow at the Harvard Social Innovation and Change Initiative where she worked on designing The Kelsey. In 2017, she received her MBA as a Mitchell Scholar in the Smurfit School at University College Dublin. She’s a proud University of Virginia Wahoo. Prior to The Kelsey, Micaela was the founder and CEO of Unified Theater.

223:(news) Capitol Riot Fundraising & Good Econ Signals For NGOs

Weekly nonprofit news summary from the best sector. 

 

Positive Economic Indicators Welcome News for Nonprofits

Positive economic predictors should be good news for nonprofits after a challenging year, according to experts. GPD, regional economic indicators, unemployment, government spending, and changes in the stock market are all indicators that might predict the fiscal health of nonprofits. While every nonprofit’s revenue stream and expenses are different, a growing economy might be a macro-level predictor of a less-grueling year for the nonprofit sector. 

Read more ➝

Extremists Raise Funds Through Direct Giving

Increasingly, extremist and hate groups are fundraising through direct giving platforms. With a rise in the popularity of direct giving, extremists, Neo-Nazis, and other hate organizations are raising funds with increasingly minimal surveillance. "It's so predictable, and it's never going away," said Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University. A multitude of platforms, including new ones catering to participants of the January 6th U.S. Capitol riots, create an intractable problem that’s difficult to solve. How platforms respond to the direct exchange of money between bad actors should be on the radar of nonprofits seeking to steer clear of controversy and hate.

Read more ➝

 

Summary

• Fewer than 50 percent of Americans indicate religion is very important
• Extremist groups using pandemic isolation to lure people of all ages, anti-extremism nonprofit says
• Bank of America boosts commitment to racial equity to $1.25 billion
• Foundation Merger Pushes AI, Data Science For NPOs
• 5 Economic Indicators That (Mostly) Point to a Brighter Year for Nonprofits
• Windfall nabs $21M for AI that aids nonprofit fundraising

Feel Good News

• Saturday Night Live NFT will donate proceeds to Stop AAPI Hate

 

 

222:(news) Restrictive Voting, #StopAsianHate, & DAFS

Weekly summary of nonprofit news. 

 

Restrictive Voting Legislation In Georgia Indicative of Larger, Concerning Trend

Last week, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed into law a restrictive voting bill decried by voting rights advocates and the President alike as “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” The new legislation comes less than three months after Raphael Warnock was elected as the first black U.S. Senator from the state. A legal complaint filed by multiple voter activation and progressive advocacy groups says that the new law levies “unjustifiable burdens disproportionately on the State's minority, young, poor, and disabled citizens.” The Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks restrictive voter laws, counts over 250 restrictive voter laws being pushed through state legislatures. Restrictions to voting could mean the difference between a federal government that prioritizes a fiscal stimulus the size of the American Rescue Plan and one that doesn’t.

Read more ➝

Community Organizations Respond To Increase In AAPI Hate & Violence

A devastating surge in violence and hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has led to a response from community organizations seeking to track and prevent anti-Asian violence. Coalition projects by groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Stop AAPI Hate are working hard to respond to incidents of violence, hate, discrimination, bullying, and other forms of harrassment against the AAPI community. Dozens of rallies across the nation this weekend called for an end to anti-Asian hate, which has seen a surge since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more ➝

 

 

Summary

• COVID-19 and Donor-Advised Funds in 2020: What Do the Numbers Tell Us?
• Corporations become unlikely financiers of racial equity
• How to Help Combat Anti-Asian Violence
• Congress Could Change Everything (voting rights)| Brennan Center for Justice
• 1 tree-sitter removed from Mountain Valley Protest protest site
• Hawaii man pleads guilty to embezzlement as nonprofit executive, accepting bribe as city coronavirus CARES Act administrator

221: Making sense of Facebook Tracking vs IOS 14

Interview with Meghan Daly, Whole Whale's Paid Social Manager about the changes that will impact digital advertisers on Facebook.  

 

Simply put, iOS14 is Apple’s most current iPhone operating system. iOS14.5 is an update to this operating system that will include many things (including 200+ new emojis!), but the specific update that’s generating a lot of buzz is the launch of an in-app prompt. This prompt essentially asks users to opt-in and “allow” apps and websites to track their activity. 

Once the update goes live (currently projected for early Spring) this means an iPhone user with the update installed will open up an app like Facebook, for example, and see the following prompt: 

Source: Apple

If a user opts into tracking, nothing really changes. But if a user opts-out, it will change how advertising giants like Facebook are then able to collect and utilize that user data. This means it will also change whether you, as a Facebook advertiser, have access to that data. 

220: How Issue Voter is shifting the focus

George Weiner interviews Maria Yuan, the CEO and Founder of Issue Voter. Issue Voter is an online service that according to their site helps people:

"Track your rep's activity. We tell you how your rep voted, how often your representative agrees with you, and whether or not they’ve attended a vote.

Encourage open discussion. You can share an issue on your favorite social network, without revealing your personal opinion.

Act on issues that don’t make headlines. We don’t only tell you about what is breaking the news; we check for updates every hour to make sure you have the latest information.

Become an informed voter. Using IssueVoter year-round informs you before elections and keeps money's influence out of your opinion. Only re-elect reps who truly represented you."

 

 

Related Links

IssueVoter

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Blog

 

About Maria

Maria Yuan is passionate about fixing significant, systemic problems by leveraging creativity and determination to achieve world-changing results and impact. Prior to IssueVoter, Maria's policy and political experience includes passing a bill as a constituent, working for a Representative, and managing and winning one of the most targeted races in Iowa - an open seat in a swing district. Maria's professional experience also includes investment banking, strategy, corporate development, recruiting, social enterprise, and consulting. Maria's writing has appeared in Real Clear Politics, The Hill, and Huffington Post, and she has spoken at conferences, companies, and universities across the U.S. about civic engagement. Maria currently serves on the Bridge Alliance Board of Directors and Keep Families Giving Foundation Advisory Board and has served on the boards of Gibney Dance, The University of Texas Co-Op, and Friends of the Children New York. Maria earned degrees from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania and The University of Texas at Austin.

219: (news) NYC and ICE need to spend millions for nonprofit support

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 ➝

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✅ 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

 

 

218: (news) $1B Stimulus for AmeriCorps + Rise in Giving Trend

Nonprofit News for the week of 3/15 summarized by Kariesha and Nick from WholeWhale.com.

 

2020 Saw 10% Jump In Giving
According to the Quarterly Fundraising Report, nonprofit fundraising was up 10% overall in 2020 compared to 2019. While this represents the highest volume of donations in 5 years, donor retention continues to drop (approximately by 4%), even after new donors are acquired or re-activated. A decline in retained, repeat donors is a trend the industry must be aware of in 2021.

Read more ➝

 

Americorps Receives $1 Billion Influx of Stimulus

The Biden Administration’s new stimulus relief bill includes a $1 billion increase in funding to AmeriCorps, the nation’s national service program. The extra funding is applauded by nonprofit sector advocates and proponents of national service, which has seen increased public support particularly from Congressional Democrats over the past several years.

Read more ➝

The Summary...
> $1B Stimulus for AmeriCorps
> Church Funding Lagged Other Nonprofits In 2020
> The Met Considers Selling Its Art To Stave Off Financial Shortfall : Coronavirus Updates : NPR
> Jack Dorsey will convert NFT tweet auction proceeds to bitcoin and donate them to charity
> Baltimore Sun deal sets up major test for nonprofit news model
> A NEEDED BOOST: Paycheck protection loans aid nonprofits hit hard by COVID-19