Using the Whole Whale - A Nonprofit Podcast

229: What I learned in 5 Years at Whole Whale: Meredith Esquivel

Meredith Esquivel the Senior Marketing Manager at Whole Whale shares what she has learned after 5 years before leaving for business school.

 

 

About Meredith

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithesquivel/ 

Meredith is fascinated by human behavior, particularly how digital “body language” can inform marketing strategies for social good. Certified in Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Pardot by Salesforce, she is a classic philomath and is always seeking new and engaging ways to communicate with people online.

As an account manager, Meredith leads teams of fellow Whalers to provide best-in-class services to her clients. She has overseen the digital strategies of over 12 nonprofit and for-good organizations, helping them to increase site traffic and drive measurable impact online. Email is currently Meredith’s favorite way to increase the impact of Whole Whale’s clients — she has designed and executed email marketing and lead generation campaigns for Donate Life America, Americares, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Charitybuzz, Rebuilding Together and more. In addition to client management and services, Meredith also leads Whole Whale’s in-house email marketing, and has more than tripled the Whole Whale subscriber list through an integrated lead acquisition strategy (and plenty of A/B testing). You may already recognize her name from Whole Whale’s newsletters. 

 

228:(news) SCOTUS Deciding on Donor Privacy & Marijuana Funding for Nonprofits

NonprofitNewsfeed.com Summary of nonprofit news from the week of April 26, 2021. 

 

Supreme Court To Hear Nonprofit Fundraising Case With Broad Implications For Sector

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear a case on donor transparency and fundraising with the potential for broad implications for both traditional nonprofits and political organizations. The case centers on a dispute about whether California can mandate that tax-exempt organizations report its top donors to the government. While in theory this reporting would be confidential, the case has broad implications about whether the government can and should track contributions to tax-exempt organizations. This case in some ways tackles an issue similar to the landmark Citizens United v. FEC case of 2010, which greatly changed campaign finance rules and allowed for the greater flow of “dark money” into 502(c)4 political organizations, according to critics. Politicians of both parties are split over their opinion of the case.

M+R 2020 Benchmarks Released, Shows Trends In Nonprofit Fundraising & Marketing

Nonprofit communication and marketing firm M+R has released its annual 2020 annual benchmarks report. The report shows that online revenue for nonprofits increased 32% in 2020, with the increased revenue benefiting nonprofits that tackle hunger and poverty the most. The report also shows how nonprofits are doubling down on digital advertising, increasing investments by 33%. The report dives deep into specific digital marketing metrics and is a must-read for organizations seeking to understand their digital performance among their peers.

 

 

Summary

• The 2021 Nonprofit 40 Under 40
• City Nonprofits Face 'Financial Catastrophe' Due to Pandemic’s Demands
• Nonprofits gain funding from unusual source: Marijuana sales
• Fundraising Platform Classy Snares $118M In Venture Funds
• Four nonprofits turning Manchester warehouse into shared headquarters
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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
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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."

 

 

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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.