Each week we bring you a collection of links that highlight political news that impact nonprofits, helpful links for nonprofit professionals, and something positive to end your week.

Helpful Nonprofit Links

  • Kurt Wagner of Recode writes about Facebook’s recent test that would cause publishers to pay to promote their stories. While this article is focused on publishers, this change could have an enormous impact on nonprofit organization’s ability to reach existing and new supporters.
  • What role can athletes play in promoting philanthropy? The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy highlights the ways that different athletes supported hurricane relief efforts.
  • Stories of companies teaming up with nonprofits are hit or miss. Often it’s clear the company is benefitting a bit more than the nonprofit. This isn’t one of those articles. Tori Utley of Forbes details Away’s partnership with Peace Direct and how it was formed.
  • Malina Tran of NTEN shares a great article on why creating inclusive user experience is critical – to both the individual user and the nonprofit organization.

Political News

  • Ted Gregory, Cecilia Reyes, Patrick M. O’Connell and Angela Caputo teamed up for an article in the Chicago Tribune that details how policies on water distribution and consumption lead to disproportionately higher prices in majority-African-American communities. This article highlights issues that are a consistent challenge for organizations that focus on environmental justice or supporting communities with a lower median income. A quote from the article from Robert Bullard captures this perfectly, “We call that environmental injustice because people who have the lowest amount of money are forced to pay the most for basic services.”
  • The Trump Administration is working to expand the authority of officers to expel immigrants without a judge’s review. Bernice Yeung and Andrew Becker of Reveal explain why the Administration wants to do this and what the risks for individuals are. If you’re interested in learning more about this subject, we recommend you visit Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and National Immigration Law Center (NILC).
  • Rachel M. Cohen of the Intercept shares why a coalition of Civil Rights organizations are suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its secretary, Ben Carson. HUD recently announced they were going to delay implementing a rent rule set to begin on January 1, 2018. The adjustment to the rent subsidy formula would positively impact millions of low-income people. The lawsuit was brought by attorneys with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Public Citizen, and Relman, Dane & Colfax.

Social Change Consulting News

  • In 2015 I had the opportunity to present a workshop to the LGBT Committee of the Asian American Bar Association on gender inclusivity. I invited my former law professor, Stephanie Wildman, to collaborate with me given her work in social justice feminism and race. From there, our 90-minute workshop became an igniting point for us to pursue a more in-depth legal theory paper. Our paper was ultimately accepted for publication by the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law. Just last week, the Bannan Institute at Santa Clara University featured a podcast of our paper titled, “Gender In/sight: Examining Culture and Constructions of Gender.” I would like to invite my fellow nonprofit professionals, community organizers, program and project coordinators to listen to this 15-minute podcast to brush up on the nuances of gender and consider fostering a culture of gender inclusivity in your organizations and outreach efforts. – Adam Chang
  • ICYMI – Social Change Consulting is offering three grants to nonprofit organizations that have been adversely affected by the fires in Northern California. We’re lucky to be able to donate time and have received a grant to offset operational costs. If you know of an organization that needs free support – we want to help. Our expertise is email communications, social media, online fundraising, program evaluation, and website content development. – Justin Clark

Something Positive

  • We have two positive things to share today. The video in this tweet highlights programs being taught in Kenya to reduce the incidence of rape.

  • Finally, Jose Vadi of the East Bay Express wrote about the 10th Annual Life Is Living Festival which is happening this weekend in Oakland. It is great seeing an independent newspaper dedicating space to an event celebrating community and local artists. Vadi’s article ends with a great quote from Life Is Living co-founder, Chinaka Hodge: “Life is Living is a campaign aimed at using the resources around us to make our lives the best that they can be while still supporting the life of the planet in which we live.”