Each week we bring you a collection of links that highlight political news that impact nonprofits, helpful links for nonprofit professionals, the importance of sharing stories, and something positive to end your week.
Helpful Nonprofit Links
- Mary Cahalane from Hands-On Fundraising discusses the importance of donor retention. This time of the year is the perfect time to be thinking about retention.
- Did you include language in your year-end communication about tax deductions? It may be time to shift away from that. Jeremy Hatch from The Artful Fundraiser explains why.
- Are you spending the new year thinking about how you can better use your organization’s data? Ben Lorica from O’Reilly outlines 16 ideas of how the data world will change next year.
- Gene Takagi wrote an article on LinkedIn that predicts we’ll see an increase in 501(c)(4) organizations being created in 2018.
- Getting engagement on Facebook is all about the algorithm. Nathan Mendenhall from Social Media Today shares what you need to know about recent algorithm changes.
- Maria Di Mento from The Chronicle of Philanthropy dives into data from the largest gifts made in 2017 and how they were distributed.
Political News
- The Trump administration announced that it would allow new offshore oil and gas drilling in nearly all United States coastal waters. Lisa Friedman from the New York Times provides the details and information about the bipartisan political opposition. For a better understanding of the impact this will have, check out the nonprofit organizations: Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Waterkeeper Alliance.
- Emma Jacobs from Marketplace highlights the challenges that many nonprofit organizations are facing after a change by the Trump administration in immigration policy has forced many nonprofits that receive federal funding for refugee resettlement to close locations and lay off staff.
- Ari Berman from Mother Jones shares that President Trump’s selection to run the 2020 census is a professor who has previously worked to defend redistricting maps that give overwhelming support to Republican politicians. The census is critical to providing detailed demographic data. In addition to being used for redistricting and voting rights enforcement, the information from the census is crucial for grant allocations and nonprofit organizations. This choice is worrisome and follows the news that the “Department of Justice is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 census, a move that observers say could depress participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them.”
- Kathleen Rest from the Union of Concerned Scientists discusses the concerns of Kathleen Hartnett-White’s nomination to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
- On the final workday of 2017, the Interior Department reversed rules that would set environmental limitations on hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) on public lands. Chris Mooney of the Washington Post explains what this means.
Sharing Stories
- Nonprofit organizations are impactful when they amplify the stories of the constituents they are supporting. This news article by Ethan Forman from the Gloucester Daily Times highlights a writers workshop that is helping veterans write and share their stories.
Something Positive
- If you haven’t seen it yet, enjoy this Australian Shepherd who sleds and ski-lifts her sled back up the hill.
Image credit: Wikipedia – Deepwater Horizon Explosion