Nonprofit News Feed Podcast

NonprofitNewsFeed.com
  • 5.0 (4)
  • NEWS COMMENTARY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Short summaries of nonprofit sector news covering fundraising, trends, and information from 100’s of sources.

  1. 1D AGO

    Flipcause Bankruptcy Fallout and Greenpeace Legal Battle (news)

    In this week’s episode of Nonprofit Newsfeed, the hosts delve into significant challenges impacting the nonprofit sector, focusing on two major stories: the Flipcause donation platform’s bankruptcy and the legal troubles faced by Greenpeace. Flipcause Bankruptcy and Nonprofit Losses The episode opens with an update on Flipcause, a donation platform that went bankrupt, leaving nonprofits in financial turmoil. The discussion emphasizes the importance of nonprofits maintaining control over their payment gateways to avoid similar pitfalls. Greenpeace Legal Challenges The episode also covers a $345 million verdict against Greenpeace in the Dakota Access Pipeline lawsuit, highlighting the vulnerability of nonprofits involved in activism. View Episode Transcript This week on the Nonprofit News Feed, George Weiner and Nick Azulay discuss the Flipcause donation platform’s bankruptcy and Greenpeace’s significant legal battle. Flipcause Bankruptcy Fallout Eagle-eared listeners may recall the beleaguered Flipcause platform—a donation tool that went underwater last year. Recent bankruptcy filings reveal the company owes million to over 3,200 nonprofits. Despite a self-valuation of million, a recent bidding process valued the entire platform at just ,000. For nonprofits like the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund (owed .2 million) and the Loveland Foundation (owed ,000), the prospects of recovery looks slim. The California Attorney General has issued a cease and desist order, and 29 organizations have filed a lawsuit alleging fraud. The core takeaway: nonprofits must maintain direct control over their payment gateways (like Stripe or Braintree) to avoid having their funds held in third-party “safe” accounts that can evaporate. Greenpeace Legal Battle The sector is also watching a million verdict against Greenpeace in a North Dakota lawsuit related to the 2017 Dakota Access Pipeline protests. This case is seen as a “SLAPP” suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), which targets activist organizations. The hosts discuss the existential threat such litigation poses to nonprofits involved in direct action and environmental advocacy. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library On a lighter note, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library reached a massive milestone in Alabama, sending free books to over 9,600 children in Madison County alone. The program aims to increase literacy and interest in reading for children from birth to age five. Dad Joke: What did the nonprofit dog shelter call their new meditation program? A “werewolf.” -------- NonprofitNewsfeed.com Summary of hundreds of news sources. The post Flipcause Bankruptcy Fallout and Greenpeace Legal Battle (news) first appeared on Nonprofit News Feed.

    25 min

  2. 3D AGO

    The Donor You're Undervaluing Is the One Who Gives the Most 🤑 (news)

    In the latest episode of the Nonprofit News Feed, the hosts delve into the intricacies of giving and volunteering across the United States, as well as the pressing environmental challenges facing nonprofits today. The conversation highlights the recently conducted ‘Total Civic Generosity Report’ by Whole Whale, which sheds light on geographic disparities in generosity and the significant contributions of small-dollar donors. View Episode Transcript This week on the Nonprofit News Feed, George and Nick discuss the Total Civic Generosity Report and the current landscape of climate policy. Total Civic Generosity Report Whole Whale recently conducted a comprehensive study on Approach to generosity across the US. A key finding: households earning under $50,000 contribute approximately 14.2% of their income to charity, while those earning over ,000 contribute only 3.9%. Small-dollar donors are the backbone of the sector and deserve strategic focus. Geography also plays a massive role; Utah leads the nation in adjusted gross income giving and formal volunteerism. Nonprofit leaders should consider regional targeting and custom messaging based on state data. Climate Policy Rollbacks The EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases is facing significant challenges with recent administrative rollbacks. The freezing of solar projects and the prioritization of oil and gas represent a seismic shift that threatens decades of environmental nonprofit wins. The hosts reflect on the “ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure” approach to environmental safety. The Kelsey: Accessible Housing A feel-good story from the Kelsey, a nonprofit developer building affordable, disability-focused apartments in San Jose and expanding to Birmingham, Alabama. Their model proves that high accessibility doesn’t necessarily mean higher costs, with units coming in at or below typical affordable housing rates. Dad Joke: How do bees get to their nonprofit school? They take the “buzz.” -------- NonprofitNewsfeed.com Summary of hundreds of news sources. The post The Donor You're Undervaluing Is the One Who Gives the Most 🤑 (news) first appeared on Nonprofit News Feed.

    14 min

  3. FEB 19

    Why 2025 Will Set a Record for DAF Asset Growth, and What It Means for Your Nonprofit (news)

    Key Trends in Donor-Advised Funds and AI’s Role in Nonprofits In this episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed, the hosts discuss significant trends shaping the nonprofit sector, focusing on Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) and AI’s evolving impact. Main Topics: Website Update: The Nonprofit Newsfeed site has been revamped for better user experience and branding. Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs): Predicted to exceed $450 billion in assets, indicating mainstream adoption. Nonprofits should adapt strategies to include dedicated DAF donation pages. DAFs are becoming accessible beyond ultra-wealthy donors. AI and Nonprofits: The era of “free AI” is ending, with rising costs expected for AI tools. Nonprofits need to strategize for continued AI access, possibly through collaboration. Digital inequity concerns as AI access may widen the gap for underserved communities. Candid’s Strategy: Candid aims to become a key AI data source amid workforce reductions. Reflects challenges in content monetization due to AI-driven changes. Innovative Community Solutions: The Nomad Alliance in Utah operates a mobile shelter for the homeless, showcasing empathy-driven innovation. Key Insights: DAF growth offers new fundraising avenues but requires strategic adaptation. Rising AI costs necessitate proactive planning by nonprofits. Candid’s pivot highlights changing data dissemination dynamics in philanthropy. Community-driven solutions like the Nomad Alliance demonstrate impactful innovation. Call to Action: Evaluate and update fundraising platforms for DAF contributions. Explore collaborative strategies for AI tool access as costs increase. Draw inspiration from innovative community projects for addressing local needs. https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/rjbbbgt9drug6u5u/riverside_nick_george_feb_20_2026_011_nonprofit_news_feed991pv.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download View Episode Transcript This week on the Nonprofit News Feed brought to you by Whole Whale, a B Corp. digital agency focused on analytics, advertising, and AI capacity. My name is George Weiner. I’m the Chief Whaler of Whole Whale. And I have Nick Azulay, Digital Strategist at Whole Whale. How’s it going, Nick? How are you enjoying the new facelift I gave the Nonprofit News Feed website? Hey, George, it’s going great. Yes, NonprofitNewsFeed.com got a glow up, if you will, new brand identity, totally new UX. So for dedicated listeners to this podcast, go check it out. It’s just fun. And we need a little fun, brevity, and uplifting branding in times like these. And I’m very excited for the new site, George. You did an awesome job. Yeah, serious topics covered in an unserious way. I think we’re trying to bring entertainment at least a little bit to some of this. And as we focus the brand, it is a complete detour from the much more, well, it was ugly as all get out before, but it has, I think, a bit more color and flair. So also thanks to our designer at Whole Whale, Carrie, who gave us that direction. And it’s like one of those things, like I didn’t like it and I didn’t get it at first. And then when I looked at it again, I was like, oh, I get it now. Yeah, sometimes it takes a year or two or six to really see what needs updating. Is it our sixth year, George? I think it is. Oh my gosh, yeah, I think we started in 2020. Yep, yep. New dawn, new year. And George, that takes us to our first story because not only is it a great year for the nonprofit newsfeed, but it’s also been a great year for DAFs, Donor Advised Funds. So George, I want to lead us off with an interesting stat. $450 billion. That’s the number. I remember that. George, we recently, or you on a podcast, recently talked about DAFs where we learned or predicted that 2025 saw a 40% increase in total donor advised fund assets within the year, pushing past the $450 billion mark. Now, George, the reason why we have to predict this number is because the official number won’t actually get to us until the end of this year for the DAF asset value number of last year. So we’re at about a 12-month delay. But we do think it was a record-breaking year for several reasons. We had a stock market that kept going up. Late 2025 tax changes pushed funds now decide later behavior. So some of that big, beautiful bill had various tax implications that might have increased contributions to these funds. And George, we also surpassed, we believe, the 3.5 million household holding DAF account number. That means that DAFs have gone from a niche kind of ultra-uber-wealthy donor vehicle to something a bit more mainstream. And that is why we wanted to talk about it today, George, because not only are we seeing the massive value of these DAFs increase, but we’re also seeing their overall mainstream adoption increase. And we wanted to talk about what nonprofits need to know. But George, at the top, what should listeners be thinking about? Yeah, just to rehash these numbers coming from the DAF Research Collective. They released these numbers. They pulled them from a number of aggregated sources, which is tough because after our conversation and you listened to this podcast and this podcast feed where we talked with Mitch from Chariot, givechariot.com, where they were also helping us realize what these numbers meant. And albeit they are a year old, in 2024, $326 billion was sort of reported with the total assets under management of these donor advised funds, which range across like 1,400 different institutions. The piece that I think you pointed to that is curious to me is the number of people holding DAFs in and reported for 2024 that we only just found out in the following year, December of 2025, was about 3.5 million, 3.5 million accounts. Now, an account can remember be owned by multiple people. Usually there’s a partner like two people or a family potentially that guides. So when you just think about your total addressable market, it is bigger than I previously thought and growing. I thought in the past when we talked about DAFs, donor advised funds, that we’re talking about high net worth individuals, folks with considerable means such that they would have a whole account and a whole tax structure, right? It’s a give now, realize that benefit now, and then distribute over time. And that distribution rate hovers around about 20 to 25%. But the mandated amount that they have to give out is technically zero. So it is nice that that distribution rate exceeds what the mandate is, but the market and the overall assets are growing even still far faster than that. So the friction for creating accounts is dropping. Groups like daffy.org and GoFundMes, they have these giving accounts. It’s becoming easier, reduced friction for the middle of the charitable market to create these accounts and then participate in this way as a giving mechanism. And I just think that has implications for how you communicate, how you build donation pages actually on your site, whether or not you have that as an avenue. Like one of the folks we work with is the giving block for donating crypto. And we trust them, have worked with them for a long time, but make no mistake, we think it’s a very good idea to have a separate crypto donation page. What about daff giving page? And this goes far beyond like one line of text at the bottom of your page. So right now, as far as I can see, you know, that is an opportunity for how you communicate and set up potentially your next round of giving and the fact that this is explosive growth. And I think within probably a decade, and I’m still sort of mapping out the numbers. But if we just look at charitable vehicles in the United States, if you look at foundations, we’re talking about roughly 1.5 trillion of funds. And this will be closing in on half a trillion, if our prediction is close. And at that growth rate, if we still see these types of things, it’s not long until that becomes comparable, and potentially eclipses. Yeah, George. So I think what’s so interesting about it is it’s so new. And so many organizations maybe are not necessarily thinking about how to engage with these vehicles of giving. So I think that is the impetus for why we wanted to highlight this story. Yeah, I mean, 2020, like we talked about, we started this podcast in 2020. That is with the daff research collaborative, they have data going back to 2020. In 2020, they estimated that and measured 165 billion in total assets. And now we’re talking in 2024 326 billion, and we’re estimating 450 for the previous year. And I don’t see anything that would slow that. Yeah, yeah. And that’s all I have to say about that. Great, George. Yeah, I think really important. And speaking of long term trends, and things nonprofits should be thinking about our next story comes as an opinion piece from the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Great outlet, if you’re interested in all things philanthropy and nonprofit trends. But there’s an article that they just published about how the free AI era is ending and nonprofits aren’t ready. And George, the TLDR of this article, basically, is that these AI companies have been subsidizing AI, to an extent, for the general public. Prices have been lower, there have been free tier access, they have been ad free. All of that is going to slowly change because the reality is, George, these mega companies worth billions of dollars, despite their value are still losing money because AI is expensive to operate and run. And they’re going to start recouping that money at some point. So I think, George, this is a little bit of the, you know, the Uber model of get everyone hooked, and then and then start kind of increasing the price situation. And the article makes the argument that nonprofits should prepare for this by pooling resources, potentially engaging with local or community nonprofit networks to start figuring out ways to

    20 min

  4. FEB 2

    Will The Future of Nonprofit Discoverability Be Donations on LLMs? Why We Think It’s Coming…And More! (news)

    AI’s Impact on Nonprofit Visibility and the Changing Landscape of Foundation Support This week’s episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed, the hosts delve into the evolving dynamics of AI’s influence on nonprofit visibility and the current state of foundation support. Main Topics: AI’s Knowledge Windows and Nonprofit Visibility: George and Nick discuss a new beta feature from OpenAI’s ChatGPT called “knowledge windows.” This feature presents information about organizations directly within the AI interface, potentially reducing website traffic as users get essential details without needing to visit the source. This development could significantly alter how nonprofits engage with potential donors and supporters, as AI becomes the gatekeeper of information. Foundation Support and Nonprofit Perception Gap: A report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy highlights a significant perception gap between foundations and nonprofits. While 93% of foundation leaders believe they understand grantee challenges, only 54% of nonprofits agree. The report also notes that foundation responses have weakened post-COVID, despite increased demand for nonprofit services. Podcast: Play in new window | Download View Episode Transcript This week on the Nonprofit News Feed, of course, brought to you by Whole Whale B Corp Digital Agency. My name is George Weiner. I’m the Chief Whaler of Whole Whale. And I have Nick Azulay, Digital Strategist at Whole Whale. And we’re here to, as always, geek out about nonprofit news, trends, things we are seeing. And Nick, why don’t we start off by something curious that I ran across on ChatGPT? Yeah, George. So our first story is an interesting one, an inside scoop, rather. We, George, have experienced among the first users to do so, apparently, a new beta feature inside of ChatGPT. What is that beta feature? It’s not particularly sexy, but for nonprofits, it’s really important. And that is the rollout of Knowledge Windows. So George, if you are subscribed to our newsletter, you’ll be able to see a picture of this. But what are Knowledge Windows, George? They are results that come up to a query or a prompt that you put into a AI chat. And essentially, what it is, is a window that, instead of linking out to a website, fills a window with knowledge, kind of ingesting that website, just as a Google AI overview might, for example. So George, we are seeing OpenAI testing Knowledge Windows inside AI chat services. What does this mean, George? That AI now has found another way to answer questions, reference your website, and in some cases, surface actual web content without ever sending anyone to your organization’s website. So George, for example, when someone asked ChatGPT, top animal welfare charities, they are now getting a slick pop-up card with your mission. They might get the foundation founding date, key facts, all pulled into the AI’s interface. No clicks, no visits to the website required. As an organization, what does this mean? People are learning about your organization without ever accessing your content at its source. George, this is a big development within AI, particularly as we’re studying user and donor behavior and how they’re using AI systems to interact with their organizations. And George, we suspect this is leading towards something very specific. But at this point in time, George, why don’t you just tell us a little bit more about these Knowledge Windows and what it means for organizations getting surfaced within AI prompts? So notice I am currently showing this. For those of you who are just listening, I am on ChatGPT 5.2. This is a paid subscription. So I have not been able to reproduce this on the free version of ChatGPT. And in this case, as I go through, I click on a link like the Humane Society of the United States, and I go and I get this little sidebar window, this knowledge source. Sometimes sources show up on the side. Sometimes they don’t. If I click on those sources, then I am sent somewhere else. Sometimes, honestly, I go to this sidebar, and on the sidebar, there are no sources whatsoever. So in this case, I am looking at the Best Friends Animal Society. I’m interested in animal welfare, and I have what seems to be a link that I could click on. I click on it. It opens the sidebar. There is nothing. And I repeat, zero things I can click on for the source of the information or to click to go to that website. So I’ll just pause on that and just be like, the logical second-order effect of this as a user interface is that you get a zero click, zero click from people that are exploring your concept with regard to your AI brand footprint, right? People that are surfacing your information inside of an AI interaction. Not great. The other sort of potential second-order effects, where I see this going is, what is the action I might want to take? Now, imagine this for shopping, right? And shopping, what happens? We try to disintermediate the endpoint. Could I shop and buy that thing right there? How do I make it easier for this person? How do I use AI agents to support my shopping? How do I use AI agents to potentially make a donation? Let’s say I wanted to donate. Oh, why can’t I just have a donate button or the actions I could take with this organization within this window right here, allowing ChatGPT to become the gatekeeper? What’s more, if I’m clicking on something like the ASPCA or AlleyCat Allies, I have key information that I could, I don’t know, say run ads against. In this case, there happened to be sources. There weren’t, and they’re not always. But I’ll tell you what you could also do. You could shove some advertising into this exploration window. What does ChatGPT need to do and begin to optimize for? Advertising real estate. Where might I find such real estate, you ask? Right here. I don’t know why we happen to get lucky and be able to see this side window. I don’t know why more people are not talking about this, but I think we should pay attention to this right meow, pun intended. Yikes. All right, George. Okay, so we have a demo of what these- Also, shameless plug here also for the fact that somebody, we need to start working around the verified giving protocol. Verified giving protocol, something that I’ve talked about before, is the concept of needing to find a way that would route not just the money, but also the data directly to the nonprofit. Because this is going to happen. They’re going to disintermediate your donation button, but it should still be under your control, under an official way of routing that information and access to your provider of choice, whoever it may be. So, all right. End rant. No, George. I think that’s so important, right? The theme here is ChatGPT, AI in general. They’re doing everything remotely possible to generate revenue for themselves while keeping you in their platform. And we need to be vigilant and see how those products develop and what that means when it comes to cultivating donor flows and recruiting volunteers and XYZ number of actions that your website is promoting, right? They are siphoning our audiences and it’s important that we are able to, in some ways, recuperate the flow. So, George, really important. I want to pivot slightly within the same theme here. We’re really studying very hard, George, what AI is doing for clients and the representation of our clients and our organization’s brands within platforms themselves, right? George, some of our clients are getting tens of thousands of real, authentic web sessions from LLMs directly, purely based on people seeing a result and clicking on a little link, taking them to the website. Tens of thousands of sessions. But, George, we’re starting to see that AI, at least for now, I don’t think this will be permanent, has a junk link problem. And we are seeing it increasingly within the social impact sector. What do I mean by that, George? If you Google, or I’m sorry, if you search, see, we’re no longer, I have to train myself not to use that terminology anymore. If I prompt an AI chat, like chat GPT, top human rights charities to donate to, the top two results are very predictable. It is Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. And you’d say, great, that makes a ton of sense. The link next to Amnesty International probably takes me to Amnesty International’s very, very large, complex global web infrastructure that includes a global organization, national organization, and probably 100 regional or country level websites. No. What does it link to? It links to, George, a super low quality, barely usable farm link website that was written by AI that just farms content for AdSense revenue. George, I don’t think this problem is going to exist in perpetuity. But right now, major organizations like Amnesty International, that probably have larger websites than 99.9% of the internet are losing out to, excuse my language, s****y websites that are siphoning away that traffic and siphoning away those donors. So something to watch out for if you are a nonprofit or a major NGO like Amnesty International, which has billion dollar revenue. Yeah. And to be clear, it’s the top list of this for this and top list of this for this. Those types of sites are getting ingested and used as validating entities for how to answer these questions. So yeah, yeah, it is something you surfaced and something we’re exploring. And I do think it is important to note that it’s for now, not forever. These rules are changing quickly. But right now as it’s played, I thought that was a little concerning as well. A tad bit concerning. All right, George, we have some interesting tidbits I want to turn to. This comes from The Nonprofit Times. George, Whole Whale and Nonprofit Ifs, that’s nonprofit.ist, have released their 2025 consult cost and compensation survey in partnership with T

    22 min

  5. JAN 23

    AI Ads Are Here: A New Frontier for Nonprofits (news)

    AI Ads: A New Frontier for Nonprofits This week on the Nonprofit Newsfeed the hosts dive into a game-changing announcement from OpenAI that could revolutionize nonprofit marketing strategies. OpenAI has revealed plans to pilot advertising on ChatGPT, marking a significant shift in how nonprofits might engage with audiences. Key Highlights: OpenAI’s Announcement: OpenAI is testing ads in select markets for ChatGPT’s free and low-cost tiers, aiming to provide more users with access to its AI tools without usage limits. Implications for Nonprofits: With approximately 800 million weekly active users, ChatGPT offers nonprofits a vast audience for targeted advertising. This presents an unprecedented opportunity to engage users during meaningful conversations across diverse contexts, from education to health advice. Concerns and Opportunities: While the prospect of ads in AI raises concerns about data privacy and the influence on AI-generated content, it also opens doors for nonprofits to reach audiences in innovative ways. The challenge will be crafting ad content that complements AI interactions without disrupting user trust. Transparency and Analytics: The move towards advertising may also introduce valuable analytics tools, enabling nonprofits to gain insights into user behavior and optimize their engagement strategies. Nonprofit Wellness Index Update: The podcast also highlights Whole Whale’s Nonprofit Wellness Index, which tracks sector health through job postings, layoffs, and ad spending. December’s index hit a record high, indicating a positive rebound from previous lows, suggesting a revitalized nonprofit sector. Feel-Good Story: In a lighter segment, the hosts share a unique fundraising initiative from an Alaskan bird conservation group. For Valentine’s Day, donors can name a rat after an ex, which will then be fed to a bird of prey, offering both cathartic satisfaction and support for wildlife conservation. https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/f7rgxs8hqjqawdax/riverside_nick_george_jan_23_2026_008_nonprofit_news_feedaecsc.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/f7rgxs8hqjqawdax/riverside_nick_george_jan_23_2026_008_nonprofit_news_feedaecsc.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download View Episode Transcript This week on the Nonprofit News Feed, brought to you by Whole Whale, a B Corp digital agency. My name is George Weiner. I am the chief whaler and founder of Whole Whale, and huge nonprofit geek, but you know that, if you’ve listened to this podcast at all. I also have Nick Azulay, digital strategist at Whole Whale. Nick, we’ve been looking through the news. We’re in January. It’s January 21st as we’re recording this. I feel like something big happened over the weekend, at least an announcement. What did we see come across our desk? George, we had a big announcement from the likes of OpenAI this weekend. A big announcement in particular, if you work in social impact marketing, and that is that OpenAI has announced they are beginning to pilot advertising on ChatGPT. What does this mean? Let’s dive into this announcement. First, I just want to say on the onset that this is not live yet. That we can tell. It appears they’re testing it in limited markets and some kind of a beta, but there’s no advertising infrastructure that’s been broadly rolled out yet. This mostly exists in the form of a press release, but we do want to go through that press release because it gives us something, gives us a lot to think about, and we need to highlight it for this audience as AI continues to completely upend how audiences engage with our nonprofit organizations. George, OpenAI said that they’ve been working to make powerful AI accessible to everyone through free product and low-cost subscriptions. George, that includes the free version of ChatGPT and this new thing called ChatGPT Go, which is, to my understanding, a very lightweight model designed for low-income countries. But George, what they’re doing is they’re going to start to plan for ads testing in the US for the free and Go tiers. So, quote, more people can benefit from our tools with fewer usage limits or without having to pay. They’re framing this, George, as a, hey, you know, you want it for free? Now you need to give us something in the form of, you know, whatever insane amount of data that you’re now giving up to OpenAI. And they go through their ads principles, mission alignment, answer independence. They say, conversation privacy, we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private. Great, but somebody knows what you’re typing, at least vaguely, even if it’s anonymized. So, George, ads and AI are here. Ads for ChatGPT are here, and they will be fully rolled out, I’m guessing, within the next couple months. What do nonprofits need to know? I think this is an exciting opportunity to explore a new medium for advertising and for reaching an audience where they are. That is what advertising has always been, and that started with the, you know, ads in newspapers, taking up that type of real estate that offsets the cost of the printed word on the page. It is a new day, same game. I’m excited, because actually, you know, aside from, I have concerns, but I’m just going to speak from the excitement side of things, is that with 800 million, thereabouts, weekly active, I think, and climbing users, your audience is there. There are a lot of folks having a lot of conversations. Over half of those conversations, based on that September analytics report from OpenAI, over half of those conversations are non-work-related. But the truth is, this is an unprecedented level of access to communicate with advertising, to communicate to people having real conversations in depth on topics that may be aligned or adjacent to what you work on. I mean, it’s weird, but there are people that use this for a therapist. There are people that use this for executive coach. There are people that use this for health advice. There are people that use this for education. There are people that use this for work. There are people that use this for fill-in-the-blank. And if your organization is interested in reaching people when they are in that mindset and having that conversation, the ability to target the not just demographic, psychodemographic, but also moment when somebody’s there is very interesting to me and hopefully presents a tremendous opportunity for nonprofits trying to provide the type of support and guidance from a trusted source on a topic. What I hope I don’t see is that advertising actually influences the context window in any way of the output of that AI. What we have seen so far from AI overviews and the advertising that is now the inventory related to that, and we have a webinar coming up, do check us out for that coming up in the end of January here, is that the ads show up around, above and below, but not in the response. And I think that’s important because if you begin to pollute the data sources that the AI is relying on for the answer, you have ruined, capital R ruined, that AI, its trustworthiness, wherever it is, is eviscerated. So I think the architects are aware of that and acknowledge that. And if it happens, then it’s just game over for the solution. The truth is, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. We already knew that they were using our data when you weren’t paying for it. Even sometimes when you are paying for it and you don’t uncheck the box. But now it’s clear that the cost of running these things indefinitely for free is not sustainable. Ads were inevitable. And so I choose to say, hey, let’s pay attention to where the opportunities are. Just as in the early days of Facebook advertising, in the early days of Google ads, holy cow, could you get a deal? Well, people are like, oh, I don’t know. I’m going to wait and see. Like, we’re going to be testing. We’re on the list. I sometimes also get a little exhausted with the announcement and then sort of silence afterwards. Like, what did you announce? It’s like the sign in the bar that says free beer tomorrow. Come back tomorrow, free beer tomorrow. And this felt like a little free beer tomorrow to me. Like they announced the thing and they just don’t have it. So we’re on the waiting list. We’re seeing, and we’re seeing how our clients might benefit from a test ad spend on the platform. But of course, you’re going to want to measure. I think there’ll be issues with click-through rates for sure because we have already seen that having that AI overview and having that answer already sort of essentially synthesized and given by the AI means the reason, especially if it’s informational, like people need to discover the answer to X is gone. So I think there’s going to be a big difference in how that ad copy goes into play from this, like, learn more about that. Like the AI has already frankly told them about whatever that topic is. So where does your ad fit in that nuance is curious to me. Yeah, George, I think you hit on a lot of key pieces on the visibility note and the click-through rate note. It’s also interesting how and if advertising placements will impact organic link clicks from AI results, right? A lot of our clients see thousands, tens of thousands of sessions directly from LLMs, particularly our larger ones and whether advertising distracts from that will also be interesting, right? Pushing down, if you will, organic search results, that’ll be interesting. Something else to note, George, is that TrackGPT, OpenAI rather, notes that during our tests, we will not show ads and accounts where the user tells us or we predict that they are under 18 and ads are not eligible to appear in your sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health, or politics, which is interesting, George. We see those types of health and mental health restrictions across the pl

    19 min

  6. JAN 21

    Grok’s Deepfake Crisis Is Forcing a Global Reckoning on AI, Platform Safety, and Accountability (news)

    This week on the Nonprofit News Feed, the hosts dive into pressing digital safety issues and uplifting philanthropic news. The episode covers the alarming rise of deep fakes and their implications for nonprofits, and celebrates a significant donation to support LGBTQ+ youth. Main Topics: Global Crisis of Deep Fakes: The episode highlights the disturbing trend of deep fakes, particularly on the AI platform Grok, which is generating non-consensual and sexualized images. The hosts stress the urgent need for nonprofits working with vulnerable groups to advocate for stricter regulations and educate communities on digital safety. Implications for Nonprofits: The conversation emphasizes the critical role of nonprofits in combating AI-enabled cyberbullying and gender-based violence. Organizations are called to update internet safety protocols and engage in advocacy to protect affected communities. Mackenzie Scott’s Transformative Gift: In a beacon of hope, Mackenzie Scott’s $45 million unrestricted donation to the Trevor Project is celebrated. This lifeline comes after federal funding cuts and highlights the importance of substantial, unrestricted support for nonprofits in crisis. Dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting: The episode also covers the dissolution of this vital organization due to funding cuts, impacting local journalism and broadcasting. The hosts discuss the potential repercussions on local news and the need for new revenue streams. -------- NonprofitNewsfeed.com Summary of hundreds of news sources. The post Grok’s Deepfake Crisis Is Forcing a Global Reckoning on AI, Platform Safety, and Accountability (news) first appeared on Nonprofit News Feed.

    17 min

  7. JAN 12

    Social Services Fraud In Minnesota: How A Few Bad Actors Foment Collective Punishment (news)

    https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/99g282j975b4xevk/riverside_nick_george_jan_12_2026_008_nonprofit_news_feed8hnjm.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Episode Overview: Fraud in Minnesota’s Social Services: Federal prosecutors have uncovered widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social safety programs, with fewer than 100 individuals exploiting pandemic-era funds, resulting in over $1 billion in misappropriations. The lack of effective oversight allowed fraudulent activities to flourish, leading to significant repercussions for the Somali community in Minnesota. The “blast radius” effect highlights how a few bad actors can have widespread negative impacts on an entire community, affecting funding and perception. Flipcause Bankruptcy Fallout: Flipcause, a fundraising platform, has filed for bankruptcy, owing over $29 million to more than 3,200 nonprofits. The insolvency raises questions about the platform’s financial management practices, emphasizing the need for nonprofits to maintain control over their payment processing systems. Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Strategic Shift: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has withdrawn support from Forward Us, an immigration nonprofit, citing a strategic focus on science and education. This decision reflects a broader trend of philanthropic organizations re-evaluating their commitments to social justice initiatives. https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/99g282j975b4xevk/riverside_nick_george_jan_12_2026_008_nonprofit_news_feed8hnjm.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/99g282j975b4xevk/riverside_nick_george_jan_12_2026_008_nonprofit_news_feed8hnjm.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download View Episode Transcript All righty, this week on the Nonprofit Newsfeed, of course, brought to you by Whole Whale, a B Corp digital agency. My name is George Weiner. I’m the chief whaler of Whole Whale, and I have Nick Azulay, chief. No, you’re not a chief. You should be a chief, but you are a digital strategist at Whole Whale. Forgive me, Nick, because we haven’t talked, and I haven’t gotten to give your proper intro in a couple of weeks. I hope you had a good break. Nick Azulay Yeah, I did, George. Nice and relaxing. I worked very hard during the end of my graduate master’s program, so it’s been a lot of hard work for me, but I’m excited to get back into it. And George, I would posit that I am, in fact, chief podcast co-host, even though that title does not extend to any other aspects of my responsibilities at Whole Whale. But nevertheless, George, we have a story to kick us off, and we want to talk about a story that’s kind of been simmering in the background but I think is worth talking about. We also want to disaggregate it from some broader, potentially more toxic political narratives that have spun out of this story, and that is, George, the major social safety fraudulent schemes that have been transpiring in the state of Minnesota. So, federal prosecutors say that about 100 individuals, fewer than about 100 individuals, exploited high-trust pandemic and social service programs, such as funding for childhood day care programs, and stole more than $1 billion across food aid, housing assistance, and all sorts of other initiatives. So, think like pandemic-era fraud, but apply it to other social services. The programs were designed for speed and not scrutiny here, right? So, these funds were often front-loaded to organizations. Oversight came after payments were issued, and agencies struggled to respond to red flags during the early 2020s. George, it’s worth noting that we’ve actually talked about some of the fraud within this overall bucket in Minnesota as prosecutors began prosecuting criminally folks at certain food charity organizations, and we’ve been talking about some of those instances as long ago as 2022 and 2023, right? Yeah, Feeding Our Future is what you’re referring to. I think $250 million in COVID misappropriation, and they had since been called out and adjudicated. Exactly, exactly, George. So, this problem is kind of compounded by the fact that this is still kind of ongoing in a way, and perhaps hasn’t gotten the national attention it deserves, and George, certain conservative YouTubers and- Yeah, Nick Shirley, like a kid in like actually a sweatshirt. You’re wearing a sweatshirt. It’s like a kid in a sweatshirt in his like 20s who is, yeah, so conservative-leaning journalist, semi-quotes. I put a finer point on that later. This video now racking up millions of views, and on one level, I’d encourage you to watch it just to understand this style of shift in media of what’s happening. Like walks around like place to place to place where money was technically given, listed from the public Minnesota site, and said, I am here at this daycare center, and it says misspelled learning on the top of the thing and shows that they’re getting millions of dollars each year, and there’s just no children around. And his work has been fact-checked since, and in his like sort of cluster of daycare centers that he was focused on and some healthcare centers, it turned out that like about 10%, maybe less, were actually in operation. He just went during an off time because guess what? Daycare happens after school hours, but on the whole, he was frankly spot on in calling out these individual actions and situations of fraud that were pretty blatant if you just sort of like stood there, and you’re like a kid in a sweatshirt and a YouTube camera, and like an iPhone. Yeah, George, I think that’s a good point, and I just want to contextualize, right? This has been a major story on the right in particular, particularly on platforms like Twitter over the past week. I think Elon Musk has tweeted about it and so forth, right? But George, this is not necessarily new, right? This pattern is not unique to Minnesota. We’ve seen this before. We use the term asymmetric fraud. There’s a few bad actors who are able to exploit larger systems. We saw that with the PPP loans in general across the United States, massive amounts of fraud, very little of which ever was or ever will be prosecuted. The FTX scandal, the Bernie Madoff scandal, and you see a lot of this in emergency aid contexts, right? When you dump lots of money at a problem, maybe rightfully, right, there’s going to be inefficiencies and potentially dramatic inefficiencies and or misuse of funds in those situations. And George, in my coursework, write a lot about Haiti, right? And just the absolute kind of blatant mismanagement of funds in the various humanitarian contexts in Haiti, particularly after the 2020 earthquake, you had thousands of NGOs descended on the country. You had billions of dollars in official development assistance going to the country. And what is there to show for it? Not much, right? International aid is different from social services in Minnesota. Principled, though, George is the same. And the political fallout of this is going to be pretty immense. Governor Tim Walz announced that he’s not going to run for another term, which is a big deal. And George, federal agencies are now freezing funds to Minnesota. They’re suspending childhood daycare funding for the state. And George, you bring in to the conversation this concept of kind of understanding the blast radius of this. George, how do you think about how a small volume of actors, bad actors, can create ripple effects that have blast radiuses that are larger than they may be intended to be or should be? What are you thinking about here? Yeah. This is a sort of a soft fallacy, but the blast radius fallacy effectively is misjudging the scope of potential damage to blast radius from a single point of failure. What we, and you just mentioned, is asymmetric fraud. The actual blast, the actual grenade that went off is actually of less than 100 people so far. Those 100 bad actors have been sort of found and are being prosecuted, and the number will grow, but it’s not going to grow from 100 to 100,000. In terms of the way that this journalist quotes, Nick Shirley approached it was to really sort of paint it as Somali’s perpetrating this. He was in Somali communities. He did find that. But again, the number of actors is small, yet the penalty, the blast radius, the number of people that will be penalized for this is going to be closer to 100,000. That’s what happens when there is this sort of overreaction and attack on an entire culture for the actions of a few people, 100 people, 100,000 community strong Somalis-ish in Minnesota. I’m also looking at, to be honest, the failure of oversight, which is very, very real here, because the truth is if you leave a bank door open and you leave it open long enough, one person will not just take some, but all, or as much money as possible. We see this in financial crimes constantly. How much do they take? As much as they could. So to that end, compassion without controls is ruinous. Compassion without controls is ruinous. These policies that don’t have oversight end up hurting the community because it doesn’t direct funds to where they should go. And in the end, you end up with situations like this, which is this community now that is going to be descended upon by these other me-too s****y journalists with cameras running around. And by the way, this, Nick Shirley, the way that when you watch it, you actually have to subtly realize that he’s walking around with a security detail that looks a lot like ICE. And so he was also scaring the shit out of people. And so yes, I had mentioned when I’m looking at the CBS follow-up reports of how many of those were actually like actual, actual fraud. In that handful of cases, there are daycares and people that are now going to, are in unsafe situations because there’s so many of these follow-on wannabes that are going to be doing this type of thing t

    22 min

  8. 12/17/2025

    2025 in Review: Navigating AI Shifts and Nonprofit Challenges (news)

    In the latest episode of the Whole Whale Podcast, hosts George and Nick reflect on the transformative themes that shaped the nonprofit sector in 2025. With a focus on AI’s impact, they explore how answer engine optimization (AEO) has redefined nonprofit discovery and engagement. AI’s rapid adoption has led to decreased organic traffic for nonprofits, necessitating strategic pivots in content and donor engagement. George highlights a significant increase in AI-generated content, with Whole Whale producing nearly a million words daily. This shift underscores the need for nonprofits to establish internal AI policies and balance AI use with human oversight to maintain ethical standards and foster innovation. Nick introduces the “crawl, walk, run” framework, guiding nonprofits in adopting AI responsibly. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining human expertise and authority in an AI-saturated world, urging organizations to focus on quality over quantity in content creation. The episode also revisits key rants from 2025, including Microsoft’s controversial changes to its nonprofit grant program and GoFundMe’s unauthorized creation of shadow donation pages for nonprofits. These challenges highlight the importance of maintaining autonomy and control over nonprofit branding and fundraising. Looking ahead to 2026, George and Nick advise nonprofits to prioritize strategic use of AI, leveraging high-quality intelligence tokens to amplify impact while avoiding the pitfalls of AI-generated “slop.” They stress the importance of creating original, authoritative content that reflects an organization’s mission and expertise. As they close the episode, George and Nick express optimism for 2026, anticipating renewed energy and opportunities for nonprofits amidst upcoming midterms and sector transformations. -------- NonprofitNewsfeed.com Summary of hundreds of news sources. The post 2025 in Review: Navigating AI Shifts and Nonprofit Challenges (news) first appeared on Nonprofit News Feed.

    17 min
See All (218)

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Short summaries of nonprofit sector news covering fundraising, trends, and information from 100’s of sources.

Information

  • Creator
    NonprofitNewsFeed.com
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    218
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2021 - Product of WholeWhale.com
  • Show Website
    Nonprofit News Feed Podcast

You Might Also Like