Tesla Motors co-founder and CEO Elon Musk has publicly expressed dismay over the shift of OpenAI, the maker of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, from a nonprofit to a hybrid “capped profit” model, Fortune reports.

When founded as a nonprofit in 2015, OpenAI received $100 million from Musk. In 2019, the company switched to a “capped profit” model and now has a private valuation of approximately $30 billion and counts Microsoft as a major investor. In a tweet last week, Musk expressed his discontent. “I’m still confused as to how a nonprofit to which I donated ~$100M somehow became a $30B market cap for-profit. If this is legal, why doesn’t everyone do it?”

In a tweet last month, Musk expressed similar feelings of irritation. “OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it “Open” AI), nonprofit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft. Not what I intended at all.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Olemedia)

The decision whether to indict former President Donald Trump over hush-money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign lies in the hands of a Manhattan grand jury that has been hearing evidence in secret for weeks.

An indictment of Trump, who is seeking the White House again in 2024, would be an unprecedented moment in American history, the first criminal case against a former U.S. president.

Law enforcement officials are bracing for protests and the possibility of violence after Trump called on his supporters to protest ahead of a possible indictment.

An indictment could also test a Republican Party already divided over whether to support Trump next year, in part due to his efforts to undermine his 2020 election loss.

Trump denies any wrongdoing and has slammed the Manhattan district attorney’s office probe as politically motivated.

Here’s a look at the hush-money probe, grand jury process and possible ramifications for his presidential campaign:

____

WHAT’S THE PROBE ABOUT?

The grand jury has been probing Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with him years earlier. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, through a shell company before being reimbursed by Trump, whose company, the Trump Organization, logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.

Earlier in 2016, Cohen also arranged for former Playboy model Karen McDougal to be paid $150,000 by the publisher of the supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer, which then squelched her story in a journalistically dubious practice known as “catch-and-kill.”

Trump denies having sex with either woman.

Trump’s company “grossed up” Cohen’s reimbursement for the Daniels payment to defray tax payments, according to federal prosecutors who filed criminal charges against the lawyer in connection with the payments in 2018. In all, Cohen got $360,000 plus a $60,000 bonus, for a total of $420,000.

Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law in connection with the payments. Federal prosecutors say the payments amounted to illegal, unreported assistance to Trump’s campaign. But they declined to file charges against Trump himself.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team appears to be looking at whether Trump or anyone committed crimes in New York state in arranging the payments, or in the way they accounted for them internally at the Trump Organization.

BUT CAN A FORMER PRESIDENT BE INDICTED?

In a word, yes. Longstanding Justice Department policy prohibits the federal indictment of a sitting president, but Trump, two years out of office, no longer enjoys that legal shield. And the New York case is not a federal probe anyway.

WHAT IS THIS GRAND JURY?

A grand jury is made up of people drawn from the community, similar to a trial jury. But unlike juries that hear trials, grand juries don’t decide whether someone is guilty or innocent. They only decide whether there is sufficient evidence for someone to be charged. Grand juries exist in the federal court system and in many states.

Proceedings are closed to the public, including the media. There is no judge present nor anyone representing the accused.

Prosecutors call and question witnesses, and grand jurors can also ask questions. In New York, the person who could be indicted may ask for a certain witness, though it’s up to grand jurors.

New York grand juries have 23 people. At least 16 must be present to hear evidence or deliberate. Twelve have to agree there is enough evidence in order to issue an indictment. The grand jury may also find there is not enough evidence of a crime or direct the prosecutor to file lesser charges.

Centuries-old rules have kept grand juries under wraps to protect the reputations of people who end up not being charged, to encourage reluctant witnesses to testify, to prevent those about to be indicted from fleeing and to guard against outside pressure.

Grand juries have long been criticized as little more than rubber stamps for prosecutors. Former New York Judge Sol Wachtler famously said that prosecutors could convince a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.” Defenders of the process say it is a crucial safeguard against politically motivated prosecutions.

WHO HAS TESTIFIED IN THIS CASE?

One of the final witnesses being called was Robert Costello, who was once a legal adviser to Cohen, the government’s key witness in the investigation.

The men have since had a falling out, and Costello has indicated that he has information he believes would undercut the credibility of Cohen and contradict his current incriminating statements about Trump.

Costello contacted a lawyer for Trump saying he had information that could be exculpatory for Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss secret legal proceedings. The lawyer brought it to the attention of the district attorney’s office, which last week subpoenaed Costello’s law firm for records and invited him to testify.

He was at the building where the jurors were meeting on Monday, invited by prosecutors, ensuring the grand jury had an opportunity to consider testimony or evidence that could weaken the case for indicting.

Trump was also been invited to testify, but his lawyer has said the former president has no plans to participate.

WHAT ABOUT THE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS?

Trump says charges would actually help him in the 2024 presidential contest. Longtime ally Lindsey Graham, senator from South Carolina, said Saturday that District Attorney Bragg “has done more to help Donald Trump get elected.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, considering joining the Republican field, criticizes the Trump investigation as politically motivated, “fundamentally wrong.” But he also threw one of his first jabs at the former president in a quip likely to intensify their rivalry. DeSantis said he personally doesn’t “know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some kind of alleged affair.”

Comments by other potential rivals, eager to convince voters it is time to move on from the former president but also contending with the fact that he remains the most popular figure in the party:

— During a Saturday visit to Iowa, former Vice President Mike Pence called the idea of indicting a former president “deeply troubling.”

— Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor mulling his own 2024 bid, said he didn’t expect Trump to withdraw from the race after an indictment, though that would be the “right” thing to do.

— Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a declared candidate who also served as Trump’s U.N. ambassador, said Monday on Fox News that Bragg’s case was an attempt at scoring “political points,” adding, “You never want to condone any sort of prosecution that’s being politicized.”

“At the end of the day, not one single person’s opinion of him will be any different after indictment than it was before,” veteran GOP operative Terry Sullivan said in an interview. “All of his perceived negatives are already baked into his name ID with voters.”

WHAT ABOUT OTHER TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS?

The New York probe is among many legal woes Trump is facing.

The Justice Department is investigating his retention of top secret government documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, after leaving the White House, as well as possible efforts to obstruct that probe. Federal investigators are also still probing the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to overturn the election Trump falsely claimed was stolen.

Portions of a report from a special grand jury in Georgia that investigated whether Trump and his allies illegally interfered in the 2020 election in Georgia shows jurors believed “one or more witnesses” committed perjury and urged local prosecutors to bring charges. The former president never testified, but the report didn’t foreclose the possibility of other charges.

WHAT’S NEXT IN NEW YORK?

It’s unclear. Trump declared in a social media post over the weekend that he expects to be taken into custody on Tuesday and urged supporters to protest his possible arrest. However, there has been no public announcement of any time frame for the grand jury’s secret work. A Trump spokesperson said there has been no notification from Bragg’s office.

Law enforcement officials have been making security preparations for the possibility of an indictment in coming days or weeks — or a court appearance by the president himself.

WILL TRUMP BE HANDCUFFED?

Anna Cominsky, a New York Law School professor and former criminal defense lawyer, said that her best guess is that Trump’s lawyers will work out a deal with the prosecutor’s office to avoid the spectacle of an indictment with handcuffs and a perp walk.

“There is a great likelihood that he will self-surrender, which means you won’t see a 5 a.m. knock on Mar-a-Lago’s door, officers swarming his house and arresting him and bringing him out in handcuffs,” she said. “He would appear at the prosecutor’s office voluntarily and then be processed, fingerprinted and his picture taken. ”

Cominsky is less sure that Trump would want to avoid a public appearance for his arraignment, which would come within two days of an indictment. At that time a judge lists the charges and asks if the defendant pleads guilty or not guilt.

“He doesn’t shy away from the chaos, so he may want to use this to his advantage,” she said.

____

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington, Anthony Izaguirre from Tallahassee, Florida, and Bernard Condon and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

PARIS (AP) — France’s government is fighting for its survival Monday against no-confidence motions filed by lawmakers who are furious that President Emmanuel Macron used special constitutional powers to force through an unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without giving them a vote.

National Assembly lawmakers are set to vote in the afternoon on two no-confidence motions, one from the far-right National Rally and the other, more threatening one from a small group that has gathered support across the left.

The Senate, dominated by conservatives who back the retirement plan, passed the legislation last week.

The no-confidence motions each need the backing of 287 lawmakers in the National Assembly, the lower chamber, to pass.

Although the motions appear unlikely to succeed, the climate of protest that Macron’s pension reforms has sparked in parliament and on the streets means the outcome of voting in the National Assembly is not guaranteed. No such motion has succeeded since 1962.

Macron’s centrist alliance still has the most seats in the National Assembly. A minority of lawmakers from the Republicans party could stray from the party line, but it remains to be seen whether they’re willing to bring down Macron’s government.

The tensions in the political arena are echoed on the streets, marked by intermittent protests and strikes in various sectors, from transport to energy and sanitation workers. Garbage in Paris is piling ever higher and reeking of rotting food on the 15th day of a strike by collectors.

If the no-confidence votes fail, the bill becomes law. If a majority agrees, it would spell the end of the retirement reform plan and force the government to resign. A new Cabinet would be appointed. Macron could retain Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne should he choose; no other name has been floated.

Borne has taken the brunt of the opposition’s fury and will have to defend herself Monday before lawmakers.

Should the no-confidence motion pass, it would be a big blow to Macron, likely weighing on the remainder of his second term, which ends in 2027.

Copyright
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

It’s a popular question that’s come up a lot over the past six months. There are lots of channels to focus on. A lot of ways to tell impact stories. And a lot of data that supports both sides of the blogging discussion. Combine this with the fact that there’s a limited amount of time in the day and your to-do lists are not getting any shorter. 

So what’s a nonprofit to do? When I debate a topic like this, I like to weigh the pros and cons.

The Pros: Blogging Is Totally Worth It

Blogging is a big part of content marketing. HubSpot reports that blogging is the third most common content marketing strategy behind video and e-books. This is important as Classy notes that 92% of nonprofits invest in content marketing. 

These stats are not surprising. Nonprofits are driven by emotion and their mission to make the world a better place, so what better way to get the word out than by literally writing your own content and sharing it online. Paired with the fact that nonprofits usually don’t have large marketing budgets and need to ensure that their efforts are leading to a positive ROI (blogs are easily tracked in Google Analytics), it all makes sense. 

Blogs are helpful for a number of reasons: 

• Blogs help SEO. 
• Blogs are an easy way to provide a reason for donors to come back to your website. 
• Blogs allow you to provide context around your donation asks when you tie an ask to a story.
• Blogs can power your entire digital ecosystem (social posts, newsletters, appeals, etc.).

The upside seems solid, but there is definitely a worthy argument against blogging, too. 

The Cons: Blogging Is a Total Waste of Time

People can digest images in milliseconds as opposed to reading content that takes minutes. Video and visual search engines, like TikTok and YouTube, are growing and taking over as two of the three largest “search engines” on the internet. Attention spans are dwindling and artificial intelligence is writing content on the fly. All of this data leads some people to say blogging is dead in 2023. 

Outside of the data, there are several discussions that lead to some organizations being skeptical of blogging.

• Blogging takes time.
• Blogging can be seen as not important in the grand scheme of what’s happening to serve the mission. 
• Blogging distracts from other platforms. 
• Blogs may not have returned a direct ROI in the past.

The challenges and perceptions of blogging are not insignificant. 

So, Is Blogging Worth It? 

I believe blogging and content marketing when done right are worth it. It’s definitely not a short term ROI (return on investment), but instead should be thought of as a foundational element for the future. Blogging isn’t easy, but can be powerful and can make a noticeable impact. 

Tips to Write Better Blogs

A good blog post combines art and science. It’s full of emotion and allows the reader to see themselves as the hero. It’s backed by data and written with a structure that allows it to be discovered and encourages the reader to act. 

It may sound easy, but blogging does take time to get right. Here are five tips to consider.

1. Blog with a purpose. On your website content for content sake is a waste of time. Make sure that your blog has a call to action, so that when someone finishes a post, they have something to do next. 
2. Don’t make the blog a catchall. Put a process in place to help identify the stories that will make good blog posts. One way to do this is with a story element checklist (image, video, quote, result, audio, infographic, stat, etc.) If you have two or more elements and the story has a human protagonist, it’s likely to be a good candidate for a blog post. 
3. Don’t tackle too many topics. Search queries are getting longer. This means searches are getting more specific, so instead of writing a post that answers lots of questions try answering just one question per post with a comprehensive answer. 
4. Use technology. Writer’s block is real. Embrace tools like Answer the Public and generative AI tools (I had to add a Chat GPT reference to this post) to help overcome the blockage. 
5. Promote your blogs. Blog posts need traffic to be successful. Post them social, use them in emails, and add them to other areas of your website to ensure that your donors and supporters know the impact your nonprofit has. 

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.

Boston-based philanthropic technology company Givinga, Inc. is thrilled to announce a partnership with Double the Donation, an industry leading provider of matching gift and volunteer grant solutions for nonprofits and educational institutions. Their integration with Double the Donation continues their effort to modernize corporate giving and maximize employee matching. The addition of Double the Donation to their Philantech platform and partner network is designed to close the gap between brands, their stakeholders and a network of 2M+ charities globally.

First created in 1954, corporate “matching” is a core part of many corporate giving programs. Corporate matching acts as a catalyst to engage and reward employees, maximize philanthropic impact, and attract and retain top talent. However, match programs have never reached their full potential, with median participation rates hovering around 9%, and only 16% of employees aware of their program’s existence. Corporate matching’s lack of technology and innovation has reduced corporate impact, employee engagement and overall charitable giving resulting in an estimated $7B in unused corporate matching funds each year.

Givinga’s comprehensive set of matching capabilities for corporate partners reimagines the traditional match and is designed to unlock a brand’s impact. Their modern matching capabilities have seen a 6x increase in match participation, and their partnership with Double the Donation expands their functionality further with simple automatic submission of employee match requests.

“We’re excited to offer our nonprofit clients what they’ve been requesting since the birth of matching gifts: a way for donors to submit their matching gift requests with no hassle,” said Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “Double the Donation and Givinga are aligned in our mission to close the matching gift loop to benefit nonprofits, donors, and companies alike.”

Givinga’s integration with Double the Donation means Philantech users, with the functionality enabled, can donate to a charity and with the power of 360MatchPro by Double the Donation automatically have their match request sent to their company. This removes an extra step for the employee, streamlines admin requests and unlocks more dollars for charities.

“We believe there are innovative and impactful ways to expand corporate matching, and our partnership with Double the Donation gives us an opportunity to showcase our Easy Match capabilities. Combining Double the Donation’s charity matching services with our corporate-giving-made-easy capabilities will allow our partners to reimagine corporate philanthropy by aligning with employees and customers to maximize impact,” said Joe Phoenix, Cofounder and CEO of Givinga.

In addition to driving more money to charity, this integration expands Givinga’s network of strategic philanthropic partners available to Givinga’s clients. Double the Donation joins Givinga’s existing partners, including Charity Navigator and GlobalGiving, as Givinga continues to transform corporate giving access to companies of all sizes.

Source: Givinga

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.

What do U.S. nonprofit donors have in common with The Beatles’ song, “When I’m 64”? Answer: That’s donors’ average age. The consequences will be severe for any nonprofit if demographics don’t age down. Program delivery, employees and infrastructure will shrink — and an increasing number of organizations will cease to exist.

The Influencer Effect is an economical and simple way to imbue all facets of your organization with the supplements needed to regain the energy to fulfill your mission. The Influencer Effect is the exponential impact of influencers throwing their popularity, social capital and platform behind a particular cause or brand. This amplification raises awareness, support and funds, inspires people to act, and drives programmatic success. 

The Influencer Effect is both psychological and social, with the intended, often hard-to-reach, but highly desired, audience mimicking the actions or recommendations of the influencer. Research shows that Gen Z and younger Millennials will trust an Influencer way more than an advertisement or a brand’s reputation. 

Look how Global Citizen has emerged in the last decade as a leading advocacy organization attracting young audiences through its strategic use of Influencers, especially music artists, to highlight philanthropic and social justice causes and pressure elected public officials to act.

The Influencer Effect doesn’t always need to involve an A‐list celebrity. An influencer is a public figure who is culturally appropriate for your desired audience and stakeholders, whether a social media influencer, athlete, local news anchor, author, icon or even an Instagram dog. 

Take Senegal-based international medical organization ALIMA’s 2022 U.S. awareness-raising campaign, “We Are the Solution.” Here, influencers were U.S. and international doctors with social media followings of fewer than 30,000 (known as micro-influencers) who authentically connected to the work. The result was a sevenfold-plus increase in ALIMA’s social media followers, video views and visits to their donor landing pages at a cost that was less than half the average cost for such a campaign.

The benefits of the Influencer Effect are identifiable and measurable and will benefit your entire ecosystem. Externally, your marketing and communications, development, and program efforts will garner more awareness, support, and funding. 

Several Influencers, such as A. R Rahman, Angelique Kidjo, Itzhak Perlman, and Ziggy Marley, joined Rotary’s “End Polio Now” vaccination campaign. These Rotary Polio Ambassadors promoted the campaign through concerts, music videos, social media, and earned media. Consequently, thousands of donors and millions of people became aware of and acted to help support polio eradication efforts across the globe. The campaign was part of an ongoing effort by many wonderful and brave people and organizations worldwide over several decades that caused India and Africa to become polio-free. 

Internally, the Influencer Effect has many benefits for nonprofits. The Rotary’s polio ambassadors re-energized Rotarians to volunteer and donate several million dollars to vaccination programs. Often unforeseen favorable consequences arise that benefit the organization, such as an invite for March of Dimes leadership to a prestigious, highly selected conference on premature births. 

One of my favorites was the American Diabetes Association “Diabetes Dance Dare” where Influencers, initially including Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Cuban, Camila Cabello, Kelly Clarkson, and Usher, danced, dared others, and donated to diabetes research and awareness. The highly successful campaign had two unintended but important consequences. Employees and volunteers reported an increased pride in and commitment to the organization, and organically diabetes organizations in several other countries embraced the campaign.

Did I mention that 99% of the influencers I have worked with in more than 100 campaigns were not paid? Nor did I know the vast majority of them beforehand. They donated their time, services and equity because our research discovered their passion and authentic connection to a particular cause. 

The Influencer Effect is open to every nonprofit and social justice organization, regardless of size. Use the Influencer Effect to give your organization’s immune system the boost it deserves. Your organization’s health and quality of life will improve. I look forward to learning your results.

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.