February News for Nonprofits

Salary transparency gains steam

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), in Washington, D.C., is now requiring job postings on its Job HQ board to include salary ranges. The AAM itself has posted salary information for years. Urging museums to do the same is a step toward more equitable hiring, retention and promotion. The mandate took effect in November 2022.

The move comes as the disclosure of salary ranges is becoming mandatory in certain cities and states. For example, the AAM requirement kicked in shortly after implementation of a law in New York City that requires employers with four or more employees to include salary information in job listings. Similar laws have been enacted in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island and Washington and several municipalities. Even when not required, nonprofits would be wise to take jobseekers’ salary transparency expectations into account.

Why “social giving” is growing in popularity

Giving by so-called “social donors” who participate in auction or gala events, peer-to-peer fundraising events, challenges, and giving/awareness days grew by 6% between 2018 and May 2022. And 29% of U.S. adults surveyed self-identified as a social donor in 2022. That’s according to the 2022 Giving Experience Research Study: Understanding Evolving Donor Expectations released by Indianapolis-based OneCause, a fundraising software company.

About one-third of approximately 1,000 social donors surveyed reported participating in events; 39% in runs, walks and rides; 35% in giving days; and 25% in challenges. Thirty-eight percent donated or requested donations for an occasion such as a birthday or a memorial. After a 2021 surge due to giving for COVID-19 relief, though, the average donation dropped to $1,010 from $1,277. Millennials continue to make more social donations — an average increase of $7 from 2021. All other generations cut their average annual social donation by $30 or more.

Apple litigation leads to nonprofit cybersecurity funding

Technology behemoth Apple’s lawsuit against NSO Group — an Israeli spyware company that has been identified as a threat to U.S. national security — is leading to some promising developments when it comes to nonprofits’ cybersecurity. Apple has a made a $10-million grant to support organizations that investigate, expose and prevent highly targeted cyberattacks, including those by companies such as NSO Group. It will similarly earmark any damages it’s awarded in the lawsuit.

The grant will go to the Ford Foundation’s Dignity and Justice Fund (DJF), a pooled grantmaking fund intended to make high-impact grants to advance social justice and equity. The DJF will award grants to groups working to prevent cyberattacks and cybersurveillance on nonprofits, academics, activists and others. The initial awards will fund approaches to help expose mercenary spyware and protect potential targets.