Political spam texts are flooding phones at scale—and the data shows it's overwhelmingly a Democratic problem, running 3-4X Republican spending on SMS fundraising since 2008. This week breaks down the loopholes that make it legal (peer-to-peer "technology," snowshoeing across thousands of numbers, political speech exemptions) and the burn-and-churn vendor model that profits 7-15% off every dollar raised, no matter how much trust it burns. Plus a look at PACSpam.org, a new tool that lets you paste in a spam text, trace the UTM parameters and ActBlue links back to the vendor and PAC behind it, and log it to a public database.

Plus: Giving USA 2025 numbers are in. Total US charitable giving hit a record $617B (a 3% inflation-adjusted bump), bequests jumped 17% signaling the great wealth transfer, and a handful of mega-donors accounted for nearly $18B of $19.2B in mega-gifts.

This week's Nonprofit News Feed highlights the potential impact of upcoming IPOs in the AI sector on donor-advised funds (DAFs). Major players like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are expected to go public, potentially generating $12 to $32 billion in new DAF contributions. This influx could significantly enhance grant-making capacities across the nonprofit sector.

The democratization of philanthropy is a key theme, as newly liquid employees—not just billionaires—could make substantial charitable contributions. Nonprofits are advised to prepare by developing relationships with potential donors early and ensuring they can efficiently handle stock gifts and DAF grants.

Key insights include the expectation of a massive year for DAFs, similar to the IPO boom of 2021. However, nonprofits should note that liquidity does not equate to immediate increased budgets. The episode emphasizes the importance of strategic communications and understanding the philanthropic mindset of tech sector employees, particularly concerning AI's societal impacts.

Global Giving's Controversial Renaming Decision

This episode of the Nonprofit NewsFeed delves into Global Giving's decision to rename Taiwan as "Chinese Taipei" on its platform, a move reportedly influenced by the Chinese government as the platform expands in China. This change has provoked dissatisfaction among Taiwanese NGOs, leading some to withdraw from the platform.