One Big Thing: Selfish Donations Guide!
Happy Thanksgiving to our readers in America. To everyone else, happy Thursday. I am sending this early because of the big holiday in the U.S.
Speaking of thanks, I want to thank you all for subscribing and reading the Sunday Note. Zach Peterson (@zachprague), my Digimentors colleague, and I have produced more than 30 newsletters this year and it's been a highlight of my new life. I always appreciate your comments, responses, corrections and more (see a selection here).
I also want to alert you to my annual SELFISH DONATIONS GUIDE, a chance to help your favorite nonprofits. This is the sixth year for this fun exercise, which helps highlight nonprofits of all kinds. Last year, we got 60+ orgs. LET'S DO IT AGAIN! A couple of years ago, NYT columnist Nick Kristof was kind enough to share the FB post and we got thousands of new visitors!
Please post links to nonprofits/charities that provide tax-deductible opportunities for U.S. folks looking for year-end donation ideas. [are there similar year-end tax deductions in other countries?] Nice to include a line or two about the orgs, too, & do tell us if you have a personal connection to the ones you mention... eg, board member, founder, annual supporter, etc. Feel free to post multiple ones, but do each as a separate comment, please.
As we do each year, Roopa Unnikrishnan (@roopaonline), our kids and I will make a modest contribution to 5-10 new-to-us charities that receive the most likes. And we'll mention you in the donation's "In honor of" section. Head over to my FB and post there. THANKS FOR PLAYING, FOLKS.
And, as you're thinking of #GivingTuesday and year-end donations, be sure to listen to this recording for the Giving Tuesday briefing I recorded with Jamie McDonald. If you don't have time to read all 30 minutes of the tips-filled chat, some of the top text insights are in the description, including this: About 80% of people who give to a nonprofit for the first time don't give again. So imagine if we were able to get some of those folks to give again (instead of always chasing only new donors).
- Sree. Writing this week from Hawaii (it's partly for work, I swear!). I am spending next week in residence at Honolulu's Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, home to one of the best Islamic art collections in the world. I'll be working with the staff and doing various public programs. If you know folks who live in the area, show them these talks and workshops. Many thanks to Director Konrad Ng (@KonradNG) and Asad Ali Jafri (@asewonder) for this opportunity.
Am working on my 2019 schedule. If you’d like to discuss working together on a workshop, a talk, an Instagram Walkabout, or a consulting project anywhere in the world, please email me: sree@sree.net.
Check out our Sunday Note Patreon - thanks for your support!
A shoutout to the generous sponsors of my global social media tour, including GlobalTeacher Prize, Bombay Shirt Company, and Hashtracking. To learn about sponsoring my tour, 35+ cities in 10+ countries: http://bit.ly/sreesponsordoc. And am grateful to work with many incredible clients in my new life, including PrathamUSA and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Be sure to follow my SreeTips Facebook page, join Sree's Advanced Social Media Group, and follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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Sponsored content
A Shirt Offer That Can't be Missed! 👔
Among the many unlikely things about this year: I've done more than 35 cities in 15 countries; and I have a shirt sponsor, the Soho store of custom shirt-maker Bombay Shirt Company. I've gotten praise for the shirts everywhere I've gone, whether it's Pennsylvania (thanks, fellow BSC-wearer Steve Taylor), or Dubai. This is your last chance! Get a 10% discount on their shirts with the code "sreenov" by Dec. 1 online or at the NYC store (223 Mott St, between Prince and Spring streets). Thanks, Manisha and Ashesh Amin!
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💪🏽 Social media, it's not all bad! Social media provides crucial spaces for non-binary people to connect with (and within) communities - which is especially important for people in rural areas. Excellent, illuminating journalism here. Read Jenna Wortham @ The New York Times Magazine
🗞 Reader-funded journalism can succeed - just look at The Guardian! Read Katharine Viner @ The Guardian
🍿 Media companies appear to be pretty much OK with the new Democrat-controlled House going after Facebook and Google, and it looks like they'll work together to make that happen. Read Steven Perlberg @ Buzzfeed
🎙 Terri Gross is perhaps the best interviewer out there. She's certainly top 5. Her keys to success are so simple you actually be able to not even read them. Be prepared, know when and how to take control of the conversation, be funny. If you ever find yourself on stage or behind a mic, read this. Read Jolie Kerr @ The New York Times
💻 My Digimentors colleague, David Beard (@dabeard), ended his 11-month run writing The Poynter Institute's Morning Mediawire this week. By all accounts he nailed it - summing up the media zeitgeist in a way few could. Read it @ Poynter
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Data Points 📈
A lot of advertisers plan to stick with Facebook...for the time being. Read more @ Digiday
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Something Cool 🎤
I love print - I read a print newspaper online every Sunday! - but, let's face it, the web offers storytelling possibilities that go above and beyond. This New Yorker piece on Janet Jackson's transformational album, "Rhythm Nation 1814", exemplifies all that is excellent about modern digital storytelling. Grab your headphones and check out the "Touchstone" series!
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Listen to Something 🎧
It's a travel weekend for a lot of readers this week. Marc Maron is pretty ideal for the train, car, airport - really, anywhere. I link to a piece in News You Can Use above about Terri Gross and how to be a good interviewer. Maron takes a...slightly different approach, but he's fantastic - especially when he's talking to someone he knows, admires, or both. His interview with Rita Rudner is a great example. Listen to the episode here.
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Watch Something 📺
Azeem Azhar is a terribly thoughtful person. His "Exponential View" newsletter is a must-read, the podcast is fascinating, and it's just a pleasure to listen to someone so informed explain things as clearly as he does. Here's a long discussion with Think Dif on the future of work and a lot more (I love the museum setting!).
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Our Best Today, Our Better Tomorrow
Sunday #NYTReadalong: Every Sunday morning at 8:30 am ET / 1:30pm GMT, I read and critique the print edition of the NYT on Facebook Live. You can join us live or via recording any time at http://readalong.link/current.
If any of you are doing something for #GivingTuesday, please connect with Neil at neil@neilparekh.org.
He will guest hosting the #NYTReadalong this Sunday (Nov. 25) and will be focusing on #GivingTuesday. He wants to plug your cause and if possible, bring you on to the program.
The rundown:
Digimentors is live - it's my new membership program. Join now!
Looking for a trainer or speaker or moderator? Let's discuss: sree@sree.net
Be sure to follow my SreeTips Facebook page, join Sree's Advanced Social Media Group, and follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! I am honored to work with generous sponsors of my global social media tour, including Global Teacher Prize, Bombay Shirt Company, and Hashtracking. If you'd like to join these world-class brands in supporting my workshops and/or my newsletter, please see our sponsorship doc.
Special thanks to Zach Peterson (@zachprague) for the Sunday Note help. If you like the Sunday Note, pass it on!
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