Leadership

Wednesday Buzz: Nonprofits Step Up to Help Orlando Shooting Victims

A leading LGBT rights group in Florida has raised more than $4 million for Orlando shooting victims through a GoFundMe page this week. Here's how other nonprofits are looking to help. Also: Don't underestimate the risks of social engineering when it comes to cybersecurity.

The tragedy at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub over the weekend has provoked a variety of responses, from conversations expressing solidarity and support for the LGBT community to discussions on how to prevent similar incidents.

It has also prompted some incredible fundraising on the part of Equality Florida, the state’s leading LGBT rights group. The nonprofit launched a GoFundMe campaign after the mass shooting, and since it started on Sunday, more than 90,000 people have donated, raising $5.5 million and counting for victims.

The group is working with the National Center for Victims of Crime to directly distribute 100 percent of the funds to the victims and their families. The center has helped with fundraising in similar tragedies, such as those in Aurora, Colorado, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“The amount of love and compassion felt around the world towards the victims and their families of the Pulse shooting is a testament to the incredible good [that] is in the world,” Equality Florida wrote on its GoFundMe page. “Thank you for your contributions.”

Other nonprofits are also raising money to help the victims, including the OneOrlando Fund, which recently received a $1 million donation from the Walt Disney Company, one of the region’s major employers. Funds raised by OneOrlando won’t go directly to the shooting victims but to local nonprofits that will assist them, according to Deadline. Disney has also pledged to match all eligible donations made by its employees.

You’re a Target

Sometimes, bad hacks happen to good people. Why is that? Well, the threat of social engineering—where a hacker gets an unsuspecting web user to reveal information or click on a link that will infect their computer—is something that everyone is vulnerable to, notes DelCor’s Ben Sarker.

Why would a hacker go after your association? “Why wouldn’t they?” Sarker writes. “You have what these criminals want: sellable data. Your systems store personal and financial information of members, staff, customers, and donors.”

Check out Sarker’s post to learn how to keep your organization’s data safe.

Other Links of Note

In news that writers may find disappointing, this week a Facebook exec said the site’s news feed would likely be “all video” in five years.

It’s OK to fake it until you make it, according to Insight founder Justin Bariso, who explains why in this piece for Inc.

Some folks remain confused about Microsoft’s surprising purchase of LinkedIn earlier this week. CMSWire highlights the more interesting theories.

Orlando shooting victims Angel Santiago and Patience Carter recount what happened at the Pulse nightclub early Sunday morning. (Jim Young/Reuters)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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