Thank you for joining us Sughey, Nadeen, Isabel, Tessa, Jess, and Blessing for subscribing to Future Community this week. Do you have questions? Looking for anything in particular from this newsletter? Hit reply and say hello. Seriously!
I drafted most of this late last night while listening to my Alt C ish playlist. Not quite country. Not quite rock. More broken down touring vans than big pickup trucks. Think Flying Burrito Brothers and Lucinda Williams, Amanda Shires and James McMurtry, John Prine and the Bottle Rockets. For some reason it's music that gets me thinking about sitting at a long table with friends, a few beers, and fun conversations about taking on the world.
Reading (and writing) newsletter doesn't really replace that vibe. But it's what we have for now so let's give it a go...
Let's Build You a Newsletter
I'm pulling together all the right pieces of email, audience, fundraising, and content strategy learning for a 90-minute workshop aimed at taking you from newsletter idea to newsletter product.
Maybe you have a languishing newsletter idea. Maybe you have a newsletter that needs a tweak or three. Maybe you want to blow it up and start over. This is a space to focus for 90 minutes on your ideas, your audience, your goals, and get real about producing content that works.
This is a paid workshop – comped for Future Community members. There's limited space. Find out more and register here.
End Citizens United is looking for a full-time Deputy Legislative Director to be based in Washington, DC. This person will be working with partners in DC, state capitols, and coalitions to support anti-corruption reforms and fight big money in politics. Salary listed is $81,000 – $115,000.
Anti-Influencers
In Tuesday's jobs newsletter I asked folks to let me know if and how they're thinking about private communities or chats in their job search:
Are you using private communities, chat groups, or even print or offline resources in your job search? If so, do you want to share or chat about it? I'd love to hear if/how you're thinking about in person and small connective networks as a job resource.
The question is related in part to what may be a growing frustration with influencers and parasocial relationships. Much, or at least some, has been written about Gen Z stepping away from social media and even smartphones.
Last week I shared a bit about Hot Bones, a newsletter that covers sustainability and community in Charlottesville, Virginia. Yesterday, Hannah Frishberg posted a piece about the rise of hyperlocal newsletters in New York City.
Hannah Frishberg
And Sarah Beth Spraggins of DC's Secret Ballot newsletter (which just turned one year old! Congrats!) spoke joyfully at a recent Newsletter Nerd Club event about how the newsletter is a local-focused community building hub of sorts.
Maybe this is just a turn towards tech as a tool for individual agency and connection. Instead of a tech as an exchange between individuals and companies (my data for your access to a firehose of ads posing as entertainment).
What's my point? Good question. The point here is not that organizations, movements or even individual creators in the social good space should simply "partner with influencers." Reach and impact is there. But it's ephemeral. Instead, scrape away the marketing cruft and build content that connects people to real people. You'll probably reach fewer people. But the potential for impact is much greater and longer lasting.
Good Neighbors
Yesterday Atmos launched the first story in a story series it's calling Good Neighbors: Dispatches from Rural America. It's just such a lovely example of community (and climate) centered content presented as a full product.
The package will include six climate, culture, rural communities pieces reported and written by Katie Hill and photographed by Isabelle Zhao. I'm cxcited to see how this evolves in future pieces. A few links:
- Project background
- Newsletter page (Pop up newsletters are sooo underrated)
- Story 1: Come Hell or High Water - a story about climate resilience from Down East, Maine.
I have nothing to do with this project. I just think it's a fantastic mix of original storytelling, community building, and newsletter mechanics.
Bright Ideas ☀️
Smart people with big ideas and a few great events...don't miss these.
1/ Is News Avoidance a Democratic Problem or a Healthy Audience Behavior? This research (found via Samantha Ragland of American Press Institute) is for journalists. But it's relevant to applicable to nonprofit advocates and movement organizations who have ignored user needs in search of clicks and conversions.
2/ Why are we still asking the same questions? by Dr. Renée Lertzman
3/ Creator economy stats for 2026. This is from January via Circle. I missed it then. Highlights:
- 48% of creators run everything themselves
- 88% of community builders monetize with memberships
- 67% of members discover communities via social platforms
- 69% say member transformation is their top growth strategy
Further along the report details problems with declining reach, operational complexity, and even loneliness (which I'll suggest is a huge obstacle to business growth and success in the oh so "social" Internet age).
4/ I'm struck by the growing futility of online community at scale. Sure, the media and Meta/OpenAI ads on TV will tell you otherwise but people are exhausted by tech. This in the the Chicago Reader is telling: Can zines help us resist the slop overtaking the Internet? by Shira Friedman-Parks.
Events and Training
- Washington, DC: Nonprofit Tech Connect, Speed Networking & Knowledge Sharing event on September 22nd.
- Washington, DC: Breaking Up With Big Tech: A Club to Help You Through It is a free in person and online project put together by the DC Public Library.
- Online: The 50 Percent is running a storytelling fellowship. It's an online, free, 10-week fellowship designed to develop communication, storytelling and advocacy skills among young people. Via Brian Dusablon.
Want to get your event or training out to the Future Community network? We're happy to share. Click reply and make sure we know about it.
I'm running membership drive. I need your help.
- Six people have signed up as paid members this month.
- Our goal is 30 members.
- ⛰️ Math says there's a big hill to climb in (checks calendar 📆) 12 days.
Why 30 members? I started the month with 7 paid members. Thirty is a big jump. Ambition is great, right?
37 is about 2-3% of all subscribers. You can do the math. Thirty new members takes this project a long way towards sustainability.
Visit Bright+3 and click the Subscribe or Join Future Community buttons to pitch in.
One of my goals is keeping Future Community Jobs useful and accessible to all. Thank you for helping make that happen.
Future Community Jobs
A Future Community Jobs email enters inboxes on Tuesdays. Here are a few key midterm updates.
- Project Manager, Solutions Insight Lab : Solutions Journalism Network [Remote in the US / East Coast preferred]
- Director of Communications and Marketing : Aquarium of Niagara [Niagara Falls, NY]
- Executive Director : Conservation Voters for Idaho [Boise, ID]
- Director of Audience & Membership : Prison Journalism Project [Remote in the US] ⏱️ September 25
The full Future Community job list is always on and updated.
Ted here. I run Bright+3 where we give changemakers the ideas, inspiration, and tools to create content that builds stronger communities. I also write this newsletter (aka Future Community) and run the Future Community Jobs list.