👋 Howdy everyone. And thanks for joining us here Elizabeth, Heather, Kiki, Van, and Blaise. You are always welcome to reply or reach out. Send along your questions or let's talk about what you're working on these days. I read everything!
I hope you'll join us at Newsletter Nerd Club on Tuesday, July 28th. These are always fun conversations. I'm very excited about this one!
We'll be talking about AI, newsletters, and content creation. We're going through articles and examples right now to learn more about how people are using AI and the challenges for content creation and management.
I'm sharing some initial findings and ideas below. ⤵️ Be sure to check that out if you want to read more. But sign up for Newsletter Nerd Club first. The session is free and sure to be lively.
Can human-led storytelling thrive in a world of AI-powered content?
The last couple weeks we've been doing research and talking to folks about AI and newsletters. And how they use or view AI's role in content creation. Conversations with 20 people will net you 20 opinions. More likely 35 because opinions and positions on AI are malleable.
I've been asking registrants for the July 28th Newsletter Nerd Club about their AI content experiences and the chief question or concern they have about it. This note gets to the heart of it, I think:
I am intensely curious about the relationship between ai content, trustbuilding, and conversions.
Trust came up several times as not just a concern but a primary reason organizations and communications leaders are holding back on using AI to create content. The volume of AI hype and the certitude that "everyone is doing it" does little to build trust.
Meanwhile, it seems like very few nonprofits or newsletter operators are using AI-powered tools to create content.
What people are doing is deploying AI-powered tools to do things like survey analysis to better understand their subscribers. They're brainstorming or testing subject lines to improve engagement. They're (one hopes) saving time turning long pieces of content into chunks of content for use in email, articles, social, video scripts and more.
Let's talk about personalization, one of the holy grails of digital fundraisers and marketers. Back in January newsletter hosting company Beehiiv wrote in their 2026 State of Newsletters post that "In 2026, AI-driven personalization and automation will become standard practice for growth-minded newsletters."
I'm not seeing much evidence of this in nonprofit content (email, newsletters, web). I'm hyper skeptical, to be honest. We're forgetting about the "person" part of personalization and focusing on the speed and outcomes. I guess that's the "ization" part of personalization. 🤷
Here's a question we need to answer first:
Is anyone here in an ongoing dialog with our subscribers, members, and donors about whether they find out content and emails interesting and useful in the first place?
AI-powered personalization and automation is a tool of enshittification if the content and storytelling doesn't have heart, doesn't have value, doesn't MEAN something to people.
Meaning and value come first. Without those personalization is somewhere between annoying and creepy.
I appreciate the concerns about if and how AI could diminish people's trust in our content. But it's worth taking a step back and asking if that content is meaningful (and trusted!) without AI.
AI and public attention to it (not to mention the proliferation of AI slop) is reminding people that that there's value in authentic stories from real people you know. I'm excited to talk with you about AI in newsletter and content work. But I'm even more excited about if and how we step back and first create content that's interesting, meaningful, and valuable to our people.
Bright Ideas
Smart people with big ideas, useful tools, and can't miss events and resources.
- Matt Kelley shared this wonderful story about the work of Rehabilitation Through the Arts. I love it. I think you will, too. [Spectrum News NY 1]
- Email consultant Katelyn Baughan put together a super primer on the pros, cons, and how-tos of resending an email to your list.
- In Ship the thinking, not the content JA Westernberg writes about how the flood of AI-powered content makes great content scarce and valuable.
- There's talk out there about how candidates won't or shouldn't touch climate issues. And I'm seeing a lot of advocacy organizations dial back on the word climate. In Yes, Democrats should talk about climate Leah Stokes argues this is a mistake and shows how to reframe (and recapture) the message.
- Also...the World Cup is almost over (sad for me, good for some). And the long duration event has become the center of climate conversation. Wildfire smoke is interfering with and could postpone Sunday's final match. Though it's hard to imagine FIFA making a principled decision.
And if automated LinkedIn emails (see below) can make the climate+ current events connection then maybe anyone can understand the issue.
Events and Training
- Convergence is hosting a hands-on communications workshop with Ritti Singh. This is a follow up to Ritti's recent (and execellent) article Surround Sound Communications: How to Build a Narrative Machine. You can register here for the July 29th workshop.
- More zines please! The Media Economies Design Lab at CU Boulder is hosting a free online launch event for their zine: Conflict Systems Zine Launch is Wednesday, August 12th, at 10 am Mountain.
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.
Future Community Jobs
These are the most recent jobs. You'll find many more on the full Future Community job list.
Hi there. I hope Future Community has been helpful to you. If it can be improved please click reply and share your suggestions or questions. I read every message.
I also hope you'll support Future Community at any level.
The jobs, in particular, take an extraordinary amount of time to curate and share. In the past 3 years I've shared over 6,000 roles here. All verified. All with salaries. All targeted to folks in progressive communications, campaigning, news, and technology. And all freely accessible.
That time (and the underlying tech) has a real cost: roughly 5-10 hours per week and $70 per month in various hosting and tech bills.
If you're able, you can become a paid member of Future Community or make a donation with the Tip Jar.
I understand if now is not a good time. Thank you!
Audience, content, journalism and news roles
- Editor in Chief - The Stranger : Noisy Creek [Washington, DC]
Communications
- Communications Coordinator : The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) [Ottawa, Ontario] ⏱️ August 3
- Coordinator of Communications & Storytelling : Cristosal [Remote] ⏱️ August 10
- Chief Communications Officer : Climate Central [Remote in the US]
- Head of Communications : Start Network [London, Congo, Pakistan, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Philippines, Kenya, Bangladesh] ⏱️ July 24
- Communications Officer : Ares Foundation [New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Century City, Denver]
- Marketing & Communications Director : Earthday.org [Washington, DC]
- Senior Content Strategist : ACLU [New York or Washington, DC]
- Communications & Narrative Steward : This Living Place [North-Mid Dorset/South Somerset, UK] ⏱️ July 26
Nonprofit organizations
- Co-Executive Director (Maternity Cover) : Foxglove [Remote in the UK, London preferred] ⏱️ August 13
- Digital campaigner : Foxglove [Remote in the UK] ⏱️ August 17
- Programs Coordinator : Civics Unplugged (CU) [New York City or Remote in the US]
- Finance Director : Ontario Nature [Remote in Ontario] ⏱️ August 6
- Digital Manager, Strategy & Innovation : The Hub Project [Washington, DC]
- Director of Partnerships : States United Democracy Center [Remote]
- Community Engagement Officer : Upstream [Remote in the US] ⏱️ July 22
- President : Western Resource Advocates (WRA) [Remote from Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming]
Fundraising and Development
- Director of Development and Communications : Climate Emergency Fund [Remote / New York City, Los Angeles or San Francisco preferred]
- Development Director : The American Prospect [Remote in the US]
Foundations and Philanthropy
- Social Media Associate : The Obama Foundation [Chicago] ⏱️ July 30
- Comptroller and Project Finance Lead: Nature-Based Solutions Foundation [Remote in British Columbia, Canada] ⏱️ July 24
Agencies, data, politics, products & more
- Software Engineer, Product (Part time for 4 months) : The Marshall Project [Remote in the US]
- Deputy Client Strategy Director : Movement Labs [Remote in the US] ⏱️ July 27
- Associate Director of Content Strategy : Magnitude Media [Remote in the US]
- Account Director : K2D Strategies [Remote in the US]
- Senior Digital Project Manager and Senior Director of Creative: Wide Eye [Remote in the US]
Hey. 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.