TikTok has launched the global "#SaveOurOceans" challenge in partnership with nonprofit Conservation International that encourages users to share videos using an effect that virtually eliminates plastic from the ocean. The app will donate $2 to the nonprofit, up to $100,000, for each video posted using the hashtag, and the money will be contributed to clearing plastics from 1,158 square miles of the sea.

Equity is a priority for the Target Foundation, which will advance the issue in its Twin Cities community by allocating grants to nonprofits that are focused on helping people in disadvantaged areas access housing, build assets, prepare for jobs and run businesses. The organization gives away about $9 million in grants annually.

Travis Kirk Coombs and Heather Steele want to fill a gap in rentable art space in Houston's Bay Area by forming a nonprofit center that would be available to local arts organizations. The couple is launching a $15 million capital campaign next week that will run through July, with hopes to open the facility in 2021.

Johns Hopkins Medicine will establish the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research with help from $17 million in donations in order to study the use of such compounds as LSD and psilocybin to treat a range of health issues. "It's been hand-to-mouth in this field, and now we have the core funding and infrastructure to really advance psychedelic science in a way that hasn't been done before," said Roland Griffiths, who will lead the center.

Park People, a 50-year-old nonprofit that supports Denver's park system, last year created an advocacy committee to provide guidance on political issues. The committee advocated in 2018 for a local tax that will generate revenue for capital projects at parks.

Power gone wrong results in control and corruption, whereas the goal of leadership should be to influence, writes Steve McKee. "There's an intoxication associated with power that can be lethal," he writes.

Cincinnati nonprofits can continue to grow and thrive despite labor challenges and dwindling funding by working together, writes Christie Brown, CEO of the OneSource Center for Nonprofit Excellence. "With so many important issues facing our community ... we should be even more intent on a goal of being collectively better rather than working independently on these multi-dimensional challenges," she writes.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, two organizations focused on helping immigrant children, have received $2 million from actors Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. "[O]ur perspective has grown and we've realized we have to do everything possible to foster more compassion and empathy in this world," Lively and Reynolds say.

Diversity and inclusion can build your organization's overall capacity to achieve your mission. Join us for this September 12 webinar to learn how you and your organization can develop a collaborative, supportive, and respectful environment that increases the participation and contribution of your employees and board members. Learn more.

While many nonprofit boards employ advisory councils, many are not well-conceived, nor well-executed. To ensure that your board is getting the most out of its group, take a look at these nine keys to a successful advisory council. Download now.