Posted on January 17, 2025
How to digitize printed photos with your phone
Photographs—on paper. Remember those? If you’re old enough, you’ve probably got an album or shoebox full of them, stuck away in a closet somewhere. You get them out now and then, look through them, feel happy (or sad), depending on your mood (and your age).
But maybe you want to do more with those old photos. Email them to friends or family, or post them to your social media accounts. To do this, you’ll need to digitize your printed photographs. Here’s how.
Get organized
Step one is to sort your photos into categories—by date, subject, whatever. It may sound unnecessary but you’ll be storing your newly digitized photos in the cloud, on your computer or an external drive and it’ll be a lot easier to search your pictures if you’ve got them in some sort of order.
This done, you’re ready to start scanning. You just need an app to do it with.
Choose an app
The easiest way to digitize a photo is to put it down flat and take a picture of it with your phone or tablet. Easiest but not best. A better way is to download a photo-scanning app to your phone or tablet and use that.
There are dozens of photo-scanning apps available but many are not free. Here are three apps that are free and will do a good job of scanning your photos. All three are available for iPhone and Android. All three will perform better if you first clean your lens and use natural light if you can.
- Google PhotoScan: Simple and intuitive to use but it requires time because you must take four images of each photo. The app then blends the four together to produce one high-quality digital picture.
To begin, hold your phone directly over the photo and position the photo within the PhotoScan frame. When you’ve got it in position, tap the shutter button. Four circles will appear, one in each corner of the photo. Hold your phone over each circle and, each time you do, PhotoScan will snap an image. The app minimizes glare and fixes imperfections in the original.
User review: “This app is straight up awesome. There are other good scanner apps out there but this is by far the best photo-scanner app I have ever used.”
- Microsoft Lens: Like a lot of scanning apps, Lens advertises itself as a document scanner, primarily, but it also works well for photos. If you’re a Microsoft subscriber, the app will upload images directly to OneDrive. No account creation or sign-in is required.
Lens is easy to use. Just switch it into Photo mode, center your image in the frame and tap the Scan button. There are a few editing tools available so you can fix imperfections.
User review: “One of the best scanner apps. I’m surprised it can do so many things. Document, whiteboard, QR codes, you name it.”
- Photomyne: This app is available in a free and paid version. The free version offers basic functions and includes ads. It’s quick and easy to use and it delivers very good quality, with vibrant colors and accurate skin tones. It includes basic editing tools like crop, rotate and filters. It lets you colorize black-and-white photos, which is pretty neat, and it also scans slides and negatives.
To use Photomyne, just open the app, position your phone over the image, tap and hold the shutter button for a moment. The app will automatically detect borders and crop your photos, then save them to your phone.
User review: “I’m really liking the app so far. Very easy to use, without a lot of the junk that just ends up complicating an otherwise simple and easy process.”
Picture this: a better world
Here’s something else you can do with your phone: make the world a better place. Pretty cool. But it’s a function you’ll find only on phones powered by CREDO Mobile.
When you join us, you get all you want from your mobile service: competitive plans, great deals on new devices and the nation’s top-rated, most reliable network.
And you’ll get much more. You’ll get an easy, effective way to make a difference in the world by generating donations for progressive nonprofits dedicated to the causes you care about.
Switching is easy. You can bring your current device and your current number. Go to CREDOMobile.com to learn more.
Posted on January 14, 2025
This January, CREDO Mobile is supporting Defenders of Wildlife, March For Our Lives and Zinn Education Project
New year, same values. This January, CREDO Mobile is supporting 3 nonprofits working for a better world. We will allocate the donations at the end of the month based on the number of votes for each organization. You can vote for 1, 2 or all 3 nonprofits at www.credodonations.com.
Defenders of Wildlife
Defenders is dedicated to protecting all native animals and plants in their natural communities. Up to a million species are facing extinction – some within the next decade – unless we take immediate action to save them. Defenders works tirelessly to identify and implement innovative solutions to protect endangered species and their habitat. The funding Defenders receives from CREDO Mobile will help our scientists, lawyers, advocates and activists protect wildlife across the nation. Together we are the voice for animals that cannot speak for themselves.
March For Our Lives
Born out of a tragic school shooting, March For Our Lives is a courageous youth-led movement dedicated to promoting civic engagement, education, and direct action by youth to eliminate the epidemic of gun violence. Thank you for supporting MFOL’s youth leaders on the frontlines of the fight to end gun violence. This support from CREDO members couldn’t come at a more critical moment as we gear up to take on an administration that puts our movement in jeopardy. Funding from CREDO members will help us advocate for lifesaving laws at the federal, state, and local levels; advance legal strategies through judicial advocacy in the courts; and empower young people & survivors across the nation.
Zinn Education Project
The Zinn Education Project introduces students to a more accurate and engaging understanding of history than is found in most textbooks, so that they can learn from history to shape a more just future. We provide teachers with free people’s history lessons and classes. Thanks to CREDO members support, we can continue to offer free people’s history lessons to ‘teach outside the textbook.’ More than 168,000 teachers have signed up for lessons and to join our Teaching for Black Lives study groups across the United States. CREDO funding will help the Zinn Education Project double the number of Teaching for Black Lives teacher-led study groups; expand our teach Climate Justice and Reconstruction campaigns; and defend the right to teach honestly in the face of anti-history education laws.
Posted on January 13, 2025
How CREDO Mobile Helps the Women’s March Network Promote Equality
The Women’s March Network is one of the leading voices against sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression in the United States. It seeks to organize and mobilize feminists to ensure that women across the country have the freedom, safety, and security to live the lives they choose. The Network pursues these goals through a number of educational programs and initiatives, as well as through nationally organized actions and community events. Since their inception in 2016, the Women’s March Network has had over 10,000 actions involving tens of millions of people, making them the nation’s largest on-ramp for the progressive movement.
CREDO Mobile has been a stalwart supporter of the Women’s March Network since their very beginning, providing financial support while helping to socialize their mission and mobilize participation in their events. We’ve helped the Network to spur women and allies into action, and we are proud to help them continue to shape the modern progressive movement while promoting pro-feminist goals, fighting disinformation and misinformation efforts, and striving to create a better future for women around the world.
From Couch to Action: The Mission of the Women’s March Network
Since its inception, the Women’s March Network has been a powerful force for feminist activism. Today, the Network is led by Rachel O’Leary Carmona, who has been part of the Network since 2018 and its Executive Director since 2019. For Carmona, effective activism means meeting people in their daily lives, particularly online.
“A lot of movement leaders ask, ‘How do we get people more involved in our work?’” says Caromona, “But the real question is, ‘How do we become more involved with people where they’re at?’” Women’s March, with CREDO’s support, excels at this approach, making activism accessible and actionable. Moving people from the couch into action is our core DNA.”
Carmona points to the general conditions of the United States as a prime motivator for many women. She quotes the work of sociologist Jessica Calarco, saying,
“There’s a powerful quote that ‘Other countries have a social safety net. The United States has women.’ The roles that women are expected to play in our society, combined with unequal pay, unequal treatment, and systematic misogyny and sexism, have created millions of frustrated and motivated individuals.”
By turning individual frustration into collective action, the Women’s March Network helps to empower the demand for change. This approach has helped the Women’s March Network to become one of the nation’s most active progressive movements.
Supporting Change and Empowering Communities
CREDO Mobile has provided donations that allow the Women’s March Network to fund their Digital Defenders program, which combats misinformation and disinformation online, as well as their Women’s Protection Teams—trained groups of people who have learned tactics for de-escalation, mutual aid, and community building. Together, these programs help the Network to keep women safe and informed both online and in the real world.
“Partnering with Credo Mobile is just about the easiest partnership that we have,” says Carmona, “We get to go in and talk about the work that we’re really proud of. We partner with folks who are invested in the work, believe in the work, and then later on we get funding for that work. It’s one of the longest standing partnerships that we have, and it is one that is so important for a digital-first organization like Women’s March. ”
Eyeing the future, the Women’s March will continue to push boundaries with support from CREDO Mobile. Together, we hope to help the feminist movement continue to grow and inspire millions to demand equality and justice.
Watch our interview with Executive Director Rachel O’Leary Carmona below
Posted on January 9, 2025
For women leaders: CREDO Mobile makes a difference
Recently, we sent a donation to She Should Run, which works to increase the number of women who contend for political office and thereby achieve a future in which our government is fully representative of the people it serves.
CREDO Mobile is a loyal supporter of She Should Run and our funding has powered many of the group’s campaigns. Going forward, we’ll continue working with She Should Run to drive public dialogue about women’s representation and offer first-step resources to women whose leadership potential might go untapped by conventional political recruitment.
Reversing the decline of women in politics
Recently, America had another chance to elect the first woman president. It didn’t happen (again) but, with support from CREDO Mobile, She Should Run will continue working to get more women elected to office, both nationally and locally.
Kamala Harris’ candidacy was an achievement. But overall there were fewer women running in down-ballot races in 2024. To address this, She Should Run is moving nimbly to increase the number of women running for all offices and make a greater impact in the lives of Americans by connecting women’s everyday actions to civic engagement in new ways.
She Should Run made real progress toward this goal in 2024.
- It mobilized women across the country to take nearly 60,000 “first steps” aimed at encouraging them to explore a run for office and expediting their entry into the political process.
- It increased its 2023 baseline of 11% to, now, 34% of new participants connecting with She Should Run. These are women who have not considered a run for office before, which shows that She Should Run is achieving its aim of serving women who have been left out of traditional candidate recruitment.
- It elevated the voices of women of color as well as LGBTQ+ women, with 54% of new She Should Run participants identifying as a member of one or more historically underrepresented communities.
- It transformed the user experience on its website with the launch of a new, ungated Resource Center. This yielded a 16.6% increase in first-step content visitors and a 24.4% increase in average monthly visitors.
Launching new empowerment efforts
Support from CREDO Mobile has enabled She Should Run to strengthen its position as a national thought-leader in the campaign to expand political leadership by women. She Should Run has done this through integrated brand/PR channels, creative community and brand partnerships, and message development via constituent listening and feedback.
New projects that have come to life on the heels of CREDO Mobile’s recent donation include the following:
- A partnership with CREDO Mobile to conduct a national survey on political exhaustion and women’s political engagement. This survey tapped new pools of respondents across the nation.
- Successful launch of the Ask Her Anything mentorship program, which aims to facilitate personal coaching connections between She Should Run program participants and elected leaders.
- Successful launch of the “Vote, And” campaign, an initiative to harness the energy of the election year to inspire 10,000 women to pledge an expansion of their civic engagement—from voting to exploring the idea of a run for office.
Connecting with CREDO Mobile
She Should Run was able to do all these things because our customers do one thing: use our service. When they do, they raise much-needed donations for progressive nonprofit groups like She Should Run. These donations cost our customers nothing—but they mean everything to the nonprofits we fund.
If you’re a CREDO Mobile member, thank you for your support. If you’re not a member, please join us now. You’ll get all you want from your mobile service: the nation’s top-rated, most reliable network, competitive plans and great deals on new devices.
And you’ll get much more. You’ll get a powerful way to support your values whenever you use your phone.
Switching is easy. You can bring your current device and your current number. Go to CREDOMobile.com to learn more.
Posted on January 9, 2025
Donations spotlight: Help Defenders of Wildlife protect and restore native animals and their habitats
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This January, Defenders of Wildlife is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will be vital to the nonprofit as it works to protect and restore imperiled species and their habitats in North America.
Read this important blog post from Defenders of Wildlife, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send much-needed grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding January grantees.
How many native animals and plants can you think of? And how many of those species would be gone today if conservationists hadn’t stepped in to save them? We can’t say, exactly. But we can say that, without wildlife conservationists, our planet would be a very different place.
What is wildlife conservation?
Wildlife conservation is the protection of animals, plants and their habitats. Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to wildlife conservation so that there will be a future in which North America’s wildlife is secure, thriving and sustained by a network of healthy lands and waters. To better understand this mission, let’s hear from five Defenders about what wildlife conservation is and how it works.
“Whether we’re working with partners to achieve a conservation goal or addressing conflicts with wildlife in local communities, working in wildlife conservation is often more about working with people. For example, one of the leading drivers of conflicts between grizzly bears and people is food. Bears are attracted to garbage, fruit trees and bird feeders, which can lead to dangerous interactions and, in some cases, dead bears.
“As human populations grow and spread into wildlife habitats, animals are presented with the increased need to navigate through a built landscape. Finding solutions that protect both bears and people is challenging. Changing human behavior is complex, takes time and is often much more difficult than changing wildlife behavior. Some of Defenders’ coexistence work includes electric fencing, range riding and community outreach. How humans tolerate wildlife is a key component of what the future holds for what remains wild in the West.”
“Many people believe they need to connect with faraway savannahs and jungles to get involved in wildlife conservation. But there are endangered species you can help closer to home. And wildlife conservation doesn’t always require a degree. Turning your balcony or yard into a pollinator habitat, voting to protect environmental laws and volunteering with a wildlife agency or nonprofit organization can all have a huge impact for the wildlife in your community.
“While gray wolves are native to Colorado, there are very few wolves actually living in the state. In 2020, Colorado voters passed Proposition 114, which put a plan in motion to reintroduce wolves to their historic range by the end of 2023. Once wolves are on the ground, Coloradoans will need to continue advocating for the protection of their native carnivores so gray wolves can thrive in the state once again.”
“Each military installation follows its own Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan to maintain ecosystems and protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. Take the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, for example. Okaloosa darters were listed as endangered in 1973 and over 90% of their population occupies six streams on Eglin Air Force Base’s land. So the base partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for more than two decades to restore streams and stream corridors needed to recover the Okaloosa darter population. And this year this species was removed from the Endangered Species List!
“Defenders coordinates a partnership of over four dozen agencies and organizations to conserve wildlife habitat on military and surrounding private lands in Northwest Florida.”
“Acting offers a chance at stemming the accelerated loss of species and habitat. Doing nothing, on the other hand, offers no chance at all and lets bad things happen. Defenders is acting through many projects of various sizes. A few examples in the southern Appalachians include helping private landowners implement Shade Your Stream restoration projects to restore and protect waterways that are home to North America’s hellbenders the largest of all salamanders; collaborating on creating national forest management plans; and, working with a coalition to get wildlife crossings over major highways.
Imagine the loss of wildlife if Defenders, our many allies world-wide and the countless individuals who take seemingly small actions for wildlife conservation stopped doing what we do. We certainly wouldn’t have many of the species we love and see today.”
“Recovering imperiled species is hard work and it can take decades to be successful. Humans like to see results and are rarely patient when faced with long-term challenges. In some cases, it took us hundreds of years to push wildlife to the brink of extinction, so it could easily take just as long to recover them.
The Endangered Species Act establishes an unwavering commitment to recovery and a moral obligation to the species with whom we share this planet. The ESA has proven to be successful thus far, but we must remain vigilant and steadfast in our efforts. Like the often-quoted Greek proverb, ‘A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.’”
Posted on January 8, 2025
New Year’s resolution: Change the world with your shopping choices
Well, the New Year is here. And for many of us it’s not so happy. Because it brings with it a lot of unease. The causes we care about are under real threat. Causes like reproductive freedom, economic equality and a livable climate are now targeted for attack and it will be up to us to defend them.
How will we do it? We can’t vote in an election anytime soon. But we can vote in another way—and do it every day. As consumers, we can vote with our dollars. Whenever we make a purchase, whether it’s coffee, clothing or a car, we can support companies that share our values. If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution, that’s a pretty good one.
Better consumer choices make a better world
One of the most powerful steps we can take to make change is to make conscious consumer choices—to let our values guide our shopping decisions. It’s simple and it works.
Consider, for example, plant-based eating. It’s hugely beneficial for the environment. Recent research shows that a vegan diet cuts emissions, water pollution and land use by 75% compared to diets that include over 100 grams of meat per day. A plant-based diet reduces wildlife destruction by 66% and water use by 54%.
Now consider that the number of vegans in the U.S. tripled from 2004 to 2019, and that 1.5 billion people worldwide avoid foods made with meat. The takeaway is this: individual choices matter. The decisions we make as consumers—whether it’s the foods we eat or the clothes we wear—do make a difference.
Here are five ways you can be a more conscious consumer and change the world for the better with your purchasing power.
Avoid Amazon
A lot goes on at Amazon that progressive people are not OK with. Like its impact on local businesses. Like its militant opposition to unionization by its employees. Like its massive plastic output: Amazon generates enough plastic waste each year to wrap the Earth in 800 layers—despite the fact that it “would have no problem” switching to plastic-free packaging, says former Amazon exec Rachel Johnson Greer. “It’s really a question of will.”
Add it all up and you might decide to look for options. They’re not super easy to find. They won’t be at the top of the results page when you search Google. But they’re out there and they’re growing fast. They sell what you need—and what you just plain want—and they do it without a moral compromise packed in bubble wrap. They use less plastic or they use sustainable alternatives. They offset their shipping emissions and focus on Earth-friendly items and brands. Their prices might be a bit higher but they don’t inflict a large hidden cost on our planet.
DoneGood has clothing, bags and totes, home accessories, kitchenware, jewelry, self-care and a lot more. The DoneGood team vets every brand to make sure it pays decent wages, empowers communities and has ecofriendly practices.
Another good option is eBay, where you can shrink your shopping footprint by purchasing secondhand. Also check out eBay Refurbished, which sells reconditioned products up to 50% off the list price, with warranties as good or better than the original warranties.
And Etsy, the global marketplace that supports independent creators of crafts, housewares, art, soap, planters, T-shirts and much more. In 2020, it generated almost $4 billion in income for small businesses.
Other sustainable, ethical alternatives to Amazon include:
- EarthHero: home, kitchen, cleaning, beauty, pets.
- Grove Collaborative: nontoxic, cruelty-free household supplies, personal care and wellness.
- Hive: household goods, beauty products and groceries.
- Made Trade: home goods, furniture, gifts and clothing.
- Package Free: home, beauty, kitchen.
- Ten Thousand Villages: fair trade gifts and accessories made by artisans around the world.
- Thrive Market: up to 30% off organic and non-GMO groceries.
Do your research
You can’t know all that’s involved in the making of every item you buy. But you can Google the products you buy often to see if the companies that manufacture them do business in a responsible way.
Chocolate, for example. It’s made from cocoa and 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown on plantations in West Africa. Many of those plantations have a dark secret: they use child workers as young as 5 years old and, often, child slaves.
They supply much of the cocoa used by candy giants like Mars, Hershey and Nestle, as well as smaller companies. Which means that if you buy chocolate from those companies, you are, indirectly, contributing to the misery of children.
Instead, get your chocolate from ethical makers. You have dozens of options. For a list, go to Slavery Free Chocolate.
Check clothing labels
Fast fashion is hot—and not in a good way. It’s responsible for 10% of the world’s climate-heating CO2. It’s also the world’s second most polluting industry, after oil and gas.
In fact, the more you know about fast fashion, the uglier it looks. It pumps out more carbon emissions per minute than driving a car around the world six times. Fast fashion brand Shein, which adds 1.3 million (!) styles each year, emits as much carbon annually as a major airline.
Fast fashion also fuels climate disasters like the recent megastorms Helene and Milton. Which poses the question: Is a $5 dress worth a category 5 hurricane? Are you OK with that? If not, avoid fast fashion brands like Zara, H&M, Uniqlo and Forever 21. Instead, shop sustainable brands like Everlane, Pact and Reformation. Here’s a list from Good Trade with 99 sustainable clothing brands, ranked by budget.
Use ethical-shopping apps
Your phone is a great tool for making more conscious consumer choices on the go. It’s even better if you load it with these ethical-shopping apps, which provide valuable information on in-store products.
- Buycott scans barcodes and gives details on products and manufacturers so that you can make an informed decision.
- Ethical Barcode scans the barcodes on supermarket items and delivers information on the companies that make them. It provides ratings so you know if what you’re buying does damage to the environment or animals.
- Good on You rates over 3,000 fashion brands according to their impact on people, animals and the planet. It does the research and provides an easy-to-understand score, from “Great” to “We avoid.”
Switch to CREDO Mobile
Every day, more people are choosing to do business with companies that share their values. They’re shopping for sustainable clothes instead of sweatshop fast fashion. They’re buying reusable tumblers instead of drinks in plastic bottles.
Does this sound like you? Then join us. Switch to CREDO Mobile, the phone company that shares your values. You’ll get all you want from your mobile service: the nation’s top-rated network, competitive plans and great deals on new devices.
And you’ll get much more. You’ll get a powerful way to support your values whenever you use your phone.
Switching is easy. You can bring your current phone and your current number. Go to CREDOMobile.com to learn more.
Posted on January 8, 2025
Donations spotlight: Support March for Our Lives and help end gun violence
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This January, March for Our Lives is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will be vital to the nonprofit as it works to end the deadly epidemic of gun violence and create safer communities.
Read this important blog post from March for Our Lives, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send much-needed grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding January grantees.
The holiday season came and went, bringing its usual flurry of traditions and celebrations. Families gathered around tables, children tore open gifts and we welcomed the New Year with fireworks and hopeful resolutions.
But for thousands of families across the country, the season was marked by an empty chair—a stark reminder of a loved one lost to gun violence.
There were stockings left unhung, gifts never given and favorite dishes missing from the table. Parents sat through holiday dinners, glancing at the spot where their child used to be. Siblings rang in 2025 in silence, their minds replaying memories of laughter that once filled the room. Friends struggled to toast the future when the absence of someone they loved weighed heavy on their hearts.
For many, the holiday season was a time of sorrow
Over 40,000 lives were lost to gun violence in 2024, leaving families to navigate their grief during a time that should have been filled with love and togetherness. These losses weren’t just numbers—they were children, parents, partners and friends who should have been there to share in the warmth of the season.
The pain was especially deep in Black and Brown communities, which continue to experience the brunt of the gun violence epidemic. According to the Center for American Progress, Black Americans make up 12.5% of the U.S. population but account for 61% of gun homicides. Black youth experience firearm homicides at 18 times the rate of their white peers. Families in Black and Brown neighborhoods face not only the trauma of loss but also the systemic inequities that make healing even harder.
For every gun homicide, there are more than two nonfatal gun injuries, leading to lasting trauma within communities. As lights twinkled in windows and resolutions were made for brighter days, the absence of missing children served as a stark reminder of how far we still have to go to create safe, thriving communities for everyone.
Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough
Now, as the world moves into 2025 and life settles back into its routine, the sorrow of those empty chairs remains. The holidays may be over but the grief lingers, along with the urgent need for action. These families deserve more than thoughts and prayers—they deserve a future where no one else has to spend the holidays mourning instead of celebrating.
March for Our Lives was founded in 2018, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 students and staff and injured 17 more. Following that tragedy, student survivors organized one of the largest protests in our nation’s history. Millions marched in Washington, D.C., and in 800-plus sibling marches around the world. March for Our Lives evolved from a moment into a movement with more than 200 local chapters across the country today. In February, MFOL will enter its seventh year more dedicated and poised than ever to empower the next generation to eradicate gun violence in all forms. MFOL now works to advance lifesaving legislation and community-based solutions to address America’s gun violence epidemic at all levels—federal, state and local.
Since we marched, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law, the first piece of gun violence prevention legislation passed in about 30 years. It included $250 million in funding for community violence-intervention programs, enhanced background checks for ages 18 to 21, and investment in child and family mental health care. In addition, over 300 pieces of gun-safety legislation have been passed at the state level since 2018, including over 69 pieces of gun legislation passed in 2018, galvanized by activism after Parkland. Last year, the White House established the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention, something that MFOL has campaigned for since 2019.
We’ve come a long way since we marched but guns are still the leading cause of death for youth in America. As of December 2024, there have been over 475 mass shootings and 15,522 firearm homicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive. This isn’t just a statistic, it’s a full-blown crisis.
But here’s the thing: We’re fighting back
Americans across the country are finally finding common ground. Even gun owners and former gun industry executives are saying, “Enough is enough.” Why? Because these tragedies—kids gunned down in classrooms, communities torn apart—don’t reflect their values. If we can agree that killing children is unacceptable, then we can also agree on solutions.
Here’s the truth no one wants to admit: shooters are not born—they’re made. Many are radicalized by racism, hatred and misinformation. That isn’t a mental illness. It’s a process—a long one—that leads someone to pick up a gun and commit an atrocity. And that process is preventable. We’re not saying laws will fix everything but they can make it a lot harder for violence to take root. If we focus on disrupting this radicalization, we could cut gun deaths in half within the next decade. But only if we act now.
This is your call to action
Have hard conversations with your family and friends about gun violence. Amplify this issue—speak up online and in your communities. Visit March for Our Lives and learn how we keep organizing, taking on the gun lobby and fighting for policies that prioritize lives over profits.
CREDO Mobile and its members have been incredible partners in this movement, empowering young people to stand up and demand a peaceful, just future for all Americans. To the CREDO Mobile community and everyone who stands with us: thank you. Together, we’re proving that change is not only possible—it’s happening.
Let’s keep pushing until America’s gun laws reflect the will of the people, not the profits of the NRA. Join us. Take action. Together, we will end this epidemic.
Posted on January 7, 2025
CREDO Mobile Helps EveryLibrary Protect Local Libraries
As the only national political action committee dedicated to building voter support for libraries, EveryLibrary helps ensure that Americans will be able to continue using these vital resources for generations to come. EveryLibrary supports public, school, and college libraries by advocating for public funding and supporting grassroots campaigns to both protect libraries and fight against book banning, political interference, and other threats to these valuable institutions. Read more about our partnership here: https://www.everylibrary.org/credo_mobile_donations_power_everylibrary_advocacy
EveryLibrary has an impressive record of success. They have helped important pro-library ballot initiatives to succeed and have overturned book bans across the nation, ensuring books remain on shelves and librarians keep their jobs. Many of their victories are hyper-local and make a huge impact on a specific community, such as a single town or county. This “no cause too small” dedication is part of what makes EveryLibrary so special—and so important.
CREDO Mobile is proud to support EveryLibrary in their work. Libraries are part of the very fabric of America, providing all-important access to information, art, and other resources. Here’s how we help them create an impact.
Protecting Libraries at the Ballot Box and Beyond
“We are deeply grateful to CREDO Mobile and its customers for recognizing the importance of libraries in our society,” said John Chrastka, Executive Director of EveryLibrary. “Their support enables us to continue our work in safeguarding and advancing the central role of libraries in democracy and lifelong learning.”
EveryLibrary has supported more than 100 grassroots campaigns to save or support local libraries, and funding from CREDO Mobile will make sure that the organization can continue this work going forward. One important aspect of their mission is the creation and maintenance of a repository of library-related legislation in the United States. By tracking and reporting on both anti-library and pro-library legislation, EveryLibrary helps bring visibility to important causes on the local, state, and national level.
“EveryLibrary is honored to be among the organizations supported by CREDO Mobile’s donations program,” says Chrastka, “This funding will enhance our capacity to advocate for library funding, support library ballot measures in 2025, and promote policies that ensure libraries remain vital resources for education, information, and community engagement”
The organization uses social media, petitions, and events to promote awareness around library-related issues. They have engaged with hundreds of thousands of individuals, and most of their campaigns rely on small donations to succeed. They are truly a grassroots organization, but their impact is incredible—EveryLibrary has helped secure over $2.8 billion in stable tax revenue for libraries across the country.
Much of EveryLibrary’s success comes from their pro-bono support of pro-library ballot initiatives. The organization is able to leverage its reach to bring attention to local library funding campaigns, improvements for school libraries, and other important political causes. All of this work is done by EveryLibrary without any chargebacks, fees, or other hidden financial arrangements—it is truly offered pro-bono. They can do this because of the support they receive from individual donors and organizations like us. It’s part of what makes EverLibrary such an ideal partner for CREDO Mobile.
How CREDO Mobile Helps EveryLibrary Protect American Institutions
We are able to offer support for EveryLibrary and other important organizations because it’s part of our fundamental mission as a business. Our customers know that by choosing CREDO Mobile, they will be providing important financial support to progressive causes simply by using their phones.
Through our efforts over the past 30 years, we have helped donate over $95 million to nonprofits supporting social justice, environmental protection, and other essential causes. Our work with EveryLibrary is just one example of our commitment to building a better world.
A library is a place where people—especially children—can learn about themselves and find shared experiences with others. For those who are searching or struggling, this can literally be life-saving information. So many book bans are driven by a tiny number of people targeting LGBTQ+ content with a goal to make it harder for LGBTQ+ youth to learn about themselves. It’s impossible to understate the importance of knowing that whatever they’re experiencing, they’re not the first and they’re not alone.
We are proud to support EveryLibrary, and we look forward to helping them protect and preserve libraries throughout the country for many years to come.
Posted on January 3, 2025
Our positive impact in 2024
Thank you.
The start of the new year is a time to take stock of where we have been and where we are going. And while 2024 had some tough days, there is one emotion we are feeling above all others – Gratitude. We are thankful for this community and our shared belief in building a better world.
Thanks for supporting us, for voting in our monthly donations program, for reading our blog posts and emails, for telling your friends and family about us.
Thanks especially if you’re a customer of CREDO Mobile. Because just by using our service, you generate much-needed donations for the nonprofits that depend on us to fund the vital work they do. Groups like Reproductive Freedom for All, Friends of the Earth, and Social Security Works.
Also thanking you are the nonprofits we support. Please take a moment to read messages of gratitude from a few of the groups that rely on us—and you—to do what they do.
Posted on January 1, 2025
Donations spotlight: Power the Zinn Education Project’s effort to teach people’s history in U.S. classrooms
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This January, the Zinn Education Project is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will be vital to the nonprofit and support its campaign to bring students a more accurate, complex and engaging understanding of history than is found in traditional textbooks.
Read this important blog post from the Zinn Education Project, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send much-needed grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding January grantees.
The 2024 election revealed a troubling reality. Widespread miseducation and fear-mongering continue to shape political outcomes at the expense of people of color and marginalized communities.
This is why the right launched a nationwide anti-critical race theory campaign and book bans—to restrict teaching about systemic racism and erase the histories of immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities.
These attacks leave students and their families susceptible to rhetoric that scapegoats the most marginalized among us.
We cannot despair
SNCC veteran Courtland Cox asks: Who is going to control the narrative?
The answer is that we can shift the narrative if we equip young people with people’s history and critical thinking skills to make them impervious to lies.
When students learn about the mass deportation of Mexican Americans during the Great Depression, they realize that politicians today use the same divide-and-conquer rhetoric about “protecting jobs.”
When students study the climate crisis, they recognize the enormity of our predicament and learn strategies to address it.
A study of McCarthyism helps students recognize Red Scare tactics today.
When students learn about the Haitian revolution—the only successful slave revolt to create a new nation of the formerly enslaved—they are less susceptible to the sort of lies told during the election that demonized Haitian immigrants.
This is why we must support the educators who boldly teach honest, inclusive history. These teachers equip students with the tools to think critically, question harmful rhetoric and understand the systemic forces shaping the world. Supporting them isn’t just about protecting academic freedom—it’s about building a future where justice, not fear, guides public understanding.
Together, we can build knowledge and stop misinformation
You can take action by teaching people’s history lessons, forming a Teaching for Black Lives study group, organizing for the Teach Truth Day of Action, testifying at school board meetings against the censorship of social justice education and much more.
Together, we can ensure that future generations have the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to dismantle misinformation and build a more equitable world.
