This Black Friday, a $200,000 gift

Braving the Black Friday crowds to shop for gifts? Here’s a great one you can give right now, from the comfort of your home. Help us give away $200,000 to this month’s CREDO donations recipients.

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3 easy ways to stay on top of your data usage

Smartphones are amazing because they put the world at your fingertips—the latest news, your favorite podcasts, social media and (of course) cat videos. Most of the things we do on our smartphones require data. And staying on top of how much data you use in a month can be tricky, especially with a family plan.

If you’re a CREDO member, chances are you’ve seen our handy Usage for Current Bill Cycle meter in Member Services, where you can track minutes, text and data usage.

If you want to manage your data usage when you’re on the go, try one of these three easy ways:

1. Text the word USAGE to 27336
CREDO Mobile will reply back with how much data you’ve used in your current billing cycle, what your current data plan is, and when it refreshes. Texts from your CREDO Mobile phone to 27336 are free.

Text USAGE to 27336 to get your current usage

We’re pleased to introduce you to the CREDO Climate Heroes

CREDO Climate Heroes
President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline last week is a historic victory for the climate movement — one that would have been impossible without a massive, years-long campaign of grassroots activism and direct action.

Even as a decision on Keystone XL was delayed and delayed, a newly invigorated movement of everyday people were taking on other fossil fuel projects all over the country, and winning.

The lesson is clear: When hundreds of thousands of ordinary people take extraordinary action — including putting our bodies on the line and getting hauled off to jail — we can take on the fossil fuel industry and win, even when Beltway insiders tell us it’s impossible.

Your votes are in. Learn how we donated over $200,000 in October

In October 2015, more than 110,000 CREDO members voted on how we donate $214,467 to three amazing progressive nonprofits. We’re excited to share the results with you:

$83,599 to International Rescue Committee, which responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, including aiding the Syrian refugees fleeing a brutal civil war.

$69,788 to Medical Students for Choicewhich is helping to keep abortion safe and legal by training providers and advocating for reproductive health services curriculum in medical schools.

CREDO members funneled millions to the fight against Keystone XL. Today, we won.

Infographic about CREDO and Keystone XL

Get inspired by reading more about the Keystone XL victory, authored by our all-star CREDO Action campaigner Elijah Zarlin.

We did it! Thank President Obama for hearing our calls and rejecting Keystone XL.

Today, we made history when President Obama rejected Keystone XL. Not only did he reject it, he did so acknowledging that “we’re going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground.”

This is a monumental shift from President Obama and his “all of the above” energy strategy. And it is a monumental victory over an oil industry whose power to imperil all of us in the pursuit of greed has been unchecked for far too long.

California’s New Motor Voter Act is a huge win for voter participation

In 2014, the state of California ranked 38th in voter registration and 43rd in voter participation, with nearly 7 million Californians who were eligible to vote but unregistered. That’s why the New Motor Voter Act, which was just passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, is such a huge step in the right direction.

California Secretary of State and bill sponsor Alex Padilla said in a statement:

“In a free society, the right to vote is fundamental. I ran for Secretary of State to expand access to the polls. Government should not impede a citizen’s right to vote. The New Motor Voter Act will make our democracy stronger by removing a key barrier to voting for millions of California citizens. I applaud Governor Brown for his leadership and bold action to increase voter participation in our state,” said Padilla.

The law makes California the second state (after Oregon) to automatically register people to vote when they apply for or renew their driver’s license. It will help level the playing field in elections and could lead to a more representative and progressive legislature.

It’s not funny anymore: The right wing’s war on Planned Parenthood

A new comic by Tom Tomorrow:

Tom Tomorrow comic about Planned Parenthood's war on women

LIVE from New York: It’s Donald Trump’s … racism?!

NBC recently announced that Donald Trump will host Saturday Night Live next weekend, on November 7.

That’s the same Donald Trump whose campaign rhetoric — rooted in racism, fear-mongering and hate — is demonizing and dehumanizing immigrants and people of color. The same Donald Trump whose platform advocates for the mass deportation of Latino immigrants.

Donald Trump is one of the leading presidential candidates in the Republican field. NBC’s news division should cover him as they would any other front-runner. But NBC and Saturday Night Live (SNL) should not be validating his hateful views by giving him an additional national platform to bolster his image and entertain the American people.

Victory: FCC caps rates and fees on prison phone calls

Justice for prisoners' familiesFor the 2.7 million children who have one or both parents incarcerated, a phone call from mom or dad means the world. But when those calls cost $20 or more for just a few minutes, it can jeopardize the finances of families already in peril.

In a perverse system of kickbacks, prisons contract to run their phone systems with private companies that charge prisoners “commission fees” on every minute of each call. Those commissions end up as kickbacks to the prisons, creating an incentive to pick companies that charge prisoners more.