Good afternoon,

Welcome to Need to Know This Week, a new newsletter from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Each week we’ll give you a snapshot of the storylines we think you should follow. We’ll cover headlines related to the administration, increasing economic uncertainty, and how leaders are responding to this moment of chaos.

What you need to know this week: a DOGE hearing on nonprofits, one leader’s fight to reinstitute $20 billion in federal funding, how a lack of advanced tech could exacerbate financial challenges for nonprofits, and more.

—Andrew Simon, editor-in-chief

Images: C-SPAN

• The charges: During the hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, alleged the progressive nonprofit sector is awash in corruption, fraud, and waste, describing what she called taxpayer-funded “slush funds” designed to support Democratic Party officials, reports the Chronicle’s Sara Herschander. “The left’s NGO scheme seeks to destroy our country and fundamentally alter the American way of life,” Greene said, making the case to defund progressive nonprofits.
• Defense: Diane Yentel, president of the National Council of Nonprofits, in turn, accused Republicans of misrepresenting the “1.5 million charitable nonprofits that serve communities across the country” to “meet essential needs that neither the private sector nor government alone can fully address.” She said Republicans are “weaponizing the federal government to chill dissent.”
• Familiar territory: A similar hearing in March probed the public broadcasters PBS and NPR, which led to President Trump’s executive order to cut federal funding to both networks.

• Back in session: After a recess tied to the Memorial Day holiday, the Senate returned to Washington this week. One of the top agenda items is President Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which passed in the House last month.
• What’s at stake: The Chronicle’s Ben Gose breaks down the key elements of the bill that would impact foundations and nonprofits, including significantly higher taxes on big foundations and university endowments and a 1 percent floor on corporate donations.
• Not dead yet? While the “nonprofit killer” provision — which would have allowed the U.S. Treasury Department to strip the nonprofit status from any group it says supports terrorists — did not appear in the latest version of the bill, Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, told our Alex Daniels that the legislation could come back to life. She notes, “There are clearly some members of Congress who still want to push this.”

• Funding freeze: In February, the Trump administration announced it would cancel $20 billion in Environmental Protection Agency grants for climate and clean energy efforts. One leader decided to push back.
• Filing suit: “On March 8, after three weeks of silence, we sued the EPA and Citibank for unlawfully freezing our funds,” wrote Beth Bafford in an opinion piece in the Chronicle. Bafford is the CEO of Climate United, one of the grantees of the EPA program. “Keeping quiet was clearly no longer an option.”
• Facing fear: Bafford argues that speaking up and taking collective action can have a ripple effect in protecting the sector. “When nonprofit leaders are weighing the risk of speaking out and potentially losing federal funding, foundations and individual donors can join them in solidarity … by helping them fight back and pivot to new funding models, including raising more money from other foundations and donors.”

• In a nutshell: “No,” say Philip Hackney, a nonprofit law professor, and Brian Mittendorf, a professor and an expert on nonprofit accounting, in a recent analysis for our partner The Conversation about the Trump administration’s threats to the university.
• Legal breakdown: It’s rare for the IRS to revoke a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status, and when it does, a full audit is required. Plus, “it’s illegal for U.S. presidents or other officials to force the IRS to conduct an audit or stop one that’s already begun,” Hackney and Mittendorf explain.
• A silver lining? The two experts say that Trump’s rhetoric could spark a wave of rage giving. “Giving-as-activism has been a frequent theme in both of Trump’s terms,” they say.

• How to strategize: Nonprofits are struggling to make financial forecasts amid great economic uncertainty. It’s difficult to know how proposed policy shifts will affect funding and giving. As a response, leaders are preparing different budgets for different scenarios.
• Sign up now: Join us Wednesday, June 11, at 2 p.m. Eastern to hear directly from experts who will share insights on how to craft different spending options, communicate budget challenges to funders, and more. Register here for this free event.

The share of nonprofit leaders who feel confident they’re using technology in advanced ways, according to an exclusive Chronicle tech survey. Experts say the ability to use technology effectively could increasingly determine which nonprofits thrive and which struggle to survive, particularly during this time of great financial pressures.