Good afternoon,

What you need to know this week: Political violence and perils for civil society, nonprofits are changing amid chaos, the DEI dilemma, and more.

—Tamara Straus, senior editor

Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP

• ‘Vicious spiral’: With the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, experts are warning of a “vicious spiral” of political violence, Reuters reports. In the first six months of the year, 150 politically motivated attacks occurred on U.S. soil — nearly twice as many as over the same period last year, said Mike Jensen, a researcher at the University of Maryland, which has maintained a terrorism database since 1970.
• Rationale for a crackdown? Although there is no evidence that any nonprofit or funder had any association with the killing, “Kirk’s murder is now serving as an excuse for what has long been an ambition of the right — a full-scale crackdown on the progressive left,” writes historian Ben Soskis in an opinion piece. “This is a moment of immense peril for civil society. ... It will require many of us taking a brave stand.”
• What can be done? Nonprofit leaders have long debated how to restore civil discourse to reduce political violence, but the road is not easy. The Democracy Fund’s Joe Goldman has warned against making light of or justifying violence. Common Ground USA’s Nealin Parker said we must counter the psychological steps of dehumanization that lead to political violence. See more opinion pieces in the Chronicle on this subject.

• Existential threats: Federal funding cuts, tariffs, increased demand for services, and economic uncertainty present huge challenges to nonprofits, reports Ben Gose in the Chronicle. Nonprofits are hardened to instability; but what’s different this time, some leaders say, is that the Trump administration appears to be hastening problems for the sector.
• Active reactions: Many nonprofits are pivoting, if not rushing, toward scenario planning, new sources of earned income, and possible partnerships to ride out the storm. They’re also analyzing how regulatory and legislative actions may affect their nonprofits.
• Mergers ahead? Charities are considering joining forces, and they hope foundations — which have long pushed for consolidation — will help pay for the partnering costs, Gose reports in a separate piece for the Chronicle. A recent survey of 600 Philadelphia charity leaders found that info about mergers and acquisitions was high on their wish list, behind scenario planning and fundraising workshops.

• Self-censorship: While some charities are standing up for diversity — even if it costs them federal grants — many others are making language changes related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Chronicle’s Ben Gose reports.
• Mission matters: For nonprofits dedicated to helping low-income people of color thrive, disguising their missions by scrubbing language is pointless, some experts argue. But for nonprofits with less race-based initiatives, some leaders say rewriting web copy is worth the federal dollars.
• Federal pressure matters: 55 percent of corporate philanthropy leaders say federal scrutiny on DEI has affected their corporate giving strategies, according to a new survey by the Conference Board.

• Lower court reversal? Acting on the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily kept in place the administration’s decision to freeze nearly $5 billion in foreign aid, the Associated Press reports. “The high court order is temporary, though it suggests that the justices will reverse a lower court ruling that withholding the funding was likely illegal,” wrote AP reporter Mark Sherman.
• Pocket rescission: Trump decided to cut the foreign aid budget without going through the legislative branch, using what’s known as a pocket rescission. That’s when a president submits a late-in-the-budget-year request to Congress to suspend approved money, leaving Congress unable to act in the required 45-day window and resulting in the money going unspent.
• Executive power tested: U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled last week that Congress must approve the decision to withhold the funding. “This case raises questions of immense legal and practical importance, including whether there is any avenue to test the executive branch’s decision not to spend congressionally appropriated funds,” he wrote.

• History lessons: The Trump administration’s review of Smithsonian content could alter history and social studies lessons in schools across the country, the Associated Press reports. The nonprofit institution is a leading provider of curriculum and other educational materials; more than 80 percent of history teachers report using free resources from federal museums, archives, and institutions, including the Smithsonian.
• American ideals: The White House said in a letter last month its review of the Smithsonian is meant to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals” — and the museum should “celebrate American exceptionalism” by removing “divisive or partisan narratives.”
• Debate about history: “Real patriotic education means that just as our founders loved and honored America, so we should honor them,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a video introducing a project tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary run by the conservative nonprofit PragerU. Some teachers are concerned. “We don’t want a partisan history,” said Katharina Matro, a high school history teacher in Bethesda, Md. “We want the history that’s produced by real historians.”

• PBS layoffs: Following Congress’s vote to strip $500 million in annual funding from public broadcasters, PBS is cutting 100 positions, or roughly 15 percent of its staff, the New York Times reports.
• Math genius turned fundraiser: Terence Tao, often called the “Mozart of Math,” is spending much of his time raising money these days after federal research funding to UCLA was suspended, the Washington Post reports.
• Transparency vs. privacy: A case set to be argued before the Arizona Supreme Court could become a national turning point for protecting donor privacy and free speech, Jon Riches and Andrew Gould write in The National Review.

“Patagonia is one of the few companies out there that is still speaking out loudly about what it sees as this administration’s rising authoritarianism and efforts to make America less healthy, less safe, and ultimately less abundant.”

— David Gelles in a Chronicle Q&A about his new book Dirtbag Billonaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away.

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