WHAT WE’RE READING ELSEWHERE
Nonprofits and the Trump Administration
NPR and three Colorado public radio stations have filed suit against the Trump administration, calling the withholding of federal support for the broadcasters “textbook retaliation” against news outlets that the president is critical of. “It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But this wolf comes as a wolf,’” states the legal brief for the public broadcasters. The White House did not immediately comment. In his May 1 executive order barring the use of congressionally appropriated funds to support the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes more than a half billion dollars to public radio and television stations each year, Trump wrote that “neither NPR nor PBS “presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.” (NPR)
A group of young people who have used the courts to block state policies friendly to fossil fuel production are suing the Trump administration over several executive orders that roll back Biden-era climate efforts. Represented by Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit law practice, the plaintiffs say the orders violate their constitutional “rights to life and liberty by infringing on their health, safety, and prospects for the future,” and that the president cannot “unilaterally override federal laws like the Clean Air Act.” Some of the plaintiffs are from Montana, where the state supreme court upheld one of their previous court victories and where the country’s only coal plant without modern pollution controls has been given an exemption from a Biden-era requirement to install them. (New York Times)
Law enforcement agencies and nonprofits across the country have lost an estimated 373 grants from the Department of Justice worth about $500 million. Prosecutors and police, who thought their work aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities, are puzzled by the cuts, and nonprofit groups say officials knew little about the programs, such as violence prevention, they targeted. A scholar who is about to release an assessment of violence prevention efforts said “he’s seen no sign that the administration sought out” solid research before ending the grants. In a statement, the Justice Department said, “discretionary funds that are not aligned with the administration’s priorities are subject to review and reallocation” and that it was open to appeals from the groups. (NPR)
The Trump administration’s cancellation of foreign aid in poor, volatile regions has already led to an uptick in “criminality, sexual violence, and instances of human trafficking,” U.S. diplomats have told the State Department. The U.S. had contributed nearly half of the UN World Food Program’s budget, but the administration has ended funding for the program in several countries, leading to slashed rations and starving children who resemble “walking skeletons,” the WFP’s Kenya country director said. Staff at U.S. embassies in several African and Middle Eastern countries have warned that the withdrawal of foreign aid could destabilize regions, leave an opening for terrorist groups and endanger U.S. security interests. A State Department spokesperson said, “No one can reasonably expect the United States to be equipped to feed every person on earth or be responsible for providing medication for every living human.” (ProPublica)
Among the overlooked casualties of the Trump administration’s cancellation of arts and humanities grants are small organizations that preserve the history of their region or tell the stories of marginalized communities. In Los Angeles, groups like Clockshop, which has compiled a “cultural atlas” of peoples who have lived alongside the Los Angeles River; the One Institute, which “houses the largest queer archive in the world”; and the Los Angeles Poverty Department, which chronicles the history of the city’s Skid Row, have been left scrambling to make up for canceled grants. Many smaller groups lack the endowments, visibility, and deep-pocketed donors that larger organizations have been able to tap. (Guardian)
In its five years, South Carolina’s Palmetto Abortion Fund has helped more than 2,000 women receive the procedure by going to states where abortion is more accessible. Working remotely through phones and an app, the volunteer-run nonprofit funded 1,022 abortions across seven states in 2024, spending $312,859, up from 390 procedures in 2023 and 200 in 2021. It has 2,000 individual donors across the country, but fundraising has slowed, and the fund has had to cap most grants at $300. Meanwhile the state legislature continues to consider tightening South Carolina’s six-week abortion ban. (Post and Courier)
The closure of four Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa will only feed the surge in demand that an abortion-access fund says it has seen since tight restrictions on the procedure went into effect in 2024. Last year, 625 Iowans received grants from the Iowa Abortion Access Fund and similar organizations to travel out of state for abortions, up from 194 in 2023. Planned Parenthood recently announced that it would close four of its six clinics in Iowa and four clinics in Minnesota. (KCRG)
Almost all of some 20 groups in Boston surveyed by the Boston Globe about their pledges to racial justice causes in the wake of George Floyd’s murder five years ago say they have fulfilled or are in the process of honoring their commitments. “At least 20 foundations, organizations, and corporations pledged about $1 billion in grants, investments, and scholarships for equity-related causes,” according to a Globe review that could not independently verify many of the donors’ claims. Some recipients say the money has come with fewer strings and less paperwork, and that some donors have stepped up giving to replace canceled federal grants. Many worry, though, that the urgency around racial justice has faded and philanthropy’s focus will soon shift elsewhere. (Boston Globe)
Your Chronicle subscription includes free access to GrantStation’s database of grant opportunities.
Mental Health: The Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation’s mission is to make mental health a priority in every community, especially those where support is most needed. The Foundation’s Local Grant Program supports U.S.-based, local organizations serving the mental health of those in need. Support will be provided for ten organizations focused on increasing awareness and education, improving access to care, and building protective factors. Grants range from $10,000 to $30,000; application deadline July 1.
Green Spaces: The Lots of Compassion Grant program, an initiative of KidsGardening and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, provides support in the United States, including U.S. territories, to local leaders looking to transform vacant lots into gardens to help grow compassion in their community. Supported projects should work with or serve communities with a majority of individuals that are under-resourced, have fifteen or more people participate in the garden program, and use the funds to build a garden on a vacant lot. Ten grantees will receive $20,000 each; application deadline June 16.
