Philanthropy Today

Jeff Bezos’s Earth Fund has ended its support for a group that monitors companies’ progress toward their climate-related targets, Bloomberg reports, citing the Financial Times. The Amazon founder’s $10 billion philanthropy has been one of two primary funders of the Science Based Targets initiative. Staff of the monitoring group had complained about the Earth Fund’s influence as the SBTi moved to allow companies to use carbon credits to offset emissions figures. Bezos has also made goodwill gestures to the second Trump administration, which is hostile to major climate initiatives. “SBTi and the Bezos Earth Fund did not immediately reply to emails seeking comment sent outside usual office hours,” Bloomberg writes. (Bloomberg)

Dozens of Head Start preschools around the country might have to close because their federal funding has not been restored, even after the Trump administration rescinded a freeze on grants to nonprofits. Forty-five preschools, serving thousands of children, have reported continuing problems accessing their funding. Many rely solely on federal grants. The White House earlier said the freeze was not supposed to affect Head Start, but a spokeswoman “has not said whether the Head Start payment system was purposefully taken offline.” (Associated Press)

Plus: The USAID Shutdown

• Catholic Relief Services Lays Off Staff, Cuts Programs After USAID Shakeup (National Catholic Reporter)
• From Fighting Disease to Protecting the Amazon Rainforest, USAID Has Big Impact Across the Globe (Los Angeles Times)

More on the Federal Funding Freeze

• Federal Government Freezes Santa Rosa, Calif., Charity’s Grant for Aid to Legal Immigrants (Press Democrat)
• Chicago Nonprofits Turn to Donors After Shock of Trump Federal Grant Freeze (Crain’s Chicago Business — subscription)
• Cedar Rapids Nonprofit Forced to Cut Services, 20 Workers After Refugee Aid Halted (KGAN)

More News

• Aga Khan IV, Philanthropic Leader of Ismaili Muslims, Dies at 88 (Washington Post)
• Bill Would Let Indiana Yank Hospitals’ Tax-Exempt Status If They Charge Too Much (Crain’s Chicago Business — subscription)

Arts and Culture

• NSA Museum Covered Plaques Honoring Women and People of Color, Provoking an Uproar (NPR)
• Harvard Art Museums Receive Major Gift of 64 Edvard Munch Artworks (Boston Globe)

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