Philanthropy Today

The Trump administration is planning to ask Congress to rescind $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, sources told the New York Times. That amounts to two years of funding, most of which goes to local member stations of NPR and PBS. Another $100 million for emergency communications would be left intact. Given perennial attempts by Republicans in the White House and Congress to defund it, NPR produced a report in 2011 that concluded that “up to 18 percent of roughly 1,000 member stations across the United States would close,” if government funding dried up, with the Midwest, South, and West most affected. (New York Times)

One of the country’s oldest and largest criminal justice nonprofits has had federal grants canceled, in what the organization’s vice president is calling “an opening salvo” in the Trump administration’s campaign against criminal justice reform. The Vera Institute of Justice is appealing the decision, which imperils about $5 million worth of funding for “programs to improve prison conditions and mental health crisis response, as well as training law enforcement to better serve deaf survivors of domestic violence.” Vice President Insha Rahman said the Vera Institute was the first criminal justice nonprofit to be targeted, via a form letter, likely for its vocal criticism of the Trump administration. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In fiscal 2023, the organization had revenue of $263 million, according to tax filings. (Mother Jones)

• Background from the Chronicle: My Organization Is a Testament to Why Unrestricted Funding Matters

Foreign Aid and Development

• The Head of the Gates Foundation on How to Keep Helping the Poor as Aid Shrinks (Economist)
• What’s Next for Global Development Funding in 2025? (Devex)
• A British Billionaire Funded Therapeutic Food Production Amid USAID ‘Craziness.’ It Won’t Be Enough (Associated Press)

Cuts and Layoffs

• Trump Has Canceled Environmental Justice Grants. Here’s What Communities Are Losing. (Stateline)
• Oregon Trails Face Threat From Federal Funding Cuts, Says Nonprofit (KATU)
• San Antonio Refugee Center Lays Off an Additional 159 Employees (San Antonio Report)
• St. Louis Holocaust Museum Scrambles to Save Survivor Stories After Funds Cut (St. Louis Jewish Light)
  
  • Background from the Chronicle: Nonprofits and the Trump Agenda

More News and Opinion

• The Unusual Nonprofit That Helps ICE Spy on Wire Transfers (Intercept)
• Opinion: Can Mega-Philanthropy Fuel Trump’s Efforts to Tackle the Housing Crisis? (Newsweek)
• Melinda French Gates on Panic Attacks, Changing Norms and Ice Plunges (Wall Street Journal— subscription)
  
  • Background from the Chronicle: Melinda French Gates Is Just Getting Started
• ‘Transformative’: After 25 Years, Has Birthright Israel Really Reshaped U.S. Jewry? (Times of Israel)

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