Philanthropy Today

The Trump administration is proposing dramatic cuts to safety-net programs in its draft budget for the coming fiscal year. Among the targets are “programs that support child care, health research, education, housing assistance, community development, and the elderly.” Funding for Head Start would be zeroed out, and the National Institutes of Health would see cuts to its efforts to fight chronic disease and epidemics. The budget proposal is expected to accompany another measure that would cut more than $9 billion of approved spending for the current fiscal year, including money that funds PBS and NPR. A spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that “no final funding decisions have been made.” (New York Times)

The current maelstrom engulfing nonprofits — funding cuts and ideological attacks from the Trump administration, amid falling donations — highlights how much nonprofits rely on government grants, but it could also bring to light how much the government relies on nonprofits to provide basic services. As the Trump administration targets programs that help the hungry, homeless, and other vulnerable groups, the cuts will provide “a very painful civics lesson in making visible what has been deeply invisible,” said Claire Dunning, an associate professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. (Boston Globe)

• Background from the Chronicle: 60 Years of Government Outsourcing to Nonprofits Could Be Coming to an End

More News

• Why Did a Charity Tied to Casey DeSantis Suddenly Get a $10 Million Boost? (New York Times)
• The Zuckerbergs Founded Two Bay Area Schools. Now They’re Closing. (New York Times)
• How Francis Wooed Donors: Efforts to Fix the Vatican’s Broken Finances Helped Restore Confidence Among Big Givers. But the Work Isn’t Finished. (New York Times)
  
  • Background from the Chronicle: The Pluralism Pope: A Light for Our Dark Divisions
• S.F. Supervisors, Nonprofits Sound Alarm on Mayor’s Cuts to Free Civil Legal Aid (Mission Local)
• Once an Abortion Clinic, It Now Offers Midwives, Formula and Housing Help (Washington Post)
• AmeriCorps Shaped These Lawmakers’ Careers. They’re Fighting to Save It. (Washington Post)
• A Hippie-Cop Alliance Reformed Crisis Response. ‘Defund the Police’ Brought It Down. (Wall Street Journal— subscription)
  
  • Background from the Chronicle: Philanthropy’s New Activism in Public Safety

Higher Education

• As Trump Targets Harvard and Nonprofits, Wealthy Donors Are Wary of Stepping Up Their Giving (CNBC)
• Emerging From a Collective Silence, Universities Organize to Fight Trump (New York Times)
• The IRS Has Only Pulled a University’s Tax Exemption Once. Here’s What Happened. (Politico)
  
  • Background from the Chronicle: Faced With Anti-DEI Complaint, Gates Foundation Opens Scholarship to White Students

Trump vs. Nonprofits

• U.S. Attorney for D.C. Accuses Wikipedia of ‘Propaganda,’ Threatens Nonprofit Status (Washington Post)
• Trump Doesn’t Need an Executive Order to Kill Progressive Nonprofits (Intercept)
  
  • Background from the Chronicle: Nonprofits and the Trump Agenda

Opinion

• Economic Tumult Is a Real Threat to American Nonprofits (Deseret News)
• Don’t Fail to Notice What Washington May Be Doing to Nonprofits (Minnesota Star Tribune)

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