Nonprofit Resources of the Week curates timely articles, tools, and commentary to help nonprofit organizations, their leaders, and their advisors stay informed about legal developments, sector trends, and emerging issues affecting the nonprofit and philanthropic ecosystem, including those related to equity, climate change, and resilience. The series also seeks to share tools, perspectives, and sources of inspiration that support more effective, thoughtful, and sustainable nonprofit leadership, and that help those working for and with nonprofits carry out their roles with greater confidence, efficiency, and purpose.
Notable Nonprofit Posts, Articles, & Other Resources:
Nonprofit Leaders Call for Unity to Combat Government Threats (Ben Gose, Chronicle of Philanthropy) [Ed. See also Independent Sector to Host Expert Panel to Protect Sector Independence, which is the panel referenced in The Chronicle article.]
Report: New Charitable-Deduction Provisions in OBBBA Will Hurt More Than Help (Linda Rosenthal, For Purpose Law Group)
Informing Federal Funding Recipients About GSA’s Proposed SAM.gov Certification Updates (Lee Klumpp, BDO USA)
Another attack on DEI, and what we have to say about it (Angelique Power, Skillman Foundation)
What Else Can We Do? The Thirteen Intentions of Philanthropy (Ariel Simon, SSIR)
From NBA teams to Fortune 500 companies, the culture mistake almost every leader makes (Spencer Harrison, NY Times)
The “chorus paradox” requires a leader to balance the tension between singing from the same song sheet while enabling distinct voices. When can we act as one, and when do we leverage the fact that we are many different people working together? The “harvest paradox” requires a leader to balance the tension between harvesting results today and cultivating the soil for tomorrow. When do we focus on the future, and when do we focus on the present?
3 Ways to Test if Your Nonprofit’s Message Is Breaking Through (Matt Watkins, Chronicle of Philanthropy)
FBI and IRS to investigate nonprofit groups for domestic terrorism links, sources say (Sarah N. Lynch, Jennifer Jacobs, CBS News) [Ed. From Independent Sector CEO Akilah Watkins on LinkedIn: “While it is unclear from this reporting whether the Administration has initiated any new, substantive investigations, Independent Sector remains alert and prepared to respond to these threats to the sector.”]
Hundreds of nonprofits made illegal campaign contributions in New York (Emilie Munson, Times Union)
Remote and Hybrid Employees: Navigating the Legal Challenges for Nonprofits (Holly Peterson, Tenenbaum Law Group)
Significant Events:
- “The social media company Meta and the video streaming service YouTube harmed a young user with design features that were addictive and led to her mental health distress, a jury found on Wednesday, a landmark decision that could open social media companies to more lawsuits over users’ well-being.” NY Times
- “Trump Has Detained the Parents of More Than 11,000 U.S. Citizen Kids … ICE arrests of parents doubled in the first seven months of Trump’s second term compared with the Biden administration.” Pro Publica [Ed. In a related article, Pro Publica reported on “an ongoing congressional investigation prompted by ProPublica’s report last fall that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents for some amount of time … more than 20 of those citizens were children, ranging from toddlers to teens”.]
- “Four weeks into a war that was going to take four days, and that has so far cost the US about $30-40bn and Israel $300m a day, Washington is further away from a diplomatic agreement with Iran than it was in May 2025. … The US along with Israel continues to bomb Iran, but [Trump] has now twice put back the date of threatened strikes on Iran’s civilian power stations – an action that would constitute a war crime.” Guardian
Equity and Justice Related Articles & Resources:
‘In 20 years most of the world could be racist dictatorships’: Ibram X Kendi on book bans and far-right fear-mongering (Steve Rose, Guardian)
Chain of Ideas by Ibram X Kendi review – anatomy of a conspiracy theory (Arwa Mahdaw, Guardian)
Disability Groups Are Standing United for Trans Rights. That Hasn’t Always Been the Case. (Sara Luterman, NPQ)
Climate Change and Environment Articles & Resources:
US has caused $10tn worth of climate damage since 1990, research finds (Oliver Millman, Guardian)
By being the largest carbon emitter in history, the US has caused greater harm to worldwide economic growth than any other country, ahead of China, now the world’s largest emitter that is responsible for $9tn in GDP damage since 1990, according to the findings of the paper. … About 25% of this GDP dampening has occurred in the US itself, although other countries have borne a heavy toll, with economic losses disproportionately felt in the poorest countries.
Multilateralism Under Strain: Why the Human Rights Council Matters for Environmental Justice (Francesca Mingrone, Center for International Environmental Law)
E.P.A. Chief to Headline Event by Group That Says There’s No Climate Crisis (Lisa Friedman, NY Times)
Democracy Articles & Resources:
The Scale of Billionaires’ Campaign Donations is Overwhelming U.S. Politics (Mike Baker and Steven Rich, NY Times)
Hope in the Dark: Four Tests for the Pro-Democracy Movement in 2026 (Joe Goldman, NPQ)
Democracy Report 2026: Unraveling The Democratic Era? (V-Dem Institute)
A.I. Articles & Resources:
What the Best AI Users Do Differently—and How to Level Up All of Your Employees (Nick Hallman, Zach Kowaleski, Anu Puvvada and Jaime J. Schmidt, Harvard Business Review)
The Hypocrisy at the Heart of the AI Industry (Alex Reisner, Atlantic) [Ed. From the article, quoting Eric Schmidt: “If the product takes off, “then you hire a whole bunch of lawyers to go clean the mess up”. “If nobody uses your product, then it doesn’t matter that you stole all the content.””]
Welcome to a Multidimensional Economic Disaster (Matteo Wong and Charlie Warzel, Atlantic)