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:
Southern Poverty Law Center Hit With 11-Count Indictment (Richard H. Levey, Nonprofit Times) [Ed. Highly troubling for many reasons and a signal of continued weaponization of federal agencies.]
Treasury Announces Form 990 Transparency Initiative to Expose Hidden Funding and Strengthen Oversight (Treasury) [Ed. Fiscal sponsorship is highlighted as an area of concern. Fiscal sponsors, their board members, employees, project leaders, funders, and supporters should be vigilant about how this initiative develops and consider strategic and coordinated advocacy to ensure any changes are helpful and not harmful to the sector and the communities it serves – i.e., everyone. With that said, changes to the Form 990 have historically taken a considerable amount of time, and such an initiative, which we might reasonably expect to be expanded to include other areas in need of non-politically-motivated reform, may take years to complete.]
When Compliance Aims to Silence (Tania Dávila Paredes, SSIR) [Ed. This article is part of the excellent Navigating Philanthropic Compliance in an Era of Heightened Regulation series by the team at Latitude Global available at SSIR.]
Faster Than Authoritarianism: Rapid Response as a Frontline Strategy for Democracy Defense (Santana Moreno, NPQ)
New Efforts to Improve Safeguards Around Fundraising Platforms (CalNonprofits) [Ed. See also Sign-On Form for AB 2221.]
Major Donors Fuel 80% of Giving as Donor Base Shrinks (Rasheeda Childress, Chronicle of Philanthropy)
The Case of the Orphaned Endowment (Part One) (Linda Rosenthal, For Purpose Law Group)
Funders Want Impact, Strong Coalitions Can Deliver It (Monica Martinez and Ria Sengupta Bhatt, CEP)
From Transaction to Transformation: Three Ways Foundations Can Invest in Black-Led Nonprofits for Lasting Change (ABFE and Candid) [Ed. The Implications for foundations section of the report suggests several opportunities for foundations that are interested in supporting Black-led nonprofits and the communities they serve: (1) provide multiyear, flexible funding; (2) partner with small Black-led nonprofits; (3) align funding amounts with expectations; (4) provide feedback on applications, including rejections; and (5) remove unnecessary barriers to eligibility. It would be illuminating to see how the threat of private lawsuits alleging violations of Section 1981 are impacting such investments.]
Older Adults and Volunteerism: A Vital Social Justice Issue (Jan Masaoka, NPQ)
Significant Events:
- “The U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ships and ports will continue for “as long as it takes” to get Iran to agree to a deal, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday. Iranian leaders have made lifting the blockade a condition of resuming peace talks with Washington.” NY Times
- “As time runs out before the midterm elections, Virginia took a step on Tuesday to counter and possibly surpass President Trump’s national effort to redraw congressional voting maps in favor of the GOP.” NPR
- “The Trump administration moved Thursday to reclassify cannabis under federal law, which could significantly expand scientific research into the drug’s medical uses.” CNBC
Equity and Justice Related Articles & Resources:
Opinion: Why are straight white men overrepresented in positions of power? (Steve Phillips, Guardian)
Rep Lieu Statement on Trump’s Racist Post Against Indian and Chinese Immigrants
How San Francisco’s Black population changed, block by block over 50 years (SF Chronicle)
Climate Change and Environment Articles & Resources:
The “State of the Air” 2026 report finds that even after decades of successful efforts to reduce sources of air pollution, 44% of Americans—152.3 million people—are living in places that get failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. We found that nearly half of American children (46%, or 33.5 million people under the age of 18) live in counties that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution.
Colombia convenes climate ‘coalition of the willing’ to break global fossil fuel deadlock (Fiona Harvey and Jonathan Watts, Guardian)
Earth Day started as a US ‘teach-in’ 56 years ago. Now it’s a global event (AP)
Democracy Articles & Resources:
The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court (Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak, NY Times) [Ed. This is the article exposing the leaked Shadow Papers and rationales for the Shadow Docket.]
4 GOP senators vote against adding SAVE America Act to budget package (Alexander Bolton, The Hill)
Congress’ Ultrarich Think They Can Sell an Affordability Agenda (Emily Kennard, NOTUS)
A.I. Articles & Resources:
Is AI the greatest art heist in history? (Molly Crabapple, Guardian)
Anthropic’s New A.I. Model Sets Off Global Alarms (Paul Mozur and Adam Satariano, NY Times)
A.I. ‘Hallucinations’ Created Errors in Court Filing, Top Law Firm Says (Santul Nerkar, NY Times)
Good Vibes:
“We’ve had years where the gods shone on us, and we walked away with a trophy. And we’ve had years where, like this year, where you get hit in the mouth and knocked down. No different from life. But you get to do this with a group of people you love, and fight through something together, there’s so much value in that. And gratitude for the opportunity.” – Steve Kerr (citing Phil Jackson)