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:
IRS Focuses Enforcement on Nonprofits, Easing Compliance Burdens (Erin Schilling, Bloomberg Tax)
Once and Future Revocation of Tax Exemption: Public Policy, Illegality, Terrorism, and Charitable Purpose (Ellen P. Aprill, Tax Lawyer, ABA)
Trump admin set to target George Soros nonprofit, Southern Poverty Law Center and CAIR in major tax crackdown: sources (James Franey, NY Post)
Is it illegal for the president to spend ‘patriotic’ donations on a White House ballroom or anything else? (Ellen P. Aprill, SSRN)
Racial Equity in Lean Foundations (Exponent Philanthropy)
Fifty Years of Governance, and What Comes Next: A Conversation with Joann S. Lublin, Charles Elson and Bill Hayes (Ian Koplin, Directors & Boards) [Ed. The article focuses on for-profit corporate governance, but there are many commonalities with nonprofit governance, including those relating to the use of AI and the value of a ‘disruptive’ (in a good sense) director. H/T BoardSource.]
IRS announces that central organizations must use Form 15644 to make annual SGRI submissions (KPMG) [Ed. This requirement applicable to central organizations maintaining a group exemption letter was announced by the IRS on July 14, 1963.]
Let’s Talk Democracy Funding: Payout Rates, Pluralism, and Readiness at America’s 250th (Joycelyn Ovalle and Tina Nabatchi, NPQ)
Dolly Parton’s legacy of giving: Inside her decades of philanthropy (Shafiq Najib, ABC News) [Ed. See also Dolly Parton tributes include Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, Jane Fonda and Vince Gill (AP). Coat of Many Colors will always be one of my favorites.]
Opinion: How Dolly Parton showed what wealthy donors can do (Ryan Eller, Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Significant Events:
- “The morning after he pulled negotiators from trade talks in Washington and set off a new round of American tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney called the U.S. proposal “a bad deal” and said Canada was “at war” with the United States. … Mr. Carney explicitly named the United States as an aggressor and a threat to Canada and the global economy.” NY Times [Ed. See also How to Lose a Trade War: Trump’s bullying of Canada is failing. (Atlantic)]
- “Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced Wednesday. … [T]he deal cuts short the trial, which was expected to see CEO Mark Zuckerberg take the stand before a jury in federal court in California.” AP
- “A surge in immigration arrests this summer has swept up thousands of people who had not previously been the focus of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign. They included people married to U.S. citizens, people who had entered legally and were pursuing an asylum claim, and others with a temporary legal status that the administration pushed to revoke.” NY Times
Equity and Justice Related Articles & Resources:
The Sellout (novel, Paul Beatty) [Ed. Number 17 on The New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list.]
The Progress That Can’t Be Erased (Charles Finch, Atlantic)
From the Birthing Chamber to the Ballot Box: A Choice Between Erasure and Equality (Lisa Holder, NPQ)
Climate Change and Environment Articles & Resources:
Catastrophic floods kill over 390 in Nepal and Tibet, with more than 1,400 missing (Niranjan Shrestha and Shristi Kafle, AP) [Ed. Our deepest sympathies to all impacted, including those visiting as part of the Isha Foundation. The Red Cross has said at least 93,000 are in great need after the flash floods. Consider a donation to the American Himalayan Foundation, an organization my wife and I have supported for several years and led by a trusted friend, Norbu Tenzing.]
Bigger, Hotter Fires Are Slowly Erasing America’s Great Forests (Eric Niller, photographs and video by Nic Coury, NY Times)
Climate Philanthropy Doesn’t Have a Talent Problem, it Has an Access Problem (Zainab Bie, NPQ)
Democracy Articles & Resources:
Testing the Limits: China and Russia’s Authoritarian Influence at Scale in a New Period of Impunity (Kevin Sheives, Alexander Cooley, Caroline Costello, William Nee, and Florindo Chivucute, National Endowment for Democracy)
Opinion: These Protesters Were Charged with Terrorism. Who’s Next? (Rozina Ali, NY Times)
Top US firms that backed Voting Rights Act donate to groups working to undermine it (Lauren Aratani, Guardian)
A.I. Articles & Resources:
Bill Gates Warns A.I. Is More Dangerous Than Big Tech Will Admit (Karen Weise, NY Times)
Why I Am Right About AI (Paul “Claude” Gigot, Atlantic)
Why People Create AI “Workslop”—and How to Stop It (Kate Niederhoffer, Alexi Robichaux and Jeffrey T. Hancock, Harvard Business Review)
Good Vibes:
Canada, naturally (I’m an American, born in L.A., who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 50 years, but most of my formative years were spent growing up in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, where I return every summer without fail. ❤️ Canada)