Nonprofit Resources of the Week – 9/19/26

Statue of Liberty half buried in the sand with cloudy skies

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:

National Council of Nonprofits Responds to Proposed Changes to the 2030 Census [Ed. See also the Council’s article on Protect a Fair, Complete and Accurate 2030 Census.]

Is Trump weaponizing the IRS against nonprofits? (Alex Daniels, Chronicle of Philanthropy)

Opinion: Where’s our GO-Biz? Why Gov. Newsom must sign SB 1240 to empower nonprofits. (Geoff Green, CalNonprofits, Capitol Weekly) [Ed. This bill would create the Office of Nonprofit Empowerment (ONE) for the State of California.]

Reps. Adams, Raskin Introduce HONEST Act to Protect Colleges from Politically Motivated IRS Investigations (Congresswoman Alma Adams)

Statistical Trends of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division Through Fiscal Year 2025 (TIGTA)

The nonprofit AI gap: Bosses are bullish, staffs are wary (Ben Gose, Chronicle of Philanthropy) [Ed. Captures some highlights of the NTEN-Bridgespan Group report included in last week’s list of nonprofit resources.]

“There really were some significant differences, and I think that’s a point of reflection for us as a sector,” said Amy Sample Ward, NTEN’s CEO. “The closer you are to your community — whether you’re a program staff person or doing direct service — the more likely you are to say, ‘I will never use generative AI tools.’ And the further you are from the community impact — the executives — the more likely you are to say, ‘Oh yeah, I use them and they’re great.’”

Donor Retention Requires Transformation (Mark Dobosz, SSIR)

Donors know the difference, and the attrition data proves they act on it. Donors do not give to organizations: They give to expressions of their own values—through organizations.

High-Impact Family Philanthropy: What Makes Family Giving Distinctive (Xueling Lee, Gwendolyn Lim, Zhen Liu, Chen Hui, Tanya Sharma, Tan Zhong Chen, Roger Thompson, Bridgespan Group)

Managing Donor Restricted Gifts (2026) (Ellis Carter, Charity Lawyer Blog)

How Board Members Fulfill Their Financial Oversight Duties (Mohammad Sheikh, Nonprofit PRO)

Significant Events:

“The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting already underway. … The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years and have accounted for nearly a third of votes cast. … It represented a stark defeat for Trump on an issue he consistently has emphasized as vital to ensuring election integrity even though there is virtually no evidence of fraud with mail ballots.” AP
“The U.S. may have committed war crimes when its strikes allegedly hit an elementary school and a sports facility in Iran, according to a United Nations report publicly released on Thursday. … [T]he [U.N.’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran ] identified U.S. Tomahawk missile strikes that hit Tree of Tayyiba Elementary School in Minab, killing more than 150 people, including 120 children …. “Rather, the U.S. directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly as regards the possibility that this would happen.”” Time
“American power is no longer deployed solely by trained diplomats and reliable officials, working through state channels. Informal envoys, private companies, online grifters, and hardened ideologues both inside and outside the government matter more. Unlike their predecessors, these people do not talk about spreading democracy, and don’t want to build long-term relationships. … They are deploying the tools of American diplomacy and government for their own purposes, to promote their own business interests or their own ideological goals, because, suddenly, they can.” Atlantic