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:
Proposed Regulations Put Private-School Diversity—and Tax-Exempt Status—at Risk (Diara M Holmes, Jason R. Lilien, Meghan R. Biss, Kimberly Eney, Casey A. Lothamer, Loeb & Loeb)
Doggett and Sewell Introduce PROOF Act to Stop the Weaponization of the IRS Against Nonprofits (Press Release, Rep. Lloyd Doggett)
Wyden and Warnock Probe Political Targeting of Non-Profits By Trump Officials (U.S. Senate Finance Committee)
IRS Investigations of Nonprofits: An Explainer (ICNL)
Staying the course when race-based grants are targeted (Alex Daniels, Chronicle of Philanthropy)
BoardSource Grantee Support Program [Ed. I’ll have more to say about this program launched by BoardSource last week in a future post, but funders should view this as an incredible and simple way to invest in all of their grantees’ governance, which has the potential to supercharge impact.]
The Grantee Support Program is a 12-month partnership that helps nonprofit boards and executives strengthen leadership and governance through BoardSource Membership, peer learning, workshops, and real-time guidance.
Trump’s DHS is using an obscure law to secretly snoop on journalists, non-profits and unions: ‘It’s outrageous’ (Sam Levine, Guardian)
More Legislative Progress for CA Nonprofits (Linda Rosenthal, For Purpose Law Group) [Ed. Linda has been writing several posts on the legislation affecting California nonprofits, including most recently, Veto Watch for CA Charitable-Sector Legislation.]
Stewardship Isn’t a Thank-You Note—It’s a System (Rhea Wong, NPQ)
Better Good (Scott Curran) [Ed. This book written by our friend and former General Counsel of the Clinton Foundation “gives individuals and organizations a simple framework for creating meaningful impact with the resources they already have”. I’m about halfway through the audiobook and love listening to Scott’s optimism amidst the challenges and excuses. While there are legitimate reasons for raising your eyebrows with some of the examples of doing good and whether these persons/entities are actually charitably motivated, that’s the subject for a different book. This one’s about getting every person and company to recognize the good that they’re already doing, the benefits derived from those actions, and the opportunities to do more good better. In just one week, it’s already a best-seller! Congrats, Scott!]
Significant Events:
- “The Trump administration released new rules that could revoke tax-exempt status from any school offering targeted support to Black or other minority students, a sweeping change that opens another front in the president’s campaign to reshape American education.” NY Times [Ed. So many legal issues with the still proposed rules (e.g., stating something is a “fundamental public policy” doesn’t make it so), but here’s a link to the Treasury Department’s announcement – Treasury, IRS Move to End Tax-Exempt Status for Discriminatory Practices in Private Schools. This is going to be fought in the courts if it ever gets promulgated.]
- “Iran targets US bases as Israel warns sanctions could drive Tehran to ‘desperate steps’ … “An Iranian attack on Israel will free Israel from any existing constraint,” [Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz] said. “We will strike all of Iran’s national military and civilian infrastructure – including energy infrastructure – and push Iran deep back into the stone age.”” Guardian
- “A global sell-off in government bonds intensified on Tuesday, pushing up borrowing costs in some of the world’s largest economies to their highest in decades. … The rise in bond yields squeezes government budgets and raises interest rates on a wide range of debt, including mortgages and business loans.” NY Times
Equity and Justice Related Articles & Resources:
‘At Last, We Know We Are Not Alone’: Gloria Steinem on Ms., the Feminist Movement and the Work Still Ahead (Gloria Steinem, Ms. Magazine)
250 Years of Justice Denied: Puerto Rico’s Demand for Energy Sovereignty (Arturo Massol Deyá and Emily Teitsworth, NPQ)
Labor Department Rescinds Disability Hiring Mandate (Shaun Heasley, Disability Scoop)
Climate Change and Environment Articles & Resources:
Global warming will exceed limit, UN says in a report that maps path to get back below danger zone (Seth Borenstein, AP)
New York’s plan to charge fossil-fuel producers $75B for climate change damages is struck down (Marc Levy, AP)
Is the environmental impact of datacentres finally cutting through? (Dharna Noor, Guardian)
Democracy Articles & Resources:
Opinion: India’s ‘Cockroaches’ Are Fighting Back (Abhijeet Dipke, NY Times)
UN votes to adopt new [more accurate] map that makes our world look very different (CNN)
Opinion: Our Democracy Is at Stake. Stop Waiting for a Savior. (Skye Perryman, NY Times)
A.I. Articles & Resources:
Why the Hugging Face Hack Should Make You Worry More About A.I. (Kevin Roose, NY Times)
‘If you build something vastly smarter than you, it better be on your side’: can we stop AI from deceiving us? (Snigdha Poonam, Guardian)
“Fundamentally,” Bengio told me, “lying and deception are rational behaviours to achieve many goals. This is why humans do it. And this is why the AIs do it now.”
The AI Backlash Gets Professional (Matteo Wong, Atlantic)
Good Vibes:
Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival (see Olivia Rodrigo’s festival is uniting women and girls behind nonprofits promoting their well-being (James Pollard, AP) and ‘We’re at a crisis point’: Chappell Roan, Shirley Manson and Eli on playing Olivia Rodrigo’s female-only festival (Emma Madden, Guardian))