WHAT WE’RE READING ELSEWHERE
A group funded by wealthy Christians that aims to mobilize Republican voters and defeat Joe Biden this year has nonprofit experts questioning its status as a tax-exempt charity. According to thousands of documents, videos, and emails, Ziklag is focusing on voter rolls — including using an A.I.-based system “to mount mass challenges to the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of voters in competitive states” — turning out Christian voters, and using the issue of transgender rights to get people to the polls. The ultimate vision of the group, whose donors include office supply billionaire Uihlein family, the Greens, who run Hobby Lobby, and the Wallers, who own the Jockey apparel corporation, is Christian dominion over seven key areas of American life, the documents say. An attorney for Ziklag said the group does not endorse political candidates, but several experts said its activities test or violate the bounds of legality for 501(c)(3) organizations. (ProPublica and Documented)
The president of Florida A&M University has resigned as part of the fallout from a $237 million donation that never materialized. Larry Robinson led the historically black school for seven years, during which its enrollment broke records and its graduate engineering program won national plaudits. But he has acknowledged ignoring “warning signs” about the massive gift, which was announced at this year’s commencement ceremony and whose donor had made grandiose pledges to other colleges and universities that did not pan out. The Board of Governors for the state’s university system is looking into the circumstances leading to the gift. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Although the spotlight has turned to Warren Buffett’s three children with the news that he will leave his $130 billion fortune to them to give away, they are already, quietly, among the country’s top philanthropists. From 2001 to 2023, they received nearly $7.9 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares and gave away at least $7.4 billion, recently distributing between 28 percent and 94 percent of their foundations’ assets. Their philanthropies tend to attract less attention than others because with all that giving — made possible by annual gifts from their father — their foundations’ assets under management have amounted to less than $760 million each in the latest tax filings. (Forbes — subscription)
The chief litigator of the American Civil Liberties Union is stepping down after a grueling eight-year tenure that saw more wins than losses before an increasingly conservative Supreme Court. When David D. Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, became the ACLU’s legal director in 2016, he expected Hillary Clinton to win the presidency and appoint liberal justices. Donald J. Trump’s election made the job more challenging, but it also supercharged donations and helped the organization nearly double its membership. No successor has been named. (New York Times)
In a few days, researchers will release the results of a three-year study of universal basic income, amid a debate over what responsibility tech moguls have to those who stand to lose from the innovations that have made them rich. The study, which tracked 3,000 people in Illinois and Texas, was backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, along with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and others. Altman has said direct payments will be necessary as artificial intelligence takes over many functions now performed by humans. Some outside Silicon Valley are urging tech billionaires to use their clout to lobby for federal basic income programs. A scholar of universal basic income said the tech community has a particular obligation to help. “They’re using our data to create their products and haven’t paid us back. And they’re the ones saying they’ll disrupt the economy and put people out of work.” (New York Times)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has pulled a $10 million state homelessness grant from San Diego County, which he said moved too slowly to build the tiny homes it was meant to fund. Residents near a site in San Diego had objected, and county officials had not yet found an alternative. Meanwhile, Newsom has complained of local foot-dragging around the state on the issue of homelessness as the numbers of people on the street continue to climb. The state will transfer the grant to San Jose to build interim housing. (Politico)
The Justice Department is accusing employees of the country’s largest provider of shelter for unaccompanied migrant children of sexually abusing and harassing minors in their care over several years. In a lawsuit, the department says employees at Southwest Key, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas, that has received nearly $6 billion in federal funds since 2007, raped children, badgered them for nude photos, and threatened them with violence if they reported the abuse. The department is seeking compensation for the children. Workers for Southwest Key were charged with sexually assaulting minors at one facility in 2018 and the nonprofit paid a fine and lost two shelter licenses after videos surfaced of physical abuse at facilities in Arizona. A spokeswoman for Southwest Key said the complaint “does not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment our employees provide to the youth and children.” (New York Times)
In November, voters in California will consider a ballot question backed by landlords that would stymie the efforts of one man, who runs the country’s largest AIDS organization, to champion rent control. Michael Weinstein is a wealthy health-care executive who runs the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and owns low-income housing that has drawn a slew of lawsuits over allegedly poor conditions. He has also tried repeatedly to chip away at or repeal a state anti-rent-control measure. This year’s initiative, sponsored by the California Apartment Association and allied groups, would restrict the financial activities of health-care organizations that meet specific conditions, “which, by all indications, are met only by Weinstein’s foundation.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
Musicians, artists, journalists, and drag performers are among the final cohort of the Ford and Andrew W. Mellon foundations’ Disability Futures Fellows. The 20 honorees will each receive an unrestricted $50,000 grant. They include a deaf rapper and actor who performed in sign language at the 2022 Super Bowl and an actress and writer who in 2020 became one of the first Black deaf actors to portray a video game character. Begun in 2020, the program aims to boost the visibility of creators with disabilities. (New York Times)
Boston is handing out more than 25 grants to fund temporary works of art commemorating those whose historical contributions to the city have long been overlooked. The “Un-monument | Re-monument | De-Monument: Transforming Boston” program is funded by the Mellon Foundation’s nationwide effort to balance the scales in public memory, given that the overwhelming majority of public monuments are to white men. Recipients in Boston plan to create temporary sculptures and murals, and theater and new media pieces, among other types of work. One project will allow visitors to use their phones to learn about a thriving Black community that existed in the 1700s. (Boston Globe)
NEW GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
Your Chronicle subscription includes free access to GrantStation’s database of grant opportunities.
Public Spaces: Through the Hometown Grants Program, T-Mobile is investing $25 million over five years, through 2026, to fund community projects in small towns across the United States. Each quarter, 25 grants of up to $50,000 are provided for shovel-ready projects to build, rebuild, or refresh community spaces that help foster local connections in small towns. Next deadline is Sept. 30.
Youth and Technology: The Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund aims to support youth and intergenerationally led organizations shaping the responsible technology movement. Grants are available to youth and intergenerationally led organizations working in the responsible tech space on topics like artificial intelligence (AI), mental health and well-being, and climate change. Grants range from $25,000 to $150,000; application deadline August 9.