Philanthropy This Week

Seth Wenig, AP

Good morning.

With the gyrating stock market and uncertainty about tariffs, the chance we’re headed for a recession is about 60 percent, according to a JPMorgan report. So Drew Lindsay set out to get a sense of how a downturn might affect charitable giving, looking at the four recessions of the past 40 years and talking to experts.

Every recession is different: Early in the pandemic, the stock market took a nosedive but was back up again by the time the giving season rolled around. But during the 2007-9 recession, giving declined a record 14 percent over two years, and it took five years to bounce back.

Political and economic uncertainties cloud the current downturn. The intensity and duration of the administration’s tariffs are unknown, and it’s unclear whether Congress will extend or deepen tax cuts from the first Trump administration. Plus the wars in Ukraine and Gaza add to the concerns. A long, deep downturn could reduce the number of charitable donors over the long run. However, donor-advised funds may fill some of the void, and foundations are likely to increase their giving in 2025.

In fact, dozens of foundations are already pledging to step up their giving, reports Alex Daniels in another article. Nearly 80 progressive foundations have signed a pledge to bump up their giving in response to the federal government’s cuts. Called “Meet the Moment,” the effort, led by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, is a contrast to the 800 grant makers that signed a similar pledge during the pandemic. The lower response is probably out of fear of retaliation or investigations, says Shaady Salehi, co-executive director of the trust-based advocacy group, but there’s safety in numbers.

“We wanted to create an opportunity to coalesce a collective voice,” she told Alex, “recognizing that we’re in a political climate where it’s easier for organizations to sign on to something if they see many other organizations signing on.”

In addition, some grant makers are providing emergency funds, reports Stephanie Beasley in a separate article, which includes a list of such funds. Stephanie is updating that list as she learns of more.

Other highlights from this week:

In these times of high anxiety at nonprofits, transparency from leaders is key to keeping up morale, reports Rasheeda Childress. “Communicate as clearly and as empathetically as you can,” Ian Adair, an expert in leadership strategies, told Rasheeda. “Make sure that everyone has accurate information. You want to be transparent if you don’t want the rumor mill to get around and bring down staff morale even more.” Among the other tips in her article: Provide safe spaces where people can talk about what’s on their minds, and don’t forget to celebrate when good things happen. In another article, Rasheeda speaks with experts and offers advice for self-care during tumultuous times.

In just 70 days, an estimated 10,000 nonprofit workers have been laid off, according to the Chronicle’s new Layoff Tracker. Assembled by Sara Herschander, Tamara Straus, Alex Daniels, and Elizabeth Haugh from state databases and news articles, our tracker will be updated monthly and includes graphics with layoffs by month and by sector. We’re inviting nonprofits to let us know about layoffs that have already occurred or that are planned.

Fearful of how they would be treated in the United States, some Canadian members of the Association of Nonprofit Professionals are skipping the annual AFP conference later this month — and there has been some tension about how these members can attend virtually.

H. Art Taylor — CEO of AFP as of April 1 — told Rasheeda, “We’re looking at ways that we can possibly be supportive of them. We’re trying to figure out what more we can do to make people who won’t be able to attend feel connected to the conference.”

— Marilyn Dickey, Senior Editor, Copy

WHAT WE’RE READING ELSEWHERE

Nonprofits and the Trump Administration

A Pennsylvania farming nonprofit has joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to restore frozen federal grants. Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, which works with small farms from Maine to South Carolina, has not been paid for 60 days and is owed $3 million by the Department of Agriculture, according to the complaint. It has drained its reserves to reimburse farmers for expenses they’ve already incurred and furloughed almost all of its staff. Hundreds of small East Coast farms are mothballing planned sustainability projects, and Pasa’s executive director said some small farmers will lose their farms as a result of the federal government’s abandonment of the program. It has joined the Southern Environmental Law Center in trying to compel the government to disburse the contracted funds. (Philadelphia Inquirer — subscription)

The Trump administration has gutted a small agency that coordinates federal homelessness efforts, as its approach to the issue has become another front in the culture wars. Created in 1987, the Interagency Council on Homelessness aims to get people into housing before focusing on issues such as mental health or addiction treatment. “Housing First” used to enjoy bipartisan support, and supporters credit it with cutting homelessness, but now conservative critics say it neglects problems that can land people back out on the street. They also say giving funding priority to such programs unfairly shuts out faith-based providers that focus on treatment. The agency has not been eliminated but rather slashed to the statutory minimum. (New York Times)

The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles is standing by its mission as it faces up to $2 million in federal funding cuts and pressure to abandon the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Museum officials said they would “scrub nothing” from its website and would consider litigation after the Trump administration canceled a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities as part of a nationwide attempt to claw back NEH funding. Other grants in the balance come via the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is targeted for closure. (Los Angeles Times)

Billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg’s gun control nonprofit will spend $10 million over the next two years to elect state Democratic attorneys general as a bulwark against the Trump administration. Everytown for Gun Safety will back candidates in 10 competitive races to protect states from actions by the Trump administration, Everytown president John Feinblatt said. With a largely compliant Republican-controlled Congress, courts have become the primary venue to challenge the administration. “We want to make sure that the A.G.s know that groups like us will support them if they do the right thing, and we want them to know that we have their back today and we’ll have their backs in 2026,” Feinblatt said. (New York Times)

More News

In a record-setting deal, a New York nonprofit is buying $30 billion in unpaid medical bills for about 20 million people. Undue Medical Debt will spend $36 million, in charitable donations and taxpayer dollars, to acquire the steeply discounted debt from a debt trading company in Virginia. Half of the relief will go to people in Texas and Florida, which have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act. About 100 million people in the United States have medical bills they cannot pay. (KFF Health News)

New York City mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams is proposing the country’s largest guaranteed-income program to help homeless children and young people. The program would help 21,000 people, including small children who are homeless and young adults who are unaccompanied or exiting foster care. Its $430 million price tag would be covered by social impact bonds bought by private investors and other private partnerships, Adams’s campaign said. One in eight of the city’s public-school students is homeless. (New York Times)

A year after the tragedy, a community foundation has given no funds to family members of the six workers killed in the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, despite early fundraising pleas on their behalf. The Baltimore Community Foundation raised $16 million for causes including support for the families but changed its focus after learning that the mayor’s office had started a fund for them. The city effort raised more than $1.1 million and will run out at the end of this year. After a backlash prompted by a Baltimore Banner story, the foundation’s leader said it will work with city officials to find ways to support the families, as all of the funds it raised have been allocated. (Baltimore Banner)

The operation of Boston’s only known community benefits fund is raising ethical questions, as the City Council member whose district it serves faces unrelated charges of wire fraud and theft. Developers have agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the fund, set up by constituents of Tania Fernandes Anderson, who says she has no role or influence over its management. Those developments have not yet gotten off the ground, so no contributions have materialized, but accounts differ over whether Fernandes Anderson has steered donations to the organization. An expert on urban politics and policy said the arrangement seems “perilously close” to crossing the line between “a politician aiding her community and pressuring a developer for payments or other concessions.” (Boston Globe)

Deep-pocketed allies of San Francisco’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, have launched a nonprofit to raise funds to rejuvenate the city’s troubled downtown. The Downtown Development Corporation, which includes leaders from tech, finance, the arts, philanthropy, and labor, will fund projects ranging from streetscaping to supporting small businesses. The nonprofit raises ethical questions about influential donors being solicited to support city projects, a local Common Cause executive said, as well as about what happens to the funds once Lurie is no longer mayor. Financier David Stiepleman, who will lead the DDC, said the goal is to use private funds to move quickly in the short term but ultimately to have the government take over. (KQED)

A wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood’s donation of surveillance cameras to the city’s police foundation is raising concerns about the use of the technology and the influence of affluent communities on policing. After a spate of burglaries, the Cheviot Hills neighborhood raised more than $200,000 to buy license plate readers from a specific company to monitor its streets. A top police official, an oversight board, and activists have variously taken issue with the choice of vendor, method of procurement, the contract’s data security provisions, and the danger that such restricted donations will direct public safety resources disproportionately to wealthier communities. (Los Angeles Times)

NOTE TO READERS

Philanthropy This Week will pause for spring break next week but will be back in your inbox Saturday, April 26. In the meantime, we will update our website with any breaking news.