The 83-year-old heir and rail entrepreneur Timothy Mellon is one of Trump’s top political donors. His recent gift, meant to pay troops during the government shutdown, has raised eyebrows. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) Reports: tinyurl.com/2p9rjken #TimothyMellon #MegaDonors

"The possibility remains that [Timothy] Mellon is trying to influence military personnel to his or Trump’s favor, while also giving the White House a way to argue that as Democrats extend the shutdown, big Trump donors have the troops’ interests in mind."

As the federal government threatens to revoke the 501c3 status of nonprofit organizations, a new California law will allow organizations to continue to receive grants and contracts from the state. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/3aakwvav #NonprofitLaw

“In the spirit of trying to figure out how to protect a...crucial part of California’s resilience and resistance to the Trump administration’s agenda, we wanted to ensure that California would be in a position to continue to...grant and contract with our nonprofit organizations that we depend on.”

Now in its second year, the Trust for Civic Life is bringing people together in underserved rural communities to tackle local issues that matter most to them. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/ycxrcnww #CivicEngagement #Philanthropy #Democracy #RuralDevelopment

With a new tool, the Appalachia Funders Network wants to guide funders to where their dollars can make the most impact as the region strives to recover from Hurricane Helene and prepare for future climate disasters. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/px4xz7jv

“If our democracy is to survive, the freedoms of speech and the press need a vigorous, determined defense." www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/free-sp...

Women make up the majority of members in 70% of all giving circles, which are steadily popular and more democratic ways of giving. With more than 4,000 giving circles in the U.S., here's some women’s giving circles to know. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/4vm6p555

With a renewed contract and an injection of philanthropic dollars, Ready to Rise will continue its work to support youth in Los Angeles for another seven years. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/mpsnxxfy #YouthJustice #JusticeReform #YouthDevelopment

Trump has taken aim at mail-in voting. With the midterm elections on the way, philanthropy’s role in supporting the right to vote has become all the more critical, and it’s not just “democracy funders” who need to step up. Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/ummnm85j

“You can never have a real democracy with mail-in voting. We as a Republican Party are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots,” President Trump said. For philanthropic funders and the nonprofits they support, this is a moment of truth.

Warnock to RFK jr: "For the first time, we are seeing deaths of children from measles. We haven't seen that in two decades. We're seeing that under your watch. You are a hazard to the health of the American people."

BREAKING: A new experiment in Philly shows cash rental assistance slashed homelessness rates by 57–67%.

A group of philanthropic funders has come together to commit $36.5 million in emergency funding for at-risk public television and radio stations. The fund will focus on rural, Indigenous and other underserved communities that are most vulnerable to losing their stations due to federal cuts.

"Whether people see racial justice as a winning issue or not, it is something that they have to contend with." Originally launched as a five-year initiative following the murder of George Floyd, the Black Freedom Fund is now a independent, permanent institution working to advance racial justice.

President Trump says he wants to get rid of mail-in voting in resumption of criticism.

With the imminent closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, philanthropic support for public news will be all the more critical. Here’s who’s funding public news, including @pbsnews.org and @npr.org.

“Retrenchment or going back on those investments will take us back to the place that we recovered from… The job is not done. We’ve learned a lot about what can be helpful and effective in these spaces. We need to continue to double down."

Allan Ahlberg, a beloved author of best-selling children’s books, many of them illustrated by his wife, Janet Ahlberg, has died at 87.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which has distributed federal funds to both PBS and NPR for decades, announced Friday that it's shutting down. The news comes after President Donald Trump recently clawed back more than a billion dollars of funding for public broadcasting.

Although donations to local PBS stations have jumped in recent weeks, the surge isn’t enough to make up for the federal funding that has been lost. Already, stations are making cuts, with some even finding themselves at risk of closure.

Funders were hopeful about making progress on homelessness. Then the pandemic hit. How have approaches evolved? And how will the Trump administration impact the crisis? Martha Ramirez(@martharamirez.bsky.social) reports: tinyurl.com/2jdbf4ep #HomelessnessCrisis #HousingFirst #AffordableHousing

President Trump has issued an executive order that: 1) calls for the institutionalization of unhoused people with mental illnesses, 2) and end to Housing First policies, and 3) calls for cities and states to criminalize homelessness. www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...

scoop: donations to NPR and PBS stations have exploded, with donors across the country giving in unprecedented numbers since Congress cut federal funding www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/b...

Conventional wisdom would suggest homelessness would rise across the U.S. during the pandemic, but the data shows that levels remained relatively steady through 2022. It wasn't until after pandemic-era funding ran out and protection began to lapse that homelessness began to surge.

First reported by @missionlocal.org, Michael Mortiz's Crankstart Foundation has awarded $3.4 million to help the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office hire additional attorneys so it can better meet the increased need for immigration services.

While the right to peaceably assemble is enshrined in the First Amendment, in recent years, legislation has been introduced to curb the right to protest and broaden existing time, manner and place restrictions. These efforts are part of the ongoing attacks against American rights.

At the urging of President Trump, Congress is expected to vote this week on whether to cut $500 million per year for public radio and TV stations.

Wow — New Gallup poll: — Trump approval on immigration: 35-62 (!) — Record high approval of immigration (79-17 overall) — 78% of people support a pathway to citizenship (+8 from 2024); only 38% support mass deportation (-9 from 2024) — 30% want a decrease in immigration (-25 from 2024)

🥦🏛️ As food aid gets slashed, communities are taking matters into their own hands. A growing movement is reclaiming land, building food systems, and creating real alternatives to top-down charity. 📖 @martharamirez.bsky.social Reports: tinyurl.com/9tkvtpdx ‪@kresge.org‬ #Philanthropy #EFOD

“We understand that we need to feed people. We really need to be solving why people are hungry in the first place, and so we’re really wanting to solve for those issues ourselves," said Camryn Smith, co-founder and executive director of Communities in Partnership.

BREAKING: A federal judge says Donald Trump's crackdown on aslyum for those crossing the southern border exceeded his legal authority and must be halted. He grants sweeping class protection. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

Backed by The California Endowment and others, Global Village: The Refugee & Immigrant Cultural Hub's planned campus will feature affordable housing units, a market to incubate small businesses, convening spaces for building community, and a nonprofit hub offering wraparound services.

Twitter is not real life

⚖️ As protests erupt and power consolidates, philanthropy is being tested. 🔹 Grassroots orgs face political targeting 🔹 Funders are stepping up and speaking out 📖 @martharamirez.bsky.social Reports tinyurl.com/y7x3dtfe @calwellness.bsky.social‬ ‪@calendow.bsky.social‬ ‪@chirla-org.bsky.social‬

Between the fear brought about by ICE raids, President Trump's decision to mobilize the military against protesters, and Sen. Padilla's detainment during a DHS press briefing, Los Angeles has become a microcosm of how authoritarianism is gaining traction in the U.S.

"We may get the misconception that we don’t have capacity, we don’t have assets, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s really just fair access to resources that we lack, and that’s clearly what I think the data shows,” said Ryan Eller, executive director of the Appalachia Funders Network.

MSNBC reporter on ground in LA right now saying that from what he has seen the protestors have been peaceful but the LA Sheriff’s Dept in particular has been off the chain, quick to use tear gas and rubber bullets in an exceedingly aggressive manner

If the feds’ objective is to “liberate” Los Angeles and California from its democratically elected leadership, then this not a peacekeeping mission but a program of invasion.

For the past year I've been working as executive editor of @insidephilanthropy.com. Almost everything we cover is paywalled but this week we dropped a Special Report on How Philanthropy Can -- and Is -- Responding to Authoritarianism. It's all outside the paywall, and linked below.

Sen. Alex Padilla, who was just forcibly removed from a DHS press conference, is the ranking member of Judiciary’s subcommittee on immigration, citizenship, and border safety, which has “oversight of federal agencies with citizenship, asylum, refugee, and immigration enforcement responsibilities.”

"The Trump administration’s actions against immigrants are not only unconstitutional and outright cruel; they’re also a means of setting the stage for ever-more-concentrated executive power and federal security interventions against political opponents."

Several journalists have been injured by law enforcement officers during the protests in Los Angeles. The LAPD and Los Angeles County Sheriff said they were reviewing incidents in which journalists have been struck by projectiles fired by the police.

“We are breaking down some of the most pervasive barriers to learning. We want every student to experience an amazing education — an experience that is relevant to their goals, engaging them as learners, and effectively helps them meet expected learning outcomes."

“We will not be bullied or terrorized or influenced to walk away from what the people of Washington have asked us to do… We have no consternation about staying the course,” said the Intai Foundation's president and CEO, Nichole June Maher.

Ensuring universal access to knowledge is about more than just allowing people to learn more — a noble goal in and of itself — it is vital to protecting democracy in the U.S. and around the globe.

“What the consortium is trying to do is bring together a group of funders in the nuclear security space to all work collaboratively, and together, fund… projects that we see as innovative, that are focused on the future of arms control and nonproliferation and emerging technologies.”

One of the most shocking things I have read for a while: t.co/lg46ijHLDF

Funding at the intersection of homelessness and housing affordability, the New York Community Trust aims to support lower-income homeowners, back organizations that work to build tenant power, and increase the efficacy of rental assistance programs. www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/a-look-...

Breaking News: The Supreme Court instructed the government to take steps to return a Salvadoran migrant it had wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador.