In an Urban Institute research brief, I lay out 4 ways the current turbulence facing US nonprofits might transform the giving infrastructure, including the emergence of systems of triage to respond to funding disruptions & efforts to recover & protect public datasets. www.urban.org/sites/defaul...

The request for list of the members of Jewish campus groups seems to me a clear threat to the right of association and opens a door for targeted harassment of certain disfavored group by govt authorities under pretense of combating discrimination. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/u...

Buried *far* beneath the admin's weaponization of accusations of anti-semitism & efforts to enforce anti-affirmative action ruling, there's been occasional efforts to address admissions to college and universities linked to major donors. Curious who is behind this & what they think the politics is.

Democrats have offered to pay the salaries — fully fund, no conditions — for TSA. It’s Republicans who keep blocking that.

“I knew there was no place for me in the Justice Dept if I was being asked to bring felony charges against these protesters...,” Mr. Barker said.... “This was not an organized conspiracy. It was a protest where people were exercising their free-speech rights.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/u...

My god. Humanitarianism as extortion. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/h...

A good piece from @teddyschleifer.bsky.social on the rise & fall of the Giving Pledge. This is a moment of exhaustion, cynicism & disillusionment wrt to large-scale giving. But I still think an imperfect set of philanthropic norms are better than none at all. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...

Texas excluded about two dozen Islamic schools from its $1 billion voucher program for being linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group. The group does not appear on federal lists of foreign terrorist organizations. https://wapo.st/40m11qX

New HistPhil post: David Callahan reviews Bill Clinton's 2024 memoir of his post-White House years, "Citizens," and argues that his philanthropic legacy (almost always discussed in the glare of right-wing attacks) deserves more attention and respect. histphil.org/2026/03/09/b...

Florida Gov. DeSantis issued an order barring Muslim advocacy group CAIR or "any person known to have provided material support or resources" to CAIR from receiving any contract or benefit from Florida state or local governments. A court just struck that down, notes Eugene Volokh, who concurs.

Breaking: The House Oversight Committee is requesting transcribed interviews with 7 new individuals as part of the panel's Epstein investigation: Bill Gates: May 19 Kathryn Ruemmler: April 21 Ted Waitt: April 16 Doug Band: May 5 Leon Black: May 13 Lesley Groff: June 9 Sarah Kellen: June 3

My god.

There should be a law against naming any institution for a sitting president and a norm against naming institutions for a living individual.

New HistPhil post: Deepak Bhargava reviews @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social The Radical Fund, finding in the early 20th C. history of the Garland Fund lessons for today's progressive, radical, and movement-oriented funders. histphil.org/2026/02/17/a...

1: There’s been lots of talk abt the Tyler Austin Harper Atlantic piece on the Mellon Foundation as an intervention (whether commendable or silly) in the contemp crisis of the humanities, but much less as one wrt to the crisis of philanthropy in a democracy. I'm not surprised.

Maggie Lemos & Guy-Uriel Charles revisit their 2018 article on "patriotic philanthropy," big private gifts to public programs or institutions, in light of its embrace by Pres. Trump, highlighting its links to the imperial presidency & hollowing out of state capacity. histphil.org/2026/02/12/r...

Freedom 250 has "emerged as another vehicle...thru which ppl & companies w interests before the Trump admin can make tax-deductible donations to gain access to...a pres who's maintained a...willingness to use the levers of govt power to reward financial supporters." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/u...

Normalize the rejection of in vivos naming rights--across the board. punchbowl.news/article/whit...

WIN: A federal court blocked Texas AG Ken Paxton’s attempt to revoke a pro-voting group’s corporate charter. The group, which focuses on increasing voter turnout among young Latinos, argued Paxton’s actions were part of an intimidation campaign meant to halt voter registration efforts.

New post-doc position working with me in a new lab at @snfagora.bsky.social ! It's one year appointment, renewable for up to 5 years. The position includes data analysis and independent research, mentorship of lab members, and participation in SNF Agora Institute life. apply.interfolio.com/178796

it is important to assert, while recognizing all the dangers it faces, and all the ways it has disappointed in the last year, that civil society in the US is still vital and strong. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/o...

The Dells' $6b pledge to support Trump Accounts has been understood as a push for nonprofit "disintermediation." But, as Madeline Brown & I argue, it also highlights the import of the robust nonprofit infrastructure that's advanced the cash benefit field. www.urban.org/urban-wire/d...

New HistPhil post: histphil.org/2026/01/13/r... Jeffrey Berry, James Glaser, & Deborah J. Schildkraut outline the findings on the relationship btw political ideology and charitable giving from their recent book, Everyday Democracy: Liberals, Conservatives, and Their Routine Political Lives.

For a bit of a timeline cleanse...I recently finished watching Heated Rivalry, and the obvious question I have is: Is the proposed Hollander-Rozanov hockey/mental health nonprofit the most narratively consequential charity is recent cultural history?

The 10-year old me would have had his mind blown to know that Don Mattingly would one day be wearing a Phillies uniform. I don't remember why, but even as a devoted Phillies fan, he was always my favorite player growing up. I remember checking box scores every morning to see if he outhit Wade Boggs.

Finally saw Sinners; founds parts of it enjoyable, others heavy-handed. But one thing that really confounded me was its treatment of trad Scots-Irish music, literally the devil's music. Esp. given celebration of non-Anglo trad music in film, doesn't this point to a pretty ugly cultural politics?

I think there should be regulation for public bodies--and a strong norm for private ones--that having one's name attached to an institution should be an exclusively posthumous honor. www.cnn.com/2025/12/18/p...

For those trying to get a handle on the sprawling Darwin-at-the-galapagos variety of contemp mega-philanthropy, I highly rec @insidephilanthropy.com series on billionaire giving in a new Gilded Age. Here's the first post from David Callahan w/ predictions: www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/the-fut...

New Histphil post: Dana Brakman Reiser reviews Gelles's Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune and Gave It All Away. She finds it a compelling read but wanted more scrutiny of the purpose trust, Chouinard's main philanthropic instrument. histphil.org/2025/12/16/t...

NEW: The Trump-Vance White House has falsely accused an ally of Pope Leo — Sr. Norma Pimentel — of illegal activity tied to migrant aid, and cut off all federal funding to Catholic Charities in Texas. Church leaders say it’s a targeted, political reprisal against Pope Leo and the Catholic Church.

Showdown looming? NYT notes that tied for second largest gift in this $7.2b tranche from Scott was $70m to Hispanic Scholarship Fund. The week before, HSF was target of lawsuit from Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights for illegal discrimination. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/b...

I think you have to sit Hurts for a bit.

Jalen Hurts is simply not playing well now.

New HistPhil post: John Miles Branch writes on the history of debates over union exemptions for nonprofit organizations, and in doing so, helps bridge labor and nonprofit history, two subfields that, as Branch notes, have often moved along "separate tracks." histphil.org/2025/12/08/u...

NEW: I got a hold of letters from nearly 20 of Trump's ballroom donors, sent to a senator who requested details on how much they gave + who solicited money from them. Most ignored the actual Qs and instead boasted of their philanthropy and love of America. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

Scott Bessant at WH event announcing Dells $6.2B pledge toward the Fed Savings Accounts for Children: it will usher in a "new age of capitalism and market interest for the whole country..." and of philanthropy, providing an inspiring platform. “Every Tuesday can become Giving Tuesday.”

New HistPhil post: Gizem Zircirci on her book, The Muslim Social: Neoliberalism, Charity, and Poverty, which recently received ARNOVA's 2025 Outstanding Book Prize. histphil.org/2025/11/24/t...

New HistPhil post: Peter Kurie on what the history of the Hershey Trust--the OG U.S. nonprofit with controlling stakes in a major for-profit corporation--can tell us about the OpenAI Foundation, on paper now the wealthiest private foundation in the U.S. histphil.org/2025/11/13/f...

This is obv a clash abt a very particular political moment, w/ implications touching on shutdown politics. But it likely has implications as well relating to philanthropy's ability to target pub benefit recipients & to the politics of voluntarism more generally. www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-r...

Prediction: if MTG runs, she will tap into the dormant conservative tradition of voluntarism that MAGA (& really Trump) has up till now shown little sympathy for. You could see it bubbling up in inchoate form in some of the recent congressional hearings she chaired on nonprofits...

One of the least remarked parts of Mamdani's speech yesterday was its strong implication that he wants his army of 100k volunteers to stick around and do stuff.

Call it political Skocpolianism or what you will--but this is going to be a major focus of progressive philanthropy in the coming year.

This morning, more convergence btw 2 discourses: recognition of a real appetite for participation in civic & political life as a way to address disconnection; & an appreciation that in investing in infrastructure to support that civic life, prog philanthropy is presented with a real opportunity.

Now it’s @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social, declaring civil society to be a “horrifying disappointment.” He’d like to see leaders of civil society “not be cowards”.

At the Center for Effective Philanthropy conference, @feliciawong.bsky.social discusses the Beyond Neoliberalism initiative, its successes & failures & cites the Garland Fund as historical inspiration (as chronicled by @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social). Garland Fund met the moment…is philanthropy today?

New HistPhil post: David Pozen continues our book forum on @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social' s The Radical Fund, questioning whether, given evolution in nonprofit law since the fund's heydey, it can serve as a model for contemporary philanthropy seeing to "upend America." histphil.org/2025/11/03/c...

Reporting from NYT there were other donors to the WH ballroom not cited by the administration, including several that have business before the admin. The admin's use of a nonprofit as a receptacle for the funds allows them to maintain discretionary anonymity. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/u...

One striking element of lawsuit that coalition of nonprofits filed in RI district court to challenge Trump admin's suspension of SNAP benefits, which highlights damage that will be done to nonprofits bc of massive increase in demand for their services. www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressrelease...

In Emma Green's recent NYer piece on Trump's war on higher ed, she reports she heard a version of this from multiple admin officials: "[I]f the endangered research is truly vital, universities can figure out other ways to fund it, such as donor dollars." Market infallibility applied to philanthropy.

New HistPhil post from John Witt, inaugurating a book forum on his recently published "The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America," which chronicles the influence of the American Fund for Public Service (the Garland Fund, est 1922). histphil.org/2025/10/27/w...