Over 100 liberal philanthropies, including the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations, have issued an open letter defending their missions and condemning potential political attacks from the Trump administration, which plans to crack down on nonprofits accused of fostering violence, threatening their tax-exempt status and fundamental freedoms.
Representative John Sarbanes of Maryland's 3rd district announced that he will not seek reelection in 2024, choosing to step down at the end of his current term to return to work in the nonprofit sector. Sarbanes, who has served for nine terms, expressed his belief in public service and his desire to explore other opportunities to serve outside of elected office. Tributes from colleagues and supporters followed the announcement, highlighting Sarbanes' dedication to American democracy and his contributions to issues such as voting rights and environmental education. Sarbanes had been considered a potential future candidate for the U.S. Senate, but recent reports indicated a winding down of his fundraising efforts.
Nonprofit organizations Candid and Council on Foundations have made a rare deal, with Candid transferring control of its CF Insights website and staff to the Council on Foundations. The move allows Candid to focus on priority areas such as diversity and transparency, while providing CF Insights with a larger audience and potential for expansion. The Council on Foundations believes that the information provided by CF Insights will help community foundations make better decisions and network with peers at a national level. While mergers and acquisitions are common in the corporate world, this type of synergy-seeking deal is unusual in the nonprofit sector. However, both organizations believe that more nonprofits should explore effective resource utilization and collaboration for the benefit of the field.
Executives at some of America's most influential arts organizations, including the Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, receive generous compensation packages that can exceed $1 million annually. These packages often include perks such as free luxury housing, first-class travel, and allowances for social clubs. However, the challenges faced by nonprofit arts organizations, particularly during the pandemic, have led to increased scrutiny of pay and expenditures, resulting in some executives taking pay cuts.
Charitable giving in the United States fell 3.4% to $499.3 billion in 2022 due to stock market volatility and persisting economic uncertainty, according to the Giving USA report. This equates to a drop of 10.5% when adjusted for inflation. Total charitable giving has only dropped three other times in the past 40 years in current dollars. The drop in donations in 2022 comes after the U.S. had the two best years on record for charitable giving. However, the results could have been much worse given the challenging economic climate during late last year. Americans still gave nearly a half trillion dollars, demonstrating "how essential they view the nonprofit sector and its ability to solve big problems."
