Samwise Nonprofits and Charities Newsletter
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Saturday Deep Dive
Today we step back from the daily news cycle and surface the best recent research and long-form analysis on nonprofit impact, philanthropy, and sector policy. Worth a slower read.
LEGO Foundation Commits $97 Million to Educate Children in Conflict Zones
The LEGO Foundation has committed $97 million to expand International Rescue Committee programs that use play to help children in conflict zones learn and recover, the organizations announced this week. The five-year partnership aims to reach 5 million children across East Africa and the Middle East, with countries under consideration including Ethiopia, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Uganda. The money will broaden PlayMatters, an IRC-led program that trains teachers of 3-to-12-year-olds to integrate “playful learning” into lessons for children traumatized by crises. IRC President David Miliband said that if you give children born into conflict “a bit of their childhood back, they make the most of it.” The foundations first collaborated in 2019 on a $100 million early-childhood effort with Sesame Workshop.
Sources: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
MacArthur and DonorsTrust Leaders Unite to Defend Philanthropic Freedom
In a rare show of cross-ideological agreement, MacArthur Foundation president John Palfrey and DonorsTrust head Lawson Bader appeared together at the libertarian Cato Institute last week to defend philanthropic freedom. Palfrey, who leads the progressive grantmaker, and Bader, whose donor-advised fund caters to conservatives, argued that government should not interfere with donors and nonprofits on political grounds. Their consensus comes as the Trump administration has threatened to revoke the tax-exempt status of groups counter to its objectives, created a task force examining whether progressive philanthropy funded political violence, and indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on fraud charges critics call politically motivated. Bader, a critic of the weaponization of government power, warned it would “come back to haunt us in the next administration.” Cato’s Walter Olson said the attacks have intensified under Trump.
Sources: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Report Finds Direct Mail Resonates Most With Gen Z Donors
Direct mail is proving an unexpectedly effective fundraising channel for the youngest donors, according to Giving USA Foundation and Dunham+Company’s “Donor Confidence and Giving Behavior: A 2026 Report,” summarized by Candid. The survey found 82% of donors say they respond to direct mail, including 93% of Gen Z donors, and 80% of Gen Z want to receive mail monthly, compared with 64% of millennials. Nearly half of all direct-mail responders give online rather than mailing a check. The report also found donors increasingly blame the broader economy rather than personal finances for pulling back: 27% cited the “economy in general” in November 2025, up from 14% a year earlier. Separately, three-quarters of donors were unaware of the new universal charitable deduction; after learning of it, 33% of non-donors said they planned to begin giving.
Sources: Candid
Essay Examines the ‘Scarcity Vow’ Holding Down Nonprofit Pay
Many nonprofit leaders have quietly taken what consultant Esther Saehyun Lee calls a “scarcity vow”—a learned habit of not asking for the salaries, grant sizes, or staffing their work requires, she argues in a Candid essay. The pattern falls hardest on women and leaders of color. Lee cites a 2024 UC Berkeley and Vanderbilt study finding women now negotiate raises as often as men but are 25% less likely to receive them, and Building Movement Project research showing 49% of executive directors of color called inadequate salary a leadership challenge, versus 34% of white leaders. A Bridgespan and Echoing Green study found organizations led by people of color run on budgets 24% smaller. With the Center for Effective Philanthropy reporting nearly 90% of leaders worried about burnout, Lee urges funders to provide unrestricted, multiyear support and salary parity.
Sources: Candid
Nonprofit Coalition’s Virginia Redistricting Win Unravels in Court
Nonprofit Quarterly examines how a coalition of civic nonprofits—including the Brennan Center for Justice, Common Cause, and the NAACP—helped Virginia voters approve a new congressional map in April, only to see the victory unravel in court. The state Supreme Court declared the map null and void on May 8 in a 4-to-3 decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais weakened voters’ ability to challenge discriminatory maps under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. After Callais, the analysis notes, Southern states moved quickly: Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi all advanced redraws. The reversal hit Black Virginians, 18% of the population, who had overwhelmingly backed the amendment. The lesson for nonprofits, NPQ argues, is that winning the public argument is no longer enough without securing the legal ground beneath it.
Sources: Nonprofit Quarterly
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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