Samwise Nonprofits and Charities Newsletter
Saturday, May 2, 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.
Nonprofits and Foundations Align on One Thing: the Environment Is Getting Harder
A new Candid survey finds near-universal agreement that the operating environment for nonprofits and foundations has grown significantly harder. Ninety-seven percent of nonprofits and 87 percent of foundations said conditions are “somewhat or much more challenging” than a year ago. Despite this consensus, 80 percent of nonprofit leaders and 91 percent of foundation leaders expressed confidence their organizations will weather the pressure, and 78 percent of nonprofits and 93 percent of foundations believed they can increase their impact. A communication gap also emerged: only 32 percent of nonprofits think foundations understand their challenges very well, while just 23 percent of foundations felt nonprofits understand their pressures in return. Sixty-one percent of nonprofits said strategic planning for the next five years is now harder, and nearly one in four are navigating this environment without any strategic plan. Candid recommends joint learning frameworks, particularly around generative AI, to bridge the divide.
Sources: Candid
Wyden Accuses DOJ of Targeting Nonprofits by Viewpoint in Escalating Sector Fight
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, publicly accused the Department of Justice of targeting nonprofit organizations based on political viewpoints. Speaking at a press conference alongside National Council of Nonprofits President Diane Yentel and University of Pittsburgh law professor Philip Hackney, Wyden cited the criminal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center as the most high-profile recent example. “The exact kind of IRS weaponization Republicans have been upset about for years is now basically happening in front of their eyes,” Wyden said, adding that the DOJ has become “thought police.” The National Council of Nonprofits currently has four active lawsuits against the Trump administration. Yentel called on bipartisan legislators to stand against what she described as a coordinated effort to use federal enforcement to silence civil society organizations.
Sources: Chronicle of Philanthropy
Foundations Created the Nonprofit Jargon Problem. They Can Also Fix It.
Every touchpoint in the grantmaking process—from letters of inquiry to progress reports to final evaluations—teaches nonprofits to describe their work in abstracted, jargon-heavy language, an op-ed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy argues. That learned language does not stay inside the funding relationship; it migrates into how organizations explain themselves to donors, volunteers, and the public. The author argues foundations created this communication crisis and are best positioned to dismantle it. Three concrete changes are proposed: requiring public communication plans alongside program descriptions in grant applications, funding communications infrastructure as a legitimate grantmaking priority rather than an overhead afterthought, and modeling plain language in foundations’ own publications. The piece contends foundations currently award higher scores to proposals framed in systems language over those speaking directly about people and results—a bias the sector rarely examines and almost never discusses openly.
Sources: Chronicle of Philanthropy
Private Philanthropy Has Become a Governing Force in Global Health, Analysis Finds
As U.S. federal funding for international health programs has contracted sharply, private philanthropy has stepped in not merely as a supplemental funder but as a governing force in global health. Large foundations—including the Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative—now substantially fund the World Health Organization and shape the data through which disease and mortality are measured globally. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, heavily backed by the Gates Foundation, has grown influential enough that the WHO itself relies on its projections for agenda-setting. Critics note this arrangement is not neutral: philanthropic priorities shape which health problems are counted, which interventions receive funding, and which populations are prioritized. The analysis, published in partnership with the Associated Press and The Conversation with support from the Lilly Endowment, raises fundamental questions about democratic accountability in an era of philanthropic health governance.
Sources: Chronicle of Philanthropy
Ms. Foundation Names Tracy Sturdivant as Next President and CEO
The Ms. Foundation for Women, the first national philanthropy run by and for women, announced that Tracy Sturdivant will succeed Teresa Younger as president and chief executive officer. The announcement came at the foundation’s annual New York City gala on April 28, 2026. Sturdivant is the founder and former executive director of The League, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring civic engagement through culture. She said she sees the current moment as an opportunity to broaden the coalition of people who understand gender justice as a shared responsibility, not solely a women’s issue. The Ms. Foundation, founded in 1972 with proceeds from the launch of Ms. Magazine, has distributed more than $100 million in grants over its history. Sturdivant’s appointment comes as feminist philanthropy faces intensified pressure from federal policy changes affecting women’s health, legal rights, and economic security.
Sources: Chronicle of Philanthropy
Curated by JD · samwise.agency