Samwise Nonprofits and Charities Newsletter
Saturday, June 27, 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.
Are Wealthy Donors Giving Big Again? Yes. But It's Complicated
Seven wealthy philanthropists each made gifts of $100 million or more to nonprofits in May 2026—the first time this year so many nine-figure donations were announced in a single month. But advisers who work with major donors tell the Chronicle of Philanthropy that political and economic uncertainty continues to complicate wealthy donors’ giving decisions. Some donors are pivoting away from programs that explicitly name racial equity, choosing instead to support organizations serving low-income communities broadly, to avoid drawing federal attention. Others have abandoned multi-year plans for new programming, redirecting gifts to keeping nonprofits afloat amid federal funding cuts. Advisers say fundraisers should focus right now on their longest-tenured supporters, make honest asks to accelerate existing pledges, and invest in sincere stewardship before requesting new gifts. The pipeline of major giving is re-emerging, but requires patience and a relationship-first strategy.
Sources: Chronicle of Philanthropy Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
OpenAI Foundation Opens $50 Million Grant Fund for Nonprofits Adopting Artificial Intelligence
The OpenAI Foundation announced on June 24 the launch of the 2026 People-First AI Fund, a $50 million grant program open to U.S.-based nonprofits seeking to responsibly explore and implement artificial intelligence in their work. Grants are unrestricted and sized at up to 10 percent of an applicant’s annual operating budget, with eligibility limited to 501(c)(3) public charities with budgets under $15 million. The fund targets organizations using AI to expand access to information, strengthen community services, preserve cultural expression, and support local journalism. Community foundations and regranting intermediaries are eligible for the first time in 2026. Applications are open through July 15, with award notifications expected in October. The foundation—a separate entity from OpenAI’s commercial operations—is also finalizing more than $130 million in additional grants focused on biosecurity, cybersecurity, model safety, and the effects of AI on children.
Sources: OpenAI Foundation Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Can a $350 Million Gift Change AI's Trajectory?
In 2018, billionaire Stephen Schwarzman gave the Massachusetts Institute of Technology $350 million to reshape how universities train the next generation of AI leaders. Eight years on, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that MIT’s Schwarzman College of Computing has hired nearly 50 faculty across 19 departments, creating unprecedented collaboration between computing, the humanities, and social sciences. An initiative called SERC—Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing—has reached more than 300 students across 25 departments, with over 1,000 MIT students annually taking ethics-integrated courses. The article asks whether philanthropy can counterbalance the commercial AI industry’s competitive instincts. Experts say independent university research is essential when political gridlock makes federal AI ethics funding unlikely. The Schwarzman gift represents a long-term bet that educating more thoughtful technologists today can shift corporate decision-making a generation from now.
Sources: Chronicle of Philanthropy Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Nonprofit Quarterly Analysis Calls Sector’s Reliance on Heroic Executive Leadership a Justice Issue
An analysis published June 26 in Nonprofit Quarterly challenges the sector’s longstanding assumption that strong individual executive leadership is the foundation of organizational health, arguing that the “myth of heroic leadership” is a structural failure with equity consequences. The piece contends that overreliance on executive directors concentrates power in ways that mask institutional weakness, reduce organizational resilience, and reproduce inequity by making an organization’s fate dependent on the endurance and judgment of a single person. When that person leaves, burns out, or errs, the piece argues, organizations built around heroic leadership have no system to absorb the loss. The authors call for distributed governance, genuine staff capacity, and shared decision-making as the true sources of organizational resilience. The critique arrives as the nonprofit sector faces compounding pressures from federal funding cuts, rising service demand, and record rates of executive burnout.
Sources: Nonprofit Quarterly Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Curated by JD · samwise.agency