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As the current federal administration makes sweeping cuts to social safety net programs, political divisions deepen, and the guardrails of American democracy are tested, what is philanthropy’s role in this precarious time? 

In the final episode of this season, Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette interview New York Times columnist and podcast host Ezra Klein live at CEP’s 2025 conference. Klein contends that America needs to renew a politics of plenty, face up to the failures of liberal governance, and abandon what he calls the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life. But what does this analysis mean for philanthropy, particularly at a moment of so many competing and urgent crises?

Additional Resources:

“Mounting Pressure: U.S. Foundations and Nonprofits on the 2025 Political Climate”

Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. on the Giving Done Right podcast

“Abundance,” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

Effective disaster giving often begins before a disaster even occurs. So says Patty McIlreavy, president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, in this popular episode from the Giving Done Right archives. In conversation with hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette, Patty offers insight into how donors can support disaster prevention by focusing on reducing vulnerabilities as well as support recovery efforts, and the most common pitfalls for donors to consider when responding to disasters. Patty shares her deep expertise on what can make disaster giving successful (or unsuccessful) and the three discuss examples that still hold lessons for donors looking to mitigate disasters — or prevent them — today. 

Additional Resources:

Center for Disaster Philanthropy

From Rapid Response to Sustainable Solutions: Disaster Response and Recovery in Post-Earthquake Haiti – Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Report

“Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Where Crisis, Conflict, Climate, and COVID Meet” – Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Disasters, Dollars And Decisions: Lessons For Nonprofits To Prioritize Where And How To Help – Forbes

Unprecedented Times Call For Unprecedented Actions – Forbes

Asset-Based Framing: Trabian Shorters

Federal funding cuts and increased demand for their services have left nonprofits across the country and issue areas reeling, with many questioning whether they will survive. The consequences are stark, given the vital work nonprofits do in communities across the country. In this episode, CEP Vice President of Research Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. shares just-collected data on what nonprofits are experiencing, exploring questions like which nonprofits have been hardest hit and what steps organizations are taking to respond. 

She also talks with Phil Buchanan about data on the foundation response to the situation, exploring lessons for individual and institutional donors alike. Smith Arrillaga argues that the existential challenges nonprofits are facing require bold, values-driven responses from donors.

Additional Resources:

New CEP Research: “Mounting Pressure: U.S. Foundations and Nonprofits on the 2025 Political Climate”

CEP’s annual “State of Nonprofits” report for 2025, published May 2025

March 2025 CEP Research snapshot: “Challenging Times”

A compilation of additional resources for funders on responding to the current context on the CEP blog

This week on Giving Done Right, we’re introducing you to another podcast we love: Nonprofits Now: Leading Today, from The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In this episode, two leaders, Kathleen St. Louis Caliento and Nick Grono, join Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer to explain how they have engaged their board in financial efforts. 

As nonprofits face economic headwinds — including losses in federal funding, rising costs, and the possibility of a global recession — nonprofit boards play an increasingly essential role. Trustees help with strategy and can also be powerful donors and fundraisers. Yet fewer than a quarter of respondents to a Chronicle survey described their board members as enthusiastic fundraisers. 

Grono and St. Louis Caliento share their advice on how to inspire boards to champion your mission and share insights from their shared experience of working with trustees to manage unrestricted, multimillion-dollar grants from MacKenzie Scott. 

St. Louis Caliento runs Cara Collective, a Chicago nonprofit that helps low-income people find jobs. Grono heads the Freedom Fund, an organization that pools funds from donors who want to fight modern-day slavery. He’s the author of “How to Lead Nonprofits: Turning Purpose into Impact to Change the World,” published in 2024.

What happens when education reform takes place without the input or engagement of the young people who will experience its effects? Conversely, what happens when youth voices lead the way to change? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette sit down with their CEP colleague David McKinney, vice president of YouthTruth — a CEP initiative — to discuss how systematically listening to young people at scale can transform education, both at the school and system level. 

David shares not only his own formative experiences facing exclusion as a young person, but draws on data collected from more than 3 million student surveys YouthTruth has administered to offer powerful examples of how schools have used student voice to close achievement gaps, address bullying, improve belonging, and build stronger communities. He also challenges common assumptions that have undergirded education reforms for decades, including top-down approaches and using common metrics of success, like test scores, in isolation. 

Additional Resources:

YouthTruth

Aspen Institute

TNTP

Public Allies

YouthTruth’s “Youth Civic Empowerment” Report

“The Anti-Bullying Report” from YouthTruth 

Questions about YouthTruth’s work? Reach out to David at [email protected]

How does the "model minority myth" impact how funders view and support Asian immigrant communities? What role do disaggregated data play in ensuring their thriving? In a conversation with Ben Hires, CEO of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette dig into the vast array of services that BCNC — and nonprofits like it — provide and the crucial role they play in mitigating the challenging realities facing Asian immigrants today, from ICE enforcement creating a climate of fear to long-standing funding gaps that leave essential services underfunded. 

Ben explains why translation services as well as robust and disaggregated datasets are foundational to ensuring immigrant communities are well served, and why supporting both direct services and systemic change isn't an either-or proposition, but “a both-and.” Despite mounting challenges, Ben's message is unshakably optimistic: "The immigrant community, in particular, we know is resilient and strong and is not going away." 

Additional Resources

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) 

Pao Arts Center 

Overlooked, Part One: Foundation Support for Asian American and Pacific Islander Leaders and Communities

The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) 

STAATUS Index by TAAF

The Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation

Asian Pacific Islander Civic Action Network in Massachusetts

Is the fundamental right to give according to one’s values under attack in America? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with two influential foundation leaders who are sounding the alarm and fighting back. Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, and John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, discuss the Unite in Advance initiative — a coalition defending philanthropic rights — and the broader issue of giving as a crucial first amendment right. 

The conversation explores why these leaders believe we're at a critical moment for U.S. civil society, how funders can increase their giving while continuing work on big goals like racial equity and halting climate change, and what individual donors can do to protect the American tradition of charitable giving.

Unite in Advance

McKnight Foundation

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

CEP Blog: “A Wave Forming? Funders Taking Action in Response to a Challenging Context”

Council on Foundations

Independent Sector

National Council of Nonprofits

GroundBreak Coalition

More Perfect

Press Forward

Giving Done Right episode featuring Julie Butner

What does it mean to tell the Muslim American story of generosity? Why is it important to talk about "religious justice" in philanthropy alongside other forms of justice? These are questions that President of the WF Fund and philanthropic advocate Dilnaz Waraich explores with hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette as she shares her journey from kitchen table conversations about giving back to leading narrative change work that highlights Muslim American generosity.

In this episode, Dilnaz discusses Islamic principles behind charitable giving, why trust-based philanthropy requires humility, and how interfaith bridge-building strengthens communities. She also offers candid insights about her mistakes as a donor, the power of storytelling in philanthropy, and why "you're just enough" might be the encouragement hesitant donors need to hear right now.

Additional Resources

WF Fund

Inspired Generosity: stories of Muslim American generosity

National Center for Family Philanthropy

Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy

“The Next Day” by Melinda French Gates

Connections for the Homeless

Equal Justice Initiative

PBS documentary series: “American Muslims: A History Revealed”

President of the Democracy Fund Joe Goldman offers both urgency and clarity for donors concerned about the U.S.’ democratic backslide into authoritarianism in this conversation. As the second Trump administration consolidates power, he offers a practical three-part framework for strategic, democracy-focused giving: strengthening guardrails, powering breakthrough strategies, and working toward reconstruction. 

In a conversation that grapples with difficult questions about donor fear and the paralyzing sense of overwhelm that many feel when considering the breadth of threats to democracy right now, Goldman shares specific examples of organizations doing critical work, and an array of ways that donors can get involved. His message is clear: "Courage breeds more courage. Solidarity breeds more solidarity."

Additional Resources

Democracy Fund

Democracy Fund Voice

Free DC

Press Forward

More Equitable Democracy

Protect Democracy

Democracy Forward

Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law

Government Accountability Project

GovAct

States United

Community Change

New America

Demos

Unite in Advance 

“Hope in the Dark” by Rebecca Solnit

“Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil” by Hannah Arendt