What’s Happening in Philanthropy:
- The Andrew Carnegie Foundation approved 44 grants, including:
- $5M over 3 years — Trust for Civic Life
- $1.1M over 3 years — Braver Angels
- $1M over 2 years — Mikva Challenge Grant Foundation
- $1M over 2 years — Constructive Dialogue Institute
- $1M over 3 years — More in Common
- $750K over 2 years — for the Democracy Innovation Fund
- $500K over 2 years — New_ Public
- $400K over 2 years — Mormon Women for Ethical Government Foundation
- $300K over 2 years — Eradicate Hate Global Summit
- From national service land…Lead for America received $800K from AmeriCorps to launch the Rural Partners Corps!
- Congratulations to the recipients of New Pluralists’ $5M 2026 Breakthrough Fund!
- The seven grantees are working to connect communities across class divides (and tackle problems like housing and AI disruption).
- Grants range from $600K to $750K over three years.
- In January 2027, the Ford Foundation’s staff will be divided into three units, per The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The three groups will focus on:
- Further refining Ford’s new strategy (which will take effect in January 2028),
- Maintaining current grants, and
- Devising tie-off funding for grantees that won’t be in the new strategy.
- Check out the recording of “What Philanthropy Can (and Cannot) Do to Reduce the Dangers of Polarization.”
- The event featured the presidents of the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
- Those foundation presidents and more (13 in total) were convened by the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) and others to discuss polarization.
- Here are 10 ideas from that retreat.
- MacArthur Foundation is extending their commitment to a 6 percent payout rate through 2028.
- They exceeded their commitments in 2025 with charitable spending estimated at $647M, or a rate of 7.1 percent.
- The Beacon Project, an initiative at More in Common, was awarded a $2.2M grant (over three years) by the John Templeton Foundation.
- The grant, entitled “Freedom and Responsibility: Building a National Narrative of Mutual Obligation,” will support research, community-building, and communications.
- $20K grant from Interfaith America for campuses to establish “Civic Pluralism” as a core competency of undergraduate education.
- The 2026–28 Engaging Difference in General Education (EDGE) Grants will award six colleges and universities up to $20K each, plus 18 months of cohort-based support.
- Press Forward now has 48 chapters! The latest additions are:
- Western New York — our first chapter in the Empire State, led by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
- Central Coast, California — led by Ventura County Community Foundation
- New Hampshire — led by the Endowment for Health
- Amardeep Singh is the new president and CEO of Proteus Fund!
- The New York Post reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the IRS are planning to go after the tax status of organizations including:
- Open Society Foundations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
- They write: Bessent’s inner circle is drafting a blueprint that could ultimately strip non-compliant organizations of their 501(c)(3) status, according to two of the people familiar with the plans. The reviews could result in massive back payments and civil penalties, the same sources said.
- One of the first pieces I saw in response came from an unexpected corner: The Cato Institute. In “An Ideologically Driven Plan To Target Nonprofits?” Cato’s Walter Olson calls the Treasury/IRS scheme “dangerous and constitutionally suspect.” Back in May, Cato hosted a panel on “The Freedom to Give” (recap here).
- The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation accepts applications on a rolling basis from early-stage (~2-5 years old) social enterprises, including nonprofits.
- They provide deep capacity-building support and $300K over three years.
- Humanity United is embarking on a new organizational strategy process to set the course for their next five years. Grantmaking will continue during the process.
- Community foundations! Apply for the Council on Foundations’ Community Foundations Working Across Differences Accelerator. Selected community foundation applicants will receive:
- A $20K planning grant (potential for $45K in follow-on funding for early implementation),
- Coaching and a structured learning agenda, and a space for peer learning…
- Creatives!! Have an illustration, short video, graphic, or something else that tells a compelling story about democracy? Apply to the Democracy Stories Lab for a chance to win $1K! (9/14 deadline.)
- This effort is supported by People Powered and the Democracy Narratives Alliance.
- The Nathan Cummings Foundation accepts letters of inquiry on a rolling basis for grants ranging from $100K-$250K+.
- Democracy organizations may be a fit for their Racial Justice focus area.
- Check out the third-to-last section of their FAQ page, “What kind of work does the Foundation support to advance racial justice?”
- They write: “In 2026, we are particularly interested in hyper-local civic engagement work in the U.S. South in the areas of school board reform, preemption, and voter suppression.”
- Areas of interest also include work that:
- “Decreases regressive policies aimed at disenfranchising BIPOC communities and limiting civic participation,”
- “Fosters leadership development for public servants including advocates and elected officials,” and
- “Encourages innovative policy interventions around democratic values.”
- Board updates and philanthropy job transitions!
- The Knight Foundation is establishing a new Strategy & Learning department which will be led by Kyla Elhelo, with Jon Belgrad as Director, Strategy Execution!
- The Pew Charitable Trusts added three directors to its board: Natalie Gochnour, Alisa Miller, and Deborah Winshel.
- The American Journalism Project (AJP) added two new board members:
- Margaret Hoover, host of PBS’s “Firing Line,” and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief Washington and foreign affairs correspondent.
- Congratulations to the Trust for Civic Life’s 2026 Civic Hub grantees!
- The Trust awarded $7.6M via 20 grants of $300K-$425K (over three years) to organizations working in rural areas to strengthen trust and agency.
- Two op-eds in The Chronicle of Philanthropy call on democracy funders to do things differently:
- Ben Chou, Program Officer for Democracy, Rights, and Governance at the Packard Foundation, lays out an alternative strategy to “base building” — “majority activation.”
- Rachel Pritzker, philanthropist and co-founder of Democracy Funders Network and Patriots & Pragmatists, argues that democracy funders may be making things worse by:
- Backing adversarial advocacy which further polarizes the country.
- Assuming “that our positions are both morally obvious and broadly popular — that we represent the public because we invest in public goods.”
- Underinvesting in “an affirmative vision that a broad majority of Americans recognize as their own,” rather than defending institutions that haven’t delivered.
- $250K for local communities to engage in civic action! The National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) launched a community mini-grant fund, “What’s Next, America?” There are two types of grants:
- Spark Grants — $1K
- Civic Action Grants — $2.5K-$5K
- Funding for service! (Think: national service.)
- Schultz Family Foundation and Andrew Carnegie Foundation committed $10M to the Service United Fund to help states and territories expand opportunities for service.
- States and territories can apply for grants ranging from $100K to $1.5M.
- This investment pairs with the National Governors Association’s 2026–2027 chair’s campaign, Service United (driven by chair Governor Wes Moore).
- This effort was also supported by the Hewlett Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, and others.
- Schultz Family Foundation and Andrew Carnegie Foundation committed $10M to the Service United Fund to help states and territories expand opportunities for service.
- Detail here on the Borealis Philanthropy “Just Futures Initiative” grant opportunity.
- “Most grants are expected to fall within the $50,000–$75,000 range, with a smaller number of larger collaborative or ecosystem grants up to $200,000”
- Grants will be 12-months and general operating support.
- Three priority funding lanes:
- Movement Defense + Protection of Civil and Human Rights
- Community-Defined Safety + Innovative Alternatives to Criminalization
- Local Democracy Protection + Belonging Infrastructure
- The American Journalism Project (AJP) announced $3.25M in investments in three nonprofit local news organizations:
- $1M — The Maine Monitor
- $1.25M — NC Local
- $1M — The Richmonder
- These investments follow last week’s $1.4M investment by the AJP, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, More Perfect, and the Public Media Bridge Fund in Texas Public Radio after its combination with the San Antonio Report.
- The Cleveland-based George Gund Foundation announced two grants in their “Democracy Building” program area:
- $250K over 2 years — Fair Elections Center
- $250K over 2 years — Ohio Mayors Alliance Foundation
- Press Forward announced $1.45M in grants “to advance state policies supporting local news.”
- Through With Neighbors (with support from The Hearthland Foundation), start a microgrant program in your community to bring your neighbors together!
- And read “A neighborhood microgrant in every town,” by Sam Pressler, Josh Nesbit, and Elise Granata in Connective Tissue for the backstory!
- Congrats to Kelly Jin on the launch of the Erica Pincus Arabesque Foundation!
- Apply for the $1K-$5K “Erica Pincus ‘Not Yet’ Innovation Grants” here.
- Huge congrats to CivicLex!! Today they announced $900K in funding from the Knight Foundation to start a new multi-city civic health collaborative.
- Led by CivicLex, the collaborative will support civic health organizations in three other Knight Foundation communities:
- Wichita, Kansas – The Kansas Leadership Center
- Tallahassee, Florida – The Village Square
- Columbia, South Carolina – Richland Library
- Each partner organization will receive funding and has committed to raising local matching funds.
- Led by CivicLex, the collaborative will support civic health organizations in three other Knight Foundation communities:
- Civic Right Fund announced 23 grants totaling $1.15M!
- Grants include 9 grants focused on civic culture ($440K in total) and 14 grants focused on elections ($710K in total).
- They’re also accepting grant proposals on a rolling basis from now through the end of the year, mainly for election-related support!
- Philanthropy transitions and board announcements!
- Congratulations to Jonathan Gruber who is winding down his time at Einhorn Collaborative after 12 years!!
- Ian Solomon was named the eighth president and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund!
- Media Impact Funders welcomed three members of their board of directors:
- Angelica Das, Director of the Reimagine & Rebuild Program at Democracy Fund,
- Vidya Krishnamurthy, Vice President and Chief of Communications and Strategic External Engagement at the Hewlett Foundation, and
- Marcia Parker, Vice President of Philanthropic Partnerships at The New York Times.
- Local news folks!! Three Press Forward local chapters have opened applications for newsroom funding.
- Press Forward Chicago: Focused on collaborations, shared resources and/or infrastructure benefitting local media.
- Press Forward New Jersey: Supporting community-rooted local news and information providers serving South Jersey.
- Press Forward South Florida: Centered on strengthening newsroom sustainability and supporting collaboration among local news organizations.
What to Read & Listen to:
- Huge congrats to the many, many leaders in the U.S. democracy space who were named Obama Foundation 2026-2027 United States Leaders! They include:
- Caroline Hutton, Amara Manoogian, Erin Wilson, Landon Mascareñaz, Ryan Greer, Toby Cain, and more!
- Soren Dayton and James Wallner at the Foundation for American Innovation offer a very thoughtful take on the need for factions in Congress.
- Faaaaabulous resource hub from the Alliance for Justice with info on how 501(c)(3)s can be useful (in nonpartisan ways) around the election.
- From Protect Democracy’s Jessica Marsden, clear takeaways from a recent trip to Brazil with other U.S. democracy advocates.
- She also points to recent research published in the Journal of Democracy
- Big kudos to the American Journalism Project on their impressive impact AND a really neat impact report.
- Researchers! The call for papers for the 2027 Cambridge Disinformation Summit will open on September 15. The theme is “Research on Incentives or Power Infrastructures that Support Disinformation and Malign Cognitive Influence Campaigns.”
- Incredible report from the Othering and Belonging Institute on collaborative governance.
- What happens when folks from bridging, organizing, and participatory democracy work on a local project together?
- As you know, I’m a fan of great curation. Here’s some:
- The Horizons Project’s “The VISTA: August 2026.”
- The Renovator’s latest “Civic Education News Roundup.”
- The Summer 2026 issue of Dædalus (the journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences) is out, and it’s all about renovating American democracy!
- The edition was guest edited by the cochairs of the Our Common Purpose commission (Danielle Allen, Stephen B. Heintz, and Eric P. Liu). It includes:
- “Civic Media in the Second Gilded Age” by Darryl Holliday,
- “Community News Is the Key” by Steve Waldman,
- “Upgrading Congress to Meet the Demands of the 21st Century” by Kevin Kosar,
- “Democracy in Practice: A Report on Innovations in Participatory Governance” by Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, and…
- Lots more! Including pieces by Adam Ambrogi, Jahnavi Rao, and more.
- The edition was guest edited by the cochairs of the Our Common Purpose commission (Danielle Allen, Stephen B. Heintz, and Eric P. Liu). It includes:
- “It feels like the guard is being exploited,” said one National Guard member deployed to D.C.
- Amazing reporting from NPR on how guard troops have felt about their (ongoing) deployment.
- Want to dive (deep) into the research on civics education?
- Check out this new paper that reviewed over 500 peer-reviewed studies!
- In Convergence Magazine, Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Co-Executive Director of Highlander Center, writes “The Battleground Map Is Lying to You” and makes the case for investment in the South.
- If you read one thing this week, read Alexandria J. Maloney’s piece about the disconnect between how Black leaders talk about civil rights and the conversation around authoritarianism.
- Rebrand alert(s)! Common Cause has a new look, as does Campaign Legal Center!
- From Mike Gavin, President and CEO of the Alliance for Higher Education, “How to Fight Authoritarian Attacks on Higher Education.”
- Polling! All in one place! Check out States United Democracy Center’s newly launched hub for polling on elections and the rule of law.
- Check out this nifty new report from New America, “A Renewed Role for Community Colleges as Pillars of American Democracy.”
- Want to better understand wonky democracy reform things like “Condorcet voting”?
- Here’s a high-quality explainer series, courtesy of the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Government and Policy!
- What do “political operatives” from both parties think about the parties themselves and electoral reform?
- Nifty new report from Bipartisan Policy Center!
- Pete Buttigieg…biiig democracy reform guy. In his interview with The Bulwark’s Tim Miller this week, he talked about:
- Expanding SCOTUS and the House of Representatives,
- DC statehood,
- A constitutional amendment on money in politics,
- “The Montana Plan” to curb money in politics, and
- Accountability! (Partial quote below.)
- “This is not about going after fellow Americans who disagreed with us politically. This is about making sure that corruption doesn’t go unchecked….It’s not about Republicans and Democrats.”
- Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance is out with their 2026 summer reading lists! Check out reading lists from:
- Mind the Movement is hosting free weekly peer support groups!
- They currently host groups for: job seekers, former federal workers, men working in movement spaces, and EDs/campaign managers!
- Find your group (or recommend one you’d like to see) here.
- There’s a new push to get the National Guard out of DC (which would make my evening walks much less disconcerting), as covered by Dan Froomkin in Heads Up News.
- Evidence, yay! Insights from the Trust for Civic Life’s second community survey!
- “Joining a group of people who are solving concrete, everyday problems enhances a person’s confidence that they can make change.”
- “Simply logging more volunteer hours is not connected to greater feelings of agency.”
- “But people who take on leadership roles and responsibilities with a civic organization do feel an increased sense of agency.”
- “Across the 24 communities surveyed, three local institutions—libraries, nonprofits, and community foundations—consistently earn the highest levels of trust of any local or national entity.”
- Another excellent “Civic Education News Roundup” from Joanna Kenty at The Renovator!
- Judges on a bus!! Cool!
- Back in 2020 and 2021, judges in Poland rented minivans and traveled across the country explaining why they were standing up for the rule of law.
- Next week, a group of retired judges, lawyers, and civic leaders will board a bus in Pittsburgh and go on a week-long journey across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.
- The Justice in Motion Tour is an initiative of Democracy Rising Collaborative and Keep Our Republic.
- Yes, America won a war for its independence. But, as Ben Naimark-Rowse writes…
- “American revolutionaries led not one, but three nonviolent resistance campaigns in the decade before the Revolutionary War. These campaigns were coordinated. They were primarily nonviolent.”
- (Paywall) In Checks & Balances, Gregg Nunziata and Stephen Richer write “Conservatives Must Apply Rule of Law Principles to Elections.”
- Checks & Balances is the Substack newsletter of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, a community of conservative lawyers to support the rule of law.
- Legacy szn. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and UC Berkeley announced the launch of the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy.
- It’s a new nonpartisan institute dedicated to strengthening American democracy.
Events:
- Here is a 2026 roundup of democracy-related events.
Transitions, transitions:
- Philanthropy transitions!
- Mala Adiga is now the Paul Angell Foundation’s first Senior Program Officer, Democracy!
- Caleb Jackson has joined Open Society Foundations as Associate Director for Rights and Economic Renewal!
- After more than three years as founding director of the Packard Foundation’s Democracy, Rights & Governance initiative, Kelly Born is:
- Taking on a new role as Senior Advisor on AI, and
- Continuing as Senior Advisor to the Democracy, Rights & Governance initiative during the search for its next director.
- Samantha Perlman has joined Whistleblower Aid as Associate Counsel!
- Carlos F. Rosales is now Principal Strategist at Democracy Rising Collective!
- Carissa Goodwin is now Senior Advisor at the Institute for Responsive Government!
- Harmonie Coleman has joined NewComm, an NYC-based civic design studio for high-schoolers, as their Director of Learning & Strategy!
- Kelsey Coates is now Director, Program Management and Strategic Initiatives at the Henry Luce Foundation!
- Jess Fleuti is now Vice President, Convenings & Partnerships at the Skoll Foundation!
- Meghan Topp Goodwin has joined the Rooney Democracy Institute at the University of Notre Dame as Associate Institute Director for Policy Impact!
- Noah Geisel is now Senior Scholar, Office of Public Purpose and Opportunity at the American Association of Colleges and Universities!
- Vandinika Shukla is now Democracy Lead at the Obama Foundation!
- Lisa Del Sesto has joined the League of Women Voters of Connecticut as Senior Director!
- Becca Kearl is now Director of Empowerment at Mormon Women for Ethical Government!
- DuShaun Branch is now Interim Executive Director of CHANGE Illinois!
- Heather Davis has joined Third Plateau as a Senior Operations Associate!
- New faces at The Chamberlain Network:
- Hannah Stiverson is now Director of Policy!
- Shaniyah Wrighton is now Operations Associate!
- Lesley Farby has joined Democracy Forward as a Senior Legal Advisor!
- David Earl has joined the Partnership for Public Service as Director of Major Gifts and Individual Giving!
- John Kelly is now CEO of America’s Service Commissions!
- Melissa Hooper is now Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at UC Law SF!
- Vanessa Mbonu has joined the ACLU as Director of Editorial Strategy and Storytelling!
- Daniel Weiner is now Senior Director of the Brennan Center for Justice Elections and Government team!
- Becca Hartman-Pickerill is now Director of Civic Health at CFLeads!
- Ravi Garla is now Chief Program Officer at Voting Rights Lab!
- Mike Piel is now Director of Philanthropy at American Promise!
- Jim Lauckhardt is now Chief Impact and Evaluation Officer at Citizens & Scholars!
- Paul Osadebe has joined Democracy Forward as a Senior Attorney and Editor at Red Line for Civil Rights!
- Sarah Valor has joined Civic News Company as VP of Philanthropy!
- Transitions over at People Powered!
- Founder and Co-Executive Director Josh Lerner has stepped down to work on a book project on the future of democracy!
- Greta Ríos will continue as the organization’s sole Executive Director!
- Melissa Williams has joined Democracy Defenders Action as Director of Election Safeguarding Initiatives!
- Taylor J. Swift has joined Recoding America Fund as Director of Federal Government Affairs!
- Lena Kukelhaus is now Chief of staff at FairVote!
- Cassie Miller is now Pennsylvania Coalition Coordinator at Rebuild Local News!
- Upasna Gautam is now Head of Product & AI Studio at the American Journalism Project!
- Adrian Shahbaz has joined The International Foundation for Electoral Systems!
- James Williams is now Senior Director of National Campaigns at the ACLU!
- Somil Trivedi has joined Court Accountability as Advocacy Director and Senior Counsel!
- Elaine Díaz Rodríguez is now Director of Partnerships at The Center for Community Media at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism!
- Steve Bocknek has joined A More Perfect Union as Vice President, Leadership & Organizing!
- Sarah Nasta has joined the Institute for Responsive Government as Senior Advisor of Election Administration & Federal Affairs!
- Christina Beeler has joined the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee as Senior Counsel on the Midwest Voting Rights team!
- Matthew Victor is now Executive Director of Digital Civic Infrastructure at Partners in Democracy!
- James Williams is now Senior Director of National Campaigns at the ACLU!
That’s all for now. Be sure to subscribe to receive Gabe’s Democracy Notes regularly.
Gabriel Lerner is Author of Democracy Notes and Editor of Democracy Notes Perspectives.
