On February 11th, Inside Philanthropy reported on the dilemma faced by community foundations in taking a political stance while keeping their diverse stakeholders satisfied. “They have to tread carefully on political or controversial issues because one of their key roles is to secure donations and set up charitable funds from donors with various backgrounds and beliefs. If community foundations alienate certain groups of people, they risk decreasing their overall capacity and effectiveness.
“One community foundation that we’ve been watching since Trump’s election is the New York Community Trust,” continues the article. “While this institution hasn’t clearly positioned itself as a locus of ‘resistance’ the way that, say, the San Francisco Foundation has, it’s been responsive to Trump’s rise in its grantmaking—even as it also continues business as usual.”
