February 10, 2025
San Francisco Standard: ‘We risk it all’: Bay Area nonprofits reel from Trump funding cuts and chaos
On Jan. 27, thousands of U.S. nonprofit leaders […] were horrified to learn that the federal Office of Management and Budget had ordered a halt on payments for virtually every grant.
Judith Bell, Chief Impact Officer for the San Francisco Foundation, said her organization has fielded an increase in requests for cash from its rapid-response fund and plans to start disbursing money soon. But she warned that if another nationwide federal spending pause goes into effect, foundations like hers won’t come close to filling the gaps.
“Philanthropy cannot substitute for government. It’s a fool’s errand to think that we could,” Bell said. Compared to the trillions of dollars the federal government spends, philanthropy, she said, is “like a tiny drop in the ocean.”
