Author: Tory Martin

Government and philanthropy have long been partners: sometimes uneasy, but aligned in purpose. As of 2025, they look more like adversaries.

In the three years since generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools became widely available to the public, we have seen an extraordinary rate of growth and change. AI’s next era must focus on good governance.

Nonprofits must show they are competent — good at doing the work — in order to build trust with the public.

With federal datasets disappearing and trust in institutions continuing to decline, philanthropy must find ways to secure the data resources and capacity we need.

Attacks on public figures, executive orders and rhetoric that target specific nonprofits, and widespread instability have donors concerned about the safety of giving.

Nonprofit organizations are facing increasingly existential challenges — challenges that not only put their missions at risk, but threaten the well-being of their most valuable resource: their staff.

Facing unprecedented threats, some nonprofits are contracting while others reinvent themselves through experimentation, bifurcating into two distinct streams: how funding is organized, and how operations are structured.

In this era of hyper-disruption, navigating the tension between business goals and social goals will be a natural part of any partnership or crossover between business and philanthropy.

Public and nonprofit media are grappling with declining public trust, long-standing financial instability, and continued digital disruption, all while disinformation makes reliable news more important than ever.