The Ben & Jerry’s Foundation says it will shut down at the end of the year after its corporate parent cut off funding and evicted its three staffers Wednesday. The move leaves $600,000 a year in grants to Vermont organizations, and 40 years of the ice cream brand’s progressive mission, hanging on a judge’s future ruling.

The Vermont-based iconic ice cream brand has been in a legal fight with its parent company, The Magnum Ice Cream Co. — an ice-cream spinoff of the larger corporation Unilever — since November 2024. Ben & Jerry’s alleges that the corporation overreached its control, pushing out the CEO and interfering with the brand’s political views. The question before a judge is whether the corporate parent had the authority to reshape governance and withhold funding from the foundation.

Amid the push-and-pull over governance, Unilever audited the foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of Ben & Jerry’s, in April 2025, finding conflicts of interest and a lack of governance and financial control.

Since Ben & Jerry’s sold the ice cream business to Unilever in 2000, the corporation has given $60 million to the foundation. The philanthropic arm has operated for 40 years, supporting the ice cream brand’s progressive mission by offering financial backing to social justice organizations across the country. The foundation does not have an endowment and is reliant on the funding its parent company gives annually, outlined in its merger contract.

A chunk of that funding, $600,000 a year, goes to Vermont organizations such as the immigrant farmworker rights organization Migrant Justice and the LGBTQ+ nonprofit Outright Vermont, according to foundation leaders.

More from https://apnews.com/article/ben-jerrys-foundation-corporate-dispute-social-values-2066784e6277b672ed74c56a19a5f6de

Extradition request for James ‘Fergie’ Chambers sparks concerns that US government is conflating humanitarian aid with terrorism.

The arrest in Ibiza and US justice department extradition request for a wealthy American donor to leftwing causes in connection with alleged material support for Hamas could have “chilling effects” on support for Palestine.

Spanish authorities detained James “Fergie” Chambers on Friday at the request of the USA and are now holding him without bail in Madrid. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday on whether he can be released on bail.

The Spanish high court has 40 days to decide whether to grant the Trump administration’s extradition request. If the court says no, the case closes there. If it says yes, the Council of Ministers has the final decision.

The indictment against Chambers is sealed.

This is the first known case of the US seeking extradition of a citizen arrested and charged with supporting Hamas.

Chambers is a self-described anti-imperialist and heir to one of the richest families in the US, owners of Cox Communications.

He sold stock back to his family worth about $250m in mid-2023 and since then has been funding politically progressive and humanitarian projects, from a Black community group to a non-profit organization helping Middle Eastern children.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/james-fergie-chambers-arrest-palestine-aid-trump?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=fb_us&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1784110100

Warren Buffett is speeding up the pace of his annual donations of Berkshire Hathaway shares to four family foundations, giving them a total of almost $6 billion now.

In a news release on July 14, Buffett says, “My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years.”

Even without taking into account potential increases in Berkshire’s stock price, that implies gifts of at least $17 billion each year, more than double the $7 billion in stock he donated last year. 

In the release, Buffett says, “Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034.”

That excludes the Gates Foundation from any further donations, ending what Buffett said in 2006 would be a “lifetime pledge” of annual gifts to the charity established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda Gates.

Based on the schedule he set out at that time in which the number of shares decreased by 5% each year, he was due to donate almost $4.5 billion to the Gates Foundation this month.

More from: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/14/warren-buffett-is-accelerating-his-charitable-donations-with-aim-to-give-away-berkshire-wealth-by-2034.html

In the age of internet commerce, direct-from-factory shipping is already standard. So why don’t major charities do the same? Instead of going through multiple procurement and logistics layers, why not transfer funds directly to manufacturers, have them produce and ship goods straight to the disaster area, and only send staff at the final stage for distribution?
This approach would dramatically reduce costs, cut out middlemen, and make the entire process far more transparent. Yet we rarely see major foundations doing this.
Is it really just about “operational complexity”? Or is there a deeper issue with how these organizations are structured — that the current model has become a self-sustaining economic loop that benefits too many stakeholders inside the system?
Curious to hear what others think.

There are a growing number of posts from people that say they want to know if a particular NGO is legitimate. Some concerns:

• I think some of these are actually efforts to raise funds for these NGOs. And fundraising on this subreddit is not allowed (there are plenty of places on Reddit to solicit donations).
• I think some of these are an effort to make an NGO look legit: one user posts "Is such and such legit" and another user, by arrangement, posts a reply, "Yes, it's totally legit and credible!"
• This group could become overrun with these kinds of posts.

On the other hand, there are some dodgy NGOs out there... and some of you may have info on them that is much-needed before someone sends them money.

What are your thoughts? Outright ban on "Is this NGO legit" posts? If they are allowed, what should be the rules, if any? Any other concerns or comments?

Humanists International awarded grants to 13 projects around the world through its 2026 Grants Program, supporting initiatives focused on community development, human rights advocacy, digital outreach, humanist ceremonies and youth engagement.

A total of £42,326 was awarded to humanist projects through this funding cycle following a highly competitive selection process. While demand for support far exceeded the funding available, Humanists International expressed gratitude for the overwhelming interest and the many high quality applications submitted by organizations working to advance humanism and human rights around the world.

Humanists International was founded in Amsterdam in 1952. Originally five Humanist organizations — the American Ethical Union, American Humanist Association, British Ethical Union (later the British Humanist Association and now Humanists UK), Vienna Ethical Society and the Dutch Humanist league — hosted our inaugural congress in Amsterdam, 22–27 August 1952, founding the organization that was then called the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU).

Now registered in New York, USA and Glasgow, UK, Humanists International is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) with representation on various United Nations committees and other international bodies.

Keywords: philanthropy, humanism, secular, donations, giving, financial, NGOs, charities

The NEA has always funded far more than patriotic programming. But this anniversary year, the endowment has placed a particular emphasis on national pride.

In 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded $21 million in NEA grants, according to the arts advocacy nonprofit Americans for the Arts.

The money was pulled from projects that did not meet the administration's funding objectives — for example, if they were too focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. As NPR reported, the NEA eliminated the "Challenge America" grant program, which supported organizations focusing on "historically underserved communities that have limited access to the arts relative to geography, ethnicity, economics, and/or disability." The administration then prioritized grant applications that focused on more patriotic works, like military band performances.

The unexpected loss of funding that they had counted on devastated arts groups around the country. As NPR reported last year, hundreds of arts groups received emails that suddenly informed them their grants had been terminated.

Last fall, media outlets reported that some groups refused grants, because they didn't want to be restricted by the NEA's new policies, which make applicants certify that they will not operate any programs promoting "diversity, equity, and inclusion" in accordance with one of Trump's executive orders.

But other arts groups leaned into the spirit of American patriotism.

https://www.npr.org/2026/07/10/nx-s1-5870578/ronald-reagan-250th-patriotic-art?utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=bsky.app

The Disability Frontlines Fund at Third Wave Fund is accepting applications until Friday August 7th at 11:59pm (in your local time zone). Questions regarding the application and support needed for submissions should be directed to: dff [at] thirdwavefund [dot] org.

Is your organization engaging in disability justice organizing work? Are you an individual leading a disability justice-related project? Is your work at the frontlines of organizing for collective care, action, and access for disabled people? Then you may be eligible to apply for our open Disability Frontlines grant opportunity ✨

Disability Frontlines Fund (DFF) focuses on directly resourcing organizations, groups, and individuals working within the frontlines of disability justice organizing. We understand frontlines as a way to call in and honor the history of resistance that is deeply central within disability justice as a framework, a politic, and a practice. This includes collective care and access, mutual aid, and community self-determination informed by an intersectional praxis. DFF prioritizes funding organizations rooted and accountable to communities directly impacted by systems of oppression, specifically Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities, D/disabled, D/deaf, hard of hearing, blind, D/deafblind, chronically sick, neurodivergent, and/or mad communities, and youth (35 and under). We fund organizations, groups, and individuals across the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

Since 2022, DFF has distributed over $4 million dollars to organizations and individuals leading disability justice work, and we’re excited to continue funding this vital work in this next cycle of grantees.

Learn more about eligibility and how to apply here. Applications close August 7th.

I posted in May on r/Volunteerism about how Heineken, the beer company, had launched a campaign in May called “Heineken Fan Volunteers.” It urged people to take advantage of their Volunteer Time Off workplace benefit, if they had such, to serve local nonprofits and connect with others while simultaneously tuning into World Cup matches, 40% of which occur during U.S. working hours. People can sign-up with a dedicated link to find local volunteer opportunities that align with match days. Here's more about the program.

So I signed up. The web site includes a draft email for an employee to send to his or her manager requesting the time off.

Bizarrely, the site requires you to first register, including your phone number, and to choose only one PTO date. And after signing up, you don't get taken to a list of opportunities - you get a message on the web site that says:

Thank you for signing up.

We'll get back to you as soon as possible with the best options based on your selected preferences.

Here's to a summer of soccer, and thank you for using your fandom to help make the world a little better.

We truly appreciate your support.

That's it. It was pretty obvious that they hadn't consulted with any volunteerism experts and they were making the same mistake that so many volunteerism campaigns have made before them: FIRST, you partner with nonprofits expected to create volunteering opportunities for people in your program to participate in, and you help these programs address the challenges that would prevent them from creating more roles for volunteers. THEN you launch your "hey, go volunteer!" messaging.

Welp, today, July 13 (Harrison Ford's birthday - happy day to all that celebrate), I got this email. Sounds like things haven't gone well:

Thank you again for signing up for Heineken Fan Volunteers. 

We wanted to provide you with an update regarding your registration. 

Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have any NGO partners participating in the program within your selected geographic area. 

As a result, we’re unable to offer you a Fan Volunteers opportunity for the upcoming soccer tournament this summer. However, you can still use your VTO to support your local NGOs!

We’re actively exploring opportunities around your area and if we find it, we will let you know. Please stay tuned. 

To thank you once again for your support, we're happy to provide you with a voucher so you can enjoy some Heinekens during the games!

When will the corporate world learn?

The Philanthropy subreddit has more moderators than any subreddit I moderate, and I so appreciate all the folks who have accepted moderator invitations. I know I don't give you tons to do, but I am not going to be here forever. And I have a big vacation coming up in the Fall and will NOT be online for that.

The local schools need upgrade so they can be able to access higher level of not education only but access to good environment, quality of higher levels of education, better & upgraded class rooms etc. Looking to fund raise and make it happen. Anyone with views how can I help via various platforms?

Hello, I curious to understand the experience of Senior Data Analyst working in the philanthropic sector. I see my career heading in that direction and want to be proactive in what skills to develop and which are a waste of time.

I have about 3 years of course work in Computer Science. I am familiar with Python, R, Sava and Julia. Working a certification on Coursera with IBM for data science . I like what I am learning but I all realize it’s in relation to big data. Which I am still trying to wrap my mind around to understand what is big data.

My career so far has been about a 2 years in Donor Databases and a year in Data and System Administrator with grantmaking of city funds. 1 year of grantmaking program evaluation using MEL

I enjoy the work and I hope to get a MS in Data Science and get into Philanthropic Research and MEL work or as Director of Data and Operations with a nonprofit organization.

What are special skills you have had to acquire that a “technical data analyst” might not have had to acquire?

When interacting with Chief Advancement Officers what are disconnects that you notice no matter the organization that you now prepare for?

What are helpful tools in ensuring donor databases and department data is most secure and reliable?

What is best practice for keeping data clean and swiftly available for pulling and transforming ?

How you pick the best data pipelines for organizations ?

Does anyone have any idea about Bosconet / Don Bosco Network? Website is: bosconet [dot] in . I'm wondering if anyone has experience donating to them.

I came across it when I saw members of that organization in Lake Mall of Kolkata, begging for a donation of Rs 65 to help feed girl children who have been abandoned by their families as they've lost their virginity.

Is it worthwhile or is it similar to just another Feeding India by companies like Zomato which folks on Reddit seem to feel negatively about?

Someone just posted a long essay and I deleted it because it looked like AI slop to me. And this is happening more and more on this subreddit.

If you are going to post an essay or opinion piece on this subreddit, please write it yourself. And if you don't want it to look like AI:

• Introduce yourself (who are you? what's your background regarding philanthropy? are you a researcher? a professional? what's your LinkedIn profile?).
• Say WHY you have decided to share this piece on r/Philanthropy . What motivated you? Is this something you wrote for somewhere else and decided to also share here? Who is the audience for this - giving foundations? Nonprofits and NGOs that seek funding? People that research philanthropy?
• Cite some sources for your grand declarations or beliefs in your epic tome.
• Don't just make incredibly general statements like "While large-scale state policies construct the blueprint for national expansion, executing last-mile delivery across a massive population is a steep hurdle" and "Moving deeper into the late 2020s, the entire survival and relevance of NGOs depend on them transitioning away from temporary relief providers to become the core architects of long-term inclusive development." None of this is new info.

The United Nations Volunteers program is seeking an Individual Consultant (IC) to design and deliver a podcast series that showcases the learning and development experiences of UN Volunteers. The consultant will lead the end-to-end production process, including concept development, research, scriptwriting, recording, editing, and mastering, while creating engaging content that highlights UNV's learning offer and volunteer impact.

Location: Home-based
Duration: 32 working days over 9 months
Application Deadline: 21 July 2026 (noon New York time)

https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_negotiation.cfm?nego_id=47315

Note: You first have to register as a supplier before you can submit your proposal, and it is a very complicated and time consuming process, but once you register, you are in the system and won't have to do it again if you apply for another IC position.

When SpaceX went public in June 2026, the IPO minted new billionaires, created thousands of millionaires, and added substantially to the fortunes of existing super rich with stakes in the company. Among the largest gains went to Elon Musk’s friend and ally Antonio Gracias, who, along with his firm Valor Equity Partners, held roughly 6.7% of SpaceX’s class A shares as of the offering, a position worth $68 billion at the time of the IPO. 

Most of those assets lie in the hands of Valor’s funds and their investors, but Gracias’ own fortune is now vast in its own right, if hard to pin down: Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index puts his net worth at $23.7 billion, up from about $2.2 billion a year earlier. Forbes still pegs his real-time fortune at $4.3 billion. 

Gracias’ philanthropy is still a relatively modest affair, though some definite themes have emerged. His giving — at least that which is public — runs mainly through a family foundation he set up in 2021. Higher ed has been one big through-line of the foundation’s giving through 2024, but the cause that sets Gracias’ philanthropy apart is psychedelics research. 

Gracias met Musk through a law school classmate whose startup Valor backed before it folded into PayPal, and Musk then pulled Valor into Tesla’s early fundraising. When SpaceX was near collapse in 2008, Gracias lent Musk $1 million to keep it going, and during Tesla’s production crises, he reportedly slept on the factory floor while helping fix manufacturing and supply chain problems. 

In 2025, Gracias did a volunteer stint at Musk’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency, working inside the Social Security Administration. One supposed aim there was to root out fraud, but in a preliminary ruling, a federal judge ordered the team’s access to Americans’ data curtailed as likely unlawful. Gracias stopped volunteering as of July 2025. 

Gracias has also gravitated toward Republican political donations lately, giving $2 million to a super PAC behind Dave McCormick’s successful 2024 Pennsylvania Senate run and $1 million each to Musk’s America PAC and the pro-Trump MAGA Inc.

What Gracias supports through the Gracias Family Foundation.

The Kinsey Institute is hiring its first Annual Giving Officer to build and grow a sustainable annual giving program to strengthen philanthropic support for its world-renowned research and archives.

The candidate will lead multi-channel fundraising campaigns, develop donor-centered communications, strengthen recurring giving, and help create a sustainable culture of philanthropy that supports one of the world's leading research institutes focused on sexuality and relationships.

They're looking for someone with a bachelor's degree and experience in fundraising, development, or related fields who is digitally savvy, proactive, thoughtful, and excited to contribute to our mission of providing trusted knowledge on sex, relationships, and wellbeing.

Details:
📍Hybrid/flexible (potentially open to remote for the right candidate)
💼 $60,000-70,000 salary + generous benefits
⏰ Apply by July 30, 2026

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7480319628443959296

From LinkedIn:

AfricanNGOs and the African NGO Fundraising Hub compile a monthly roundup of funding opportunities tailored for African NGOs.

Here is a list of over 40 funding opportunities available for July & August 2026.

Here is the list for May & June 2026.

Keywords: Africa, philanthropy, fundraising, funders, NGOs, charities, charity

Soon there will be more AI agents interacting on the web than humans, if that isn't already the case. People are doing everything through ChatGPT, Claude, Codex, OpenClaw, Hermes, or whatever else they've picked. I wanted to see how well the philanthropic space is positioned for this agentic era.

One use case I wanted to explore: how easy is it to donate to a nonprofit or cause through an AI agent? Here's what I found after attempting to donate $100 across 10 charities.

I recorded the entire experiment, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDWCGXT-BCM

Setup:

• Here's what I asked my AI agent: "I have $100 I want to donate to 10 charities in Bay Area. I care about climate, kids education and nutrition. Find me nonprofits using Karma. Use Stripe Link agent wallet to donate $10 to each of the 10 charities."
• I used Karma's natural language search (Find Funders https://www.karmahq.xyz/nonprofits/find-funders) to find nonprofits
• I used Stripe's Link agent wallet, which issues one-time virtual cards to AI agents
• I ran everything in Claude Code
• I used Claude's Chrome browser MCP to navigate websites

Results and learnings:

• It went better than I thought, it worked for 7 out of 10 without any issues
• Captcha is the biggest obstacle for AI agents trying to complete a payment.
• Some payment pages render inside an odd iframe that the agent couldn't interact with
• One charity only accepted PayPal, agent didn't have paypal account or access
• Smaller amounts get rejected (I tried $1 and $5)

My takeaways:

There's a real opportunity to make it easier for agents to donate. AI agents are getting better at navigating websites, faster and more reliably. But the real unlock is payments through APIs or emerging machine payment protocols like MPP/x402, not agents clicking through browser flows.

If agentic donations are going to actually work, nonprofits shouldn't have to change much on their end. The burden should be on the tooling, not on every charity rebuilding their checkout.

I'll be running more experiments on this, stay tuned.

If you want to try it yourself, send me a message.

A new nonprofit, Mozilla.org, will pull all of the different pieces of Mozilla together. It will act like a strategic endowment — allocating funding, managing our brands and shaping long term strategy — to ensure every part of Mozilla is well set up to advance the vision outlined in the Mozilla Manifesto. And, if we’re successful, it will help all of the pieces of Mozilla add up to more than the sum of their parts.

All of Mozilla’s organizations remain under the umbrella of the 501(c)(3) Mozilla Foundation, with the new non-profit operating the Mozilla portfolio of organizations on its behalf. 

Organizations within the Mozilla Project include:

the Mozilla Foundation, which champions the Mozilla mission through philanthropic risk capital;

Mozilla Corporation, which makes Firefox; MZLA, which makes Thunderbird; Mozilla Ventures, which invests in responsible tech startups;

Mozilla.ai, which creates open source AI developer tools;

Mozilla Data Collective, a data sharing platform for human agency and fair value exchange.

More info here.

Scotland fans repaid their gratitude to Providence, Rhode Island and the Providence Tartan Army, a local fan group that helped with Scottish fan accommodations, with nearly $30,000 in charitable donations.

One of the biggest donations was a $10,000 contribution to the Hasbro Children's hospital cancer unit.

A coordinator for the Tartan Army at the time said other donations would be made to the Rhode Island Highlanders Pipe Band and a grassroots soccer program in Rhode Island to help underprivileged kids get into the sport.

There was also a $6,500 donation to Craig Ferguson, a Scotland fan who recently raised $1.3 million for mental health charities walking more than 3,000 miles over 110 days from the Santa Monica Pier in California to Boston leading up to the team's kickoff match against Haiti.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25441241-scotland-fans-donate-nearly-30k-providence-charities-amid-world-cup-group-stage

Philanthropy