Quarterly Research Roundup

📊 What We’re Tracking: Policy and Research

Bounded Rationality: The Role of Knowledge of Regulations in Nonprofits’ Engagement in Policy Advocacy
Faulk, Kim, and MacIndoe | June 2025

• Nonprofit leaders’ legal knowledge of what policy and election activities are permissible is the strongest determinant of engagement in those activities. Nonprofit leaders demonstrate greater awareness of activities they cannot do versus what they can do.
• The authors explore this knowledge gap through the theory of bounded rationality: complex, unclear regulatory rules make it difficult and costly for leaders to make fully informed decisions about permissible activities, limiting their participation. However, they identify several factors that help leaders overcome these limits to engage in more proactive policy advocacy.
• Factors like increasing a leader’s expertise, targeted training, tapping into existing advocacy structures, membership in associations, building relationships with government‑relations staff, and ties to government or coalitions positively affect participation in advocacy and lobbying activities. Organizations that serve people of color and people in poverty are more likely to engage in policy and civic activities.

Are Donor-Advised Funds Facilitating Opaque Giving to Politically Engaged Charities?
Flannery and Mittendorf | July 2025

• Donor-advised funds (DAF) sponsors fund politically engaged charities, those engaged in lobbying or supporting political campaigns, at 1.7x the rate of other funding sources.
• DAFs provide one-quarter of all contributions to fringe groups (i.e., hate and anti-government organizations), funding them 3.5x more than other donors.
• DAF sponsors increase their political giving when they receive more private foundation support, suggesting that foundations may use DAFs to move funds to politically engaged charities or to anonymize giving to politically engaged charities.

Nonprofits Are Sitting on a Powerful Antidote to America’s Loneliness Epidemic
Next City | April 2026

• Half of U.S. adults report feeling isolated, left out, or lacking companionship, according to the American Psychological Association.
• Harvard researchers found that collective service can counter this loneliness epidemic by grounding people in shared purpose and social connection, thus improving mental well-being.
• Nonprofits can combat loneliness by designing meaningful volunteer opportunities that create a “third space” where people give back, build connections, and foster belonging through purpose-aligned service.

A Sector in Crisis: How U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations are Responding to Threats
The Center for Effective Philanthropy | January 2026

• Nonprofits are facing rising demand and declining funding; in response, foundations have adjusted their practices, with 64% providing nonprofits emergency or rapid response grants to face the current context.
• Still, both nonprofit (93%) and foundations (54%) believe foundations can do more to support with half of nonprofits calling for increased capacity-building support.

🗣️ From the Field: Webinar and Events

The Redistricting Revolution: Navigating CA’s New Political Landscape Post-Prop. 50
California Policy Forum | January 20, 2026

• Prop 50 temporarily shifted redistricting authority away from the independent commission to the California Legislature, triggering a rapid, mid-decade remapping that will influence district representation and the 2026 midterm election landscape.
• This reshuffled the political landscape by altering incumbency advantages and creating newly competitive, battleground districts, prompting campaigns, communities, and nonprofits to reassess where representation and influence is most at stake.
• The new redistricting raises discussions about potential community dilution, emerging Black political influence, and the need for nonprofits to rebuild relationships and advocacy strategies under new political realities.

Trump 2.0 Series: ICE, Sanctuary Policies, and Federal Funding – What Nonprofits Need to Know
CalNonprofits and CNM, CHIRLA, MCN, 805 UndocuFund, Friends of International Friendship Park | March 24, 2026

• Federal attempts to withhold funding over “sanctuary” status are in active litigation, and while a preliminary injunction prevents immediate cuts, nonprofits are navigating an unsettled landscape where future federal funding and enforcement remain unclear.
• ICE activity is reshaping nonprofit operations, service delivery, and risk planning, pushing organizations, especially those serving immigrant communities, to reassess protocols, support staff and clients, and prepare for rapid‑response scenarios.
• Communities facing fear and displacement rely on nonprofits as trusted messengers and rapid responders, underscoring the need to plug into statewide coalitions, legal defense networks, and cross-sector partners to drive collective action.

🛠️ Nonprofit Toolkit

🧭 Bill Watch

SB 1240, CalNonprofits’ sponsored bill establishing the Office of Nonprofit Empowerment, unanimously cleared its first hurdle with a 14–0 vote in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee! Track all of CalNonprofits’ positions and real‑time bill updates here.

🔍 Data Spotlight

The sector stands as one of California’s largest industries. Nonprofits now rank as the third-largest employer statewide, employing more than 1.4 million Californians.