In a flurry of Signal messages and forwarded news stories, word has spread among environmental grantmakers that the Trump administration is preparing a package of executive orders for likely release on Earth Day, this coming Tuesday, that would kneecap certain climate movement groups and maybe their funders.
White House staff are drafting executive orders that would strip some environmental nonprofits of their tax-exempt status, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The administration may also order investigations of green groups’ activities and repeal a rule that makes it easier for funders to back organizations outside the United States, according to the story, which followed a Wednesday E&ENews report citing widespread rumors about such measures.
The sector is simultaneously abuzz with rumors that the administration will go even further than the actions detailed by Bloomberg, based on three memos by sector regrantors, donor-advised-fund sponsors and collaboratives that were shared with IP.
One summary indicated five executive orders are expected, including two targeting and potentially naming specific donors. It and others name long-time conservative targets like George Soros, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Hansjörg Wyss. All four mega-funders do extensive international grantmaking and are top targets for online vitriol and conspiracy theories. The Ford Foundation and Arabella Advisors are also believed to be targets.
The Internal Revenue Service is supposed to operate without partisan interference, and any such moves would likely lead to a legal battle. Trump recently called for Harvard University to be stripped of its nonprofit status and called on the IRS to tax it as a “political entity” after Harvard refused to agree to his administration’s demanded changes. He has also singled out nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) as a potential target.
Some of the memos circulating in environmental philanthropy warn of a possible block on U.S. nonprofits receiving foreign funding. Similarly, Bloomberg reported that the administration may eliminate what is called the equivalency determination, which allows foreign organizations to be treated as public charities and receive grants from U.S. nonprofits.
“We are exploring our legal options,” said a staffer at a regrantor that works internationally. “But if it comes to banning funds crossing borders then we have few options.”
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- Ford Foundation
- Gates Foundation
- Open Society Foundations
- Wyss Foundation
Bloomberg’s report did not indicate which groups might be targeted for the removal of their 501c3 status, but one summary indicates the measure may cover “organizations operating international or working on themes such as climate, nature or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).”
Multiple memos suggest one order will alter IRS rules to remove “climate change” as a charitable topic, possibly leading to all groups working exclusively on climate to lose their status, while others would have to shed related teams.
Such measures would potentially sweep up a vast swath of America’s nonprofit sector, including many established conservative nonprofits and foundations, not to mention a vast constellation of nonprofits that are usually not coded as political.
“These restrictions may be selectively enforced, especially toward advocacy organizations perceived as critical of the administration,” read a memo from a donor-advised fund sponsor.
Some conservative officials have reportedly raised concerns about such powers being used against right-wing organizations once Trump is out of office.
The administration has also sought to claw back $20 billion under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, as I recently reported. Those funds were approved by Congress under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The pending executive orders have plunged philanthropy and the broader nonprofit sector into still deeper uncertainty. “Even though everyone did scenario planning before the election, nobody planned for this,” said one staffer at a major environmental organization.
