Foundations are bolstering their in-person security and hiring expensive lawyers. Nonprofit leaders have asked conservative counterparts for help defending speech rights. A British billionaire is halting all of his charity’s donations in the United States.
These are just some of the signs of fear and retreat at liberal philanthropic groups since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month. His killing was followed by a pledge from President Donald Trump to go after groups he said have done “tremendous damage to our country.”
His administration is considering how to fulfill that pledge, as The Free Press reported last month, and now “everybody is concerned across the board about being investigated,” said the head of a nonprofit that oversees more than $1 billion in assets. Another nonprofit leader told me: “It is directly impacting the ability of groups to raise money. There is a chilling effect across the entire nonprofit sector.”
