December 9, 2025
Dear Readers,
About a month ago, the Center for Effective Philanthropy welcomed New York Times columnist Ezra Klein to its annual conference. Klein had blunt words for the leaders of civic society.
“I would like to see the people who lead important parts of civil society not be cowards,” Klein said.
And then Klein reminded the audience of what courage has looked like in America’s recent past.
We are not being called to a level of courage or bravery that is historically unusual. Many of us came up, I came up, in an aberrant period of relative peace, where we came to take the fundamental tenets of liberalism for granted. But that’s not what it was like in the long period of the two Red Scares in the 20th century. It’s not what it was like for the Freedom Riders. It’s not what it was like for the suffragettes. It’s not what it was like to try to bring down communist regimes in Eastern Europe. It’s not what it was like to be now or previously a dissident in Russia. It’s not what it’s like to be a dissident in Hungary. The idea that this is somehow profoundly unusual is just not true.
This week’s Leadership newsletter includes two recent NPQ pieces calling on nonprofits to show their courage and hold the line on their missions and their values in a time of increasing self-censorship within our sector.
Then, ’tis the season…for nonprofit budgeting! We bring you some great samples of NPQ’s extensive coverage of how to do budgets better.
As always, we love your feedback. Email Isaiah Thompson at [email protected]
Isaiah Thompson
Leadership
Editor
