The Philanthropy Fighting Trump's Budget Cuts Without Blaming Trump

New York Times

31-07-2025

Every year, the New York City philanthropy Robin Hood tries to outdo itself with a party so good that New York's rich and famous will be moved to open their wallets and collectively give tens of millions of dollars to combat poverty in the city.
The charity pulled in nearly $69 million last year at its annual gala, which is billed as one of the largest one-night fund-raisers on the planet.
This year, the stakes were dramatically higher.
Enormous federal budget cuts to social service programs threatened to plunge hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers into poverty, and Robin Hood's leaders hoped to persuade partygoers to dig deeper than ever in response to the emergency.
At the same time, they knew they had to avoid making an overtly political pitch — blaming President Trump or the Republicans in Congress — or risk alienating their conservative donors and wealthiest benefactors, virtually all of whom would benefit from the tax cuts that were also included in the president's signature budget-cutting bill.
It was a high-wire act that has eluded many other institutions in the Trump era. For Robin Hood, according to interviews with 20 board members and supporters, grantees and staff members, the moment was a critical test in a moment of entrenched polarization.
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