Just after executive orders started to flow, I described the Trump administration as seeking to create chaos and cruelty. I should’ve added a third “c” — coercion. For philanthropic funders, which generally don’t receive government funding, that coercion isn’t direct right now. But with the administration threatening investigations of foundations with more than $500 million in assets, the intimidation is certainly clear — and it is felt by funders.
In the conversations I’m having with funder staff at various levels, I watch this administration’s threats coerce leaders into silence. Just in the past weeks I’ve heard leaders at philanthropic funders say things like “we’re trying to be small right now,” “the lawyers are advising us to stay under the radar,” “we’re letting others do the talking right now,” “we’re laying low until we understand what everything will look like in six months.”
To be fair, I do see some signs of a shift just in recent weeks. It has been heartening to see the strong communications from foundations including Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Freedom Together Foundation, and Public Welfare Foundation. Bloomberg Philanthropies is backfilling climate funding, Boston Foundation is moving meaningful new money quickly to safety net organizations, and MacArthur Foundation is “setting [payout] at six.”
I’m very thankful for this leadership. Perhaps there is a growing recognition that staying below the radar isn’t an option when the administration seems not just to be targeting some nonprofits, but in fact looks to be targeting the entire sector as the “biggest scam ever” (Elon Musk’s ridiculous, false assertion on the Joe Rogan podcast.)
Right now, those examples of high-profile leadership still feel more like the exception than the rule, though. I worry that the seemingly broader quest for a low profile today will weaken the sector as we enter into what promises to be a long-term battle some of the causes championed by nonprofits for generations, and, yes, a battle about the important diversity, equity, and inclusion approaches championed by so many nonprofits and philanthropies. Communicating clearly now also reassures line staff at nonprofits (and at funders too) that powerful funding organizations have their backs as they continue to do the always hard work that is now suddenly defined by some as “risky.”
I also worry that quiet discretion is out of balance with the magnitude of the threats to the sector (and, frankly our society) and will ultimately prove to be an ineffective strategy anyways. After all, past statements and funding streams are just a web search away from the fingertips of a right wing looking for a reason to attack just about any prominent foundation. It’s not as if the bad actors are beholden to the truth anyway.
This week, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) released research from a February 2025 survey of a nationally representative group of nonprofits. The vast majority of nonprofits say they are already affected by the challenges of the policy and political moment. Many are worried about a potential loss in federal funding and also about the broader fundraising context. Nonprofits feel exposed by intensifying attacks on historically marginalized populations who are now under even more threat. They are sidetracked and slowed down by figuring out how to navigate a challenging political environment on their own. These are all areas where philanthropic funders can provide direct help: affirmation and allyship, flexible money, and capacity resources and convening.
But funders can’t take most of these steps effectively while simultaneously pursuing a quiet, low-profile approach. And that’s what many nonprofits are seeing from funders. In that same survey, nearly three quarters of nonprofits hadn’t received even private, direct communication from more than a few of their funders about efforts in this moment.
Paraphrasing a couple foundation staff I spoke to recently, “We don’t know exactly who to trust or what to say. So, my leadership asked us all to say as little as possible and to just keep doing the work.”
But nonprofits certainly think some sort of communication would be helpful. Only 13 percent of grantees said that they think communication from their funders is “not needed.” This overall pattern reflects a dynamic in funder-grantee relationships that CEP has seen previously in moments of political uncertainty. I think we can do better now, and low-risk, direct communication with all grantees would be a great first step for every funder.
As a sector, we’ve built so much muscle since 2020. For the first time in my two decades of working with funders, we saw widespread changes toward streamlined processes, more flexible and rapid funding, greater commitments to support historically marginalized communities, and the growth of trust-based philanthropy. Many of those changes were stimulated — or at least accelerated — by a public pledge from funders to build a collective pandemic response. That pledge was eventually signed by hundreds of funder leaders committing to speak and change together.
I’m not oblivious to the different kind of risk that funders face now, including the risk they feel that they may not be here to continue their work in the future — institutional, financial, and impact risks included. That’s why I hope that the strong voices and statements like those I mentioned above can coalesce into more collective action and joint initiatives rather than behind-closed-doors conversations. As Deepak Bhargava of Freedom Together foundation wrote in his note to fellow funders, “In this moment, we each have to pick up the phone.”
I get that no one wants to be the only one sticking their neck out, but if everyone keeps their heads raised high, then no one’s neck is on the chopping block alone.
This moment will test the strength we’ve gained as a sector as we navigated past crises. Now the question is: Was that muscle built to look good in selfies or to do the heavy lifting of social change? Funders, let’s do the hard things. The lift is lighter when we do it together.
Kevin Bolduc is vice president, Assessment and Advisory Services, at CEP. Find him on LinkedIn.
