(Illustration by Brian Stauffer)
We began this collection of articles in the middle of a crisis for the social sector. That crisis is ongoing, as funding cuts to a broad range of civic and charitable actors are taking hold and we are feeling the impact. One concrete example: The nonprofit sector has seen steady job losses, to the tune of roughly 22,800 full-time jobs through the end of June. More challenges are sure to follow in the months and years to come.
The articles in this package have also sparked conversations online and in person about how we ought to respond to this period—as charitable foundations, as nonprofits, as individuals.
“I believe that courage is contagious,” I wrote at the time. “When we use our voice to stand up for our beliefs and values, we help inspire others to do the same.” And that point is proving true.
What we have seen since we began writing is a widespread and positive counterresponse to the threats to the charitable sector. The freedom to give and invest according to our values has stood up to an initial onslaught of attempts to undermine them.
Some of the proposals we have seen fall to the wayside include increased taxation on charitable foundations; removing nonprofit status for certain charitable causes; and slashing incentives to give for individuals, families, and corporations.
Inquiries into entirely lawful activities still loom, but this pressure and each of these proposed restrictions have been met with opposition from a broad-based group of people across the United States. Individuals and groups are standing up and speaking out on behalf of the time-honored tradition of giving charitably to meet the many needs of our communities.
The courage to speak out against attacks, which are unprecedented in any of our memories, has been contagious and has caught on among a bigger and wider audience and movement. People with differing perspectives and ideology, who focus on issues ranging from housing to climate conservation, from medical research to public art and education, are speaking up with a unified voice. That courage has helped us protect the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, and it has helped preserve our abilities to work on every issue.
The diversity of our sector continues to be a major asset. From the many types of foundations—family, community, corporate, legacy, and so forth—to the approaches and motivations for our giving to the causes we pursue, we are fortunate that our united voice is stronger because the United States has such a wide array of actors pursuing a range of tactics and strategies, representing every state, and from rural, suburban, and urban communities. This ideological, racial and ethnic, strategic, geographic pluralism means that we are likely to find new and better ways to support our grantees and investees over time. The range of perspectives in this collection’s articles, as well as the responses to them, reinforces this point about the power of diversity.
As we meet the moment and step up our efforts, we confront many different approaches. Some of our fellow foundations are spending down entirely; many are giving more; others are finding new gears and approaches to the way they give. Everyone is not thinking or doing the same thing—far from it.
One trend, however, appears to be widespread: Virtually everyone we talk to in the philanthropic sector is listening carefully to grantees, investees, and community partners about how we can improve our processes and approaches. A chorus of voices is asking, “How we can give more, do more, and ask less of the individuals and organizations we support?”
This vibrancy is likely to create resiliency. We see more and more money being raised and given, more people stepping up to help, more communities connecting with one another across various forms of differences. And we are lifting up these stories through initiatives like The Courage Project, which recognizes civic bravery by honoring individuals and providing grants to organizations for taking principled stands, and #WeTheCivic, a coalition of nonprofits and funders across sectors who, through the month of July, shared stories that celebrated nonprofit organizations, workers, and organizers advancing democracy in communities nationwide.
That robustness does not mean that we are beyond this particular crisis. Much more remains to be done. Too many unmet needs persist across the charitable and nonprofit sector. Too many people who want to do good in the world are losing their jobs as helpers and givers. Major threats still linger in the air and on the horizon.
But there are signs of connection, shared commitment, and robust belief in the centuries-old tradition of giving in America on which we can continue to draw as we meet the coming challenges.
Read more stories by John Palfrey.