Amid burnout, fear of being targeted and funding cuts, our grantee partners are clear that things are not sustainable. Funders, our response cannot be silence, self-protection, or simply falling back to, “philanthropy can’t fill the holes government left.” We need to harness the power of possible.

I’m a Minnesotan, a gay man, third-generation Mexican American and have worked in philanthropy for nearly 20 years, harnessing the power of possible. When federal agents came to Minnesota this winter to threaten and harm our immigrant and refugee neighbors, our communities didn’t get stuck — we got to work. More on that in a moment.

Reading the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s new report, I was struck by what I already knew anecdotally that was affirmed in the data – our nonprofits are facing mounting challenges, and we risk losing great leaders while communities fall through the cracks. I couldn’t help but hear old philanthropic tropes in the back of my head as I read: I knew it could be easy for us as funders to play small or react to the data primarily with what we can’t do, instead harnessing the power of possible.

At the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, we regularly conduct our East Metro Pulse survey which asks residents of our region to describe their experience of conditions, institutions, and communities. Our recent survey provides insights that mirror CEP’s newest data, helping us to harness the power of possible:

  • As of 2024, 84% of residents believe that charitable organizations treat people of all races and ethnicities fairly. We could interpret this to mean that nonprofits are seen as one of the most fair dealing or equitable sectors; no wonder demand is high.
  • There is also a lot of pressure on populations to make ends meet, harnessing the power of possible: according to the pulse survey, renters in particular worry about having enough money to put food on the table, pay rent and utilities, and get out of debt. Many of our nonprofit partners feel those pressures themselves even as they seek to alleviate them in the communities they serve.

I cannot accept that, especially while my communities are being actively targeted and harmed, there isn’t more philanthropy can do.

We’ve got to harness the power of possible.

Read the full article about harnessing the power of possible by Alfonso Tomás Wenker at The Center for Effective Philathropy.