Giving Compass' Take:
- Rebekah Barber examines the ways in which Massachusetts nonprofits are coming together to defend the sector against federal threats.
- As a donor, what actions are you taking to uphold civil society in your giving to local and national nonprofits?
- Learn more about trends and topics related to best practices in giving.
- Search Guide to Good for nonprofits in your area.
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During the convening, speakers made clear that the threats are real, but they also indicated that work is actively being done to combat them.
In his remarks, for instance, Lee Pelton, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation, explained why the foundation awarded funding to 77 nonprofits through its Safety Net Grants program—a program that was entirely community-led. “This is not a time to rest. This is a time to be relentless in pursuit of what is right and just,” he said.
Nonprofit Strategy, Resistance, and Introspection: Massachusetts Nonprofits Provide a Model
Pelton’s remarks underscored themes of nonprofit strategy, resistance, and introspection taken up during a panel discussion with the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) President Diane Yentel, Philanthropy Massachusetts CEO Mary Skelton Roberts, and Massachusetts Voter Table Executive Director Shanique Rodriguez.
“The greatest existential threat that we face is that this administration is pulling from an authoritarian playbook to suppress civil society. One of the key ways they are doing that is to vilify nonprofit organizations as an enemy to be at fault,” said Yentel of the NCN, regarding Massachusetts nonprofits coming together to defend civil society.
In January the NCN sued the Donald Trump administration over a memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that froze all federal funding, including thousands of grants and loans for US nonprofits. The organization is also part of a second lawsuit against the administration filed in March to prevent the freezing of funds under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Amid these lawsuits, Yentel has taken on increased visibility. She said she understands that such a public stance is not something that every organizational leader can strategically afford to do—but emphasized that organizational leaders who have a particular amount of privilege, whether it is because of geographic location or the fact that they are not dependent on federal funding, have the responsibility to be speaking out now.
Read the full article about nonprofits defending civil society by Rebekah Barber at Nonprofit Quarterly.