Recommitting to a Culture of Philanthropy in the Trump 2.0 Era
Every day I open LinkedIn or any other news-sharing website, I see more news of aggrieved attempts by the Trump Administration to claw back federal grants awarded during the Biden presidency. The White House has done a complete 180 when it comes to funding critical subnational work, especially efforts designed to combat climate change and advance environmental causes. A recent attempt by President Trump’s EPA has been to claw back $7 billion awarded under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help disadvantaged communities adopt solar technologies. How can nonprofit organizations and leaders remain optimistic and true to their values and mission during such a time of upheaval and uncertainty? It begins with a reaffirmation to instill a “culture of philanthropy” within their organizations and acknowledging that while these pains and threats are very much real, there are resources and strategies to help them navigate these tumultuous times.
What exactly is a culture of philanthropy and how can leaders leverage their components to achieve stability? According to a 2015 report commissioned by the Walter and Evelyn Hass, Jr. Fund, a culture of philanthropy is “one in which everyone—board, staff and executive director—has a part to play in raising resources for the organization. It’s about relationships not just money…and it’s a culture in which fund development is a valued and mission-aligned component of everything the organization does.” The report goes on to outline four core components of a culture of philanthropy—a shared responsibility for development, integration and alignment with mission, a focus on fundraising as engagement, and strong donor relationships—each of which are more critical than ever in the Trump 2.0 era.
A Shared Responsibility for Development
To adequately address President Trump’s attacks on the social sector, nonprofit teams don’t need to demonstrate merely a shared responsibility for development – but rather a shared commitment to development. Many organizations are facing shortfalls or deficits that could greatly impact their capacity to deliver their services. And while it is impractical to think that everyone in a nonprofit organization will start picking up the phone to make solicitations, there are proactive actions that every single team member can make to set up the organization for fundraising success. For example, an IT person can help streamline CRM management or a programs staff member can set a goal of meeting with five funders each month. Proactive steps like these can transform nonprofit employees from the mindset of simply supporting development efforts to catalyzing development efforts. Everyone at a nonprofit organization is a fundraiser, in their own distinctive way.
Integral to this shared commitment, especially during these turbulent times, is a commitment from senior leaders within the organization to provide specific and transparent updates on various fundraising successes and challenges the organization is encountering. Sharing information with staff and specific ways that they can advance various fundraising efforts is critical to securing new partnerships—and strengthening existing ones. Best of all, this transparency reinforces the organization’s culture of philanthropy and strengthens the collective commitment staff have towards achieving fundraising success.
Integration and Alignment with Mission
Nonprofit organizations that secured federal grants are having their impact threatened by President Trump’s claw back attempts; less funding equates to less impact, and less progress an organization can make towards achieving its mission. Like nonprofit staff sharing their commitment to development, a culture of philanthropy demands that fundraising efforts be ubiquitous across teams and tied closely to other key pieces of the organization. Effective fundraising follows effective programs, effective branding, and effective leadership—these are the horses that draw the fundraising wagon.
How does this approach look different during the Trump 2.0 era? There is no doubt a greater sense of urgency many nonprofits are facing. Nonprofits and leaders should look to actively remove communications barriers between teams, intentionally increase their accessibility to all staff members, and encourage all staff, not just those on the development team, to share innovative ideas on how to secure support for the mission. Each of these tactics can help organizations achieve fundraising success, while also fostering a more supportive work environment and culture of philanthropy.
A Focus on Fundraising as Engagement
When an organization commits to fostering a culture of philanthropy, fund development is intrinsically woven into engagement efforts with a range of audiences. During President Trump’s first administration, attacks on and the disinvestment from progressive environmental goals and groups—hello, Paris Climate Agreement—had a massive backlash effect. As a result, subnational governments stepped up their commitments to climate significantly, the America is All In coalition was forged, and a commitment to local climate action was reaffirmed.
This time around, there is a sense that for every person working to execute President Trump’s agenda, there are hundreds—if not, thousands—of people fighting back. Nonprofits should do all they can to actively engage these folks with their mission and cause—connecting with them through social media outreach, volunteer opportunities, intimate conversations, and more.
In his book Fundable & Findable, Kevin L. Brown stresses, among many other things, the importance of nonprofits differentiating themselves from other competitors and effectively communicating that difference to their existing and potential constituents. Clearly identifying your different audiences and communicating compelling messages to each one is critical these days, not only because of the current federal landscape, but also because nonprofits are operating within the bounds of an attention-based economy, with a limited amount of time to inspire individuals to care about your mission and cause. It is critical for nonprofits to find creative ways to engage existing supporters of the mission while attracting new ones. By asking the question, How can we engage people with our mission rather than, How can we raise money from people for our mission, all nonprofit staff will feel empowered and inspired to contribute towards development efforts.
Strong Donor Relationships
In a thriving culture of philanthropy, donors are strategic partners, and each one has unique knowledge to offer. An individual donor can share how they learned about your organization and what motivates them most to give (and if enough of them say the same thing, then boom—there’s the value proposition to lean into with this group). A program officer at a foundation can provide unique insight into their future priorities and trends that they’re seeing across their sector—same with community impact staff at a corporation. All this information is critical to nonprofits during any federal landscape they find themselves operating in, but especially so during this time when many organizations have had the rug pulled out from under them and may be struggling to find their footing.
Knowledge sharing certainly isn’t a one-way street; these partners want to learn from you as well, and not just about the impact you’re having but on those less glamorous topics that often get squeezed into the end of conversations—like challenges you’re facing, threats to your work, and your financial situation. During this period of upheaval and uncertainty, leaders and staff should commit to being open and transparent about what is happening to their organization and how they’re managing. These partners will appreciate your insights and knowledge just as much as you appreciate theirs. Counterintuitive as it may seem for many nonprofits and leaders to hear—the primary focus right now needs to be on strengthening engagement with audiences and building stronger relationships with existing donors, rather than just making solicitations.
During these difficult times, nonprofits need to go back to tried-and-true strategies to secure their organization’s financial futures. Many years later, the principles of building a culture of philanthropy are as critical as ever, yet they are certainly not the only tactics that can lead to success. Nonprofit staff and leaders should find reassurance in the impermanence of tumultuous times yet are more than capable of swinging the fundraising pendulum back in their favor themselves.
