(photo from cep.org)
The number of federal Executive Orders is dizzying and it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it all. And in general, foundation leaders have been mum, with it being unclear if it is from the sheer volume of EOs impacting the sector or from fear of reprisal.
Phil Buchanan, president and CEO at the Center for Effective Philanthropy, suggests in a recent must-read blog post that leaders should be asking and answering four questions for their organizations, realizing that the answers will be unique for each organization.
Those questions are:
- Do we know what our grantees need, and do they know we’ve got their backs?
- Can we use our voice effectively in this moment?
- How are we defining risk?
- What else can we do?
There’s no doubt internal discussions are ongoing, particularly on next steps. Buchanan has a point of view. “It’s understandable that individuals and even institutions feel powerless in the face of what seem like overwhelming obstacles. I have heard, for example, from those who point to the dismembering of USAID, or the potential cut-off in domestic federal funding, and say, “philanthropy can’t possibly fill those gaps.” That’s true, but it’s also not the whole story, he wrote in the blog post.
“Nonprofits that suddenly lose funding they’ve depended on for years will have to make unthinkable choices about what to prioritize. In that terrible context, extra support, even at a level that is a fraction of what they’re losing, could be crucial. The choice is not “do it all” or “do nothing.”
No one is powerless, and perhaps least of all not large, endowed, and longstanding institutional foundations, Buchanan argued. “As funders think about what they can do, they’ll need to explore new possibilities to meet the moment. As I have argued in previous posts, it will be essential to communicate more effectively about the ways in which nonprofits positively affect us all,” he wrote.
Funders often argue that they must save some capital for “a rainy day.” It is now officially pouring outside.
