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By Richard H. Levey
One in every 12 top foundations has recently changed language on its website in apparent anticipation of federal condemnation of their missions, according to a new report. The changes include toning down or removing references to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, climate change or wording supportive of marginalized communities.
The data is part of a new report, Hiding in Plain Sight: Are foundation website changes masking their values, or pulling off their masks?, from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.
The findings are based on analysis of current and historical website language. In April 2025, researchers examined the home pages of 773 of Candid’s Foundation 1000 list of top funding foundations. Researchers then used internet archive services to make comparisons with the same home pages published between March and early November 2024 — the eight months before Donald J. Trump won the U.S. presidency.
Some changes involved language substitution, e.g. Black, Brown, and all people of color became All people; Diverse communities in need became Communities in need; and Equity and diversity became Building social capital. In other instances, text was obscured, such as by de-emphasizing or eliminating links to pages on reproductive rights or racial justice that had been prominently featured on the home page, or outright removed, such as removing “ending racial justice from a foundation’s mission statement.
The raw number of foundations researchers examined is small: The entire Foundation 1000 list makes up around 1 percent of all U.S. funders, according to the report. But institutions on the list account for between 50% and 60% of annual foundation giving. Furthermore, the foundations that made changes account for one out of every five dollars given annually, and almost one out of every four dollars designated for marginalized communities, according to the report.
Few, if any, of the charitable foundations have come under public scrutiny from the Trump administration. Nonprofit organizations that focus on so-called left-leaning causes, however, have faced repeated administration fire. The report authors speculated the changes were “attempts to comply in advance with arguably illegal executive orders which attempt to forbid ‘promotion’ of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the social sector.”
Additionally, foundation websites appear to be avoiding the mounting pressures nonprofits face. According to the report authors, “73 percent of funders… appear not to have publicly addressed the crisis in U.S. democracy” with few posting “blog posts, or any relevant press releases that spoke to the ongoing attacks on democracy, civil society, and the rule of law.”
The report authors labeled that 73% of foundations as “Silent.” Another 8%, which noted the potential impact of executive orders or funding cuts but steered away from specifics regarding why the changes were happening or what the public could do about them, were deemed “Concerned.” A similar percentage were titled “Defiant” — they have stated their opposition to Trump administration policies, but have not offered clear language regarding actions they or their supporters might take in support of that opposition.
A final 11%, however, are “Mobilized.” The language they are using focuses on the threats to U.S. democracy, and the actions both the nonprofit sector and the broader public might take.
“Someone thinks [the silent approach] will work, and those someones are probably underestimating the risk for civil society in the space for collective action and basic First Amendment rights like assembly and speech,” Ryan Schlegel, director of research at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, told The NonProfit Times. “They’re underestimating the risk that the space for that can close in a semi-permanent way, in the same way that has happened recently in other countries that have experienced transitions away from liberal democracy.”
For the full report, click here: https://ncrp.org/2025/07/hiding-in-plain-sight-are-foundation-website-changes-masking-their-values-or-pulling-off-their-masks/
