Providing for and defending a nation’s social safety net is expensive. Nonprofits face financial gaps, as well as unexpected crises and litigation that threaten the ability to deliver on missions.
The National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) today launched the Nonprofit Resilience Fund, an initiative to ensure charitable nonprofits across the United States have the resources, protections, and infrastructure they need in an increasingly complex and challenging environment.
The goal is to raise $3 million. The NCN has sued or been a party to suits against the federal government and executive orders targeting nonprofits. The cases have unblocked frozen federal funding that had already been awarded and prevented other efforts to curtail missions. The money raised will be funding NCN’s ability to continue and expand its work.
“For decades nonprofits have been there for communities, feeding families, housing neighbors, protecting rights, and creating opportunities,” said Diane Yentel, president & CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits. “The Nonprofit Resilience Fund will ensure that nonprofits continue to have the strength, support, and voice they need to continue that work for the long haul. These moments underscore why philanthropy must invest not only in individual missions but also in the infrastructure of the nonprofit sector itself, because when the sector is strong, every community is stronger.”
According to Yentel, The Nonprofit Resilience Fund “represents NCN’s commitment to investing in sector strength.” The Fund is designed to fuel both action and long-term impact. “Through this effort, NCN will advance policy advocacy at both the federal and state levels, defend nonprofit rights through strategic litigation, counter misinformation while elevating nonprofit voices in the media, provide practical resources and tools to help nonprofit leaders succeed, and build the capacity and resilience needed to strengthen the entire sector for years to come,” according to a statement released by NCN.
The launch of the Fund comes as nonprofits face mounting challenges, from misinformation campaigns, workforce shortages and policy threats that could undermine missions. NCN has already taken action this year by filing lawsuits that prevented abrupt federal funding cuts, launching a national media campaign to highlight the value of nonprofits, providing capacity building and training for the nonprofit workforce, and advancing its work of championing, informing, and connecting organizations nationwide, according to Yentel.
Donations are tax-deductible. Learn more about the Nonprofit Resilience Fund at www.councilofnonprofits.org/nonprofitresiliencefund
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.
