Nonprofits Under Attack: Defending Democracy, Community, and Innovation with Carol Hamilton
8/26/2025
“Nonprofits fill critical gaps
Nonprofits have been critical to the success of every social movement that have fought for rights and making the world better for everyone.
They create social capital
They strengthen democracy and civic life
They create social innovation”
In episode 130 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol reflects on five years of podcasting and the sobering state of the nonprofit sector in 2025. While celebrating milestones, she also underscores the challenges nonprofits face amidst unprecedented political attacks, funding cuts, and threats to long-standing principles like nonpartisanship. Despite these challenges, Carol highlights the resilience, innovation, and critical role nonprofits play in society—from filling essential gaps to fueling social movements, strengthening democracy, and sparking innovation. She calls on nonprofit leaders to share their stories, advocate for the sector, and remind their communities why nonprofits matter now more than ever.
Episode highlights:
[00:00:00] Five Years of Podcasting
Carol celebrates the fifth anniversary of Nonprofit Mission: Impact and reflects on the lessons and perspectives shared over 130 episodes.
[00:00:25] A Sector Under Attack
She describes how the nonprofit sector—particularly progressive and mainstream organizations—is under political attack through funding cuts, executive orders, and attempts to undermine nonpartisanship.
[00:02:00] Specific Threats
Examples include:
Federal funding cuts to international development, cancer research, children’s health, and public broadcasting
Attacks on AmeriCorps and Planned Parenthood
Threats to revoke tax-exempt status of universities and nonprofits not willing to bend the knee
[00:03:38] Resistance and Resilience
Despite these challenges, nonprofits and grassroots groups are organizing legal challenges, raising funds, and mobilizing communities to resist assaults on democracy and freedom.
[00:04:19] Trust in the Sector
Amid declining trust in many institutions, nonprofits still hold relatively high public trust—a powerful foundation to build upon. Carol encourages leaders to share stories and highlight the sector’s value.
[00:05:37] Five Reasons Nonprofits Matter
Carol shares her top five reasons the sector is essential:
Filling critical gaps in services and support
Driving social movements for justice and inclusion
Building social capital and connections in communities
Strengthening democracy and civic life
Spurring social innovation that reshapes society
[00:06:33–00:12:26] Deep Dive into Each Role
She provides historical and contemporary examples of how nonprofits fulfill each of these roles—from food pantries and faith groups to movements for civil rights, disability justice, and environmental sustainability.
[00:25:46] Imperfection and Impact
Acknowledging the sector’s imperfections, Carol emphasizes its ongoing importance, resilience, and role in shaping a more just and inclusive society.
[00:26:00–00:27:35] Call to Action
She urges nonprofit leaders and supporters to:
Share why nonprofits matter with neighbors, family, and policymakers
Protect the principles of 501(c)(3) nonpartisanship and separation of church and state
Leverage campaigns like Nonprofits Get It Done to tell the sector’s story
[00:28:00] Looking Ahead
Carol concludes with hope and commitment to continue uplifting nonprofit voices and practices, helping leaders do good work without burning out—always striving for greater mission impact.
Important Links and Resources:
https://nonprofitsgetitdone.org/
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/what-financial-risk-nonprofits-losing-government-grants
https://www.vera.org/news/trumps-war-on-nonprofits-will-make-us-all-less-safe
https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Yentel-Written-Testimony.pdf
https://www.aam-us.org/2025/06/26/eo-impact-is-there-an-existential-threat-to-nonprofit-status
https://nonprofithub.org/a-brief-history-of-nonprofit-organizations/
Related Episodes:
E100: 10 Things I have learned about Nonprofits in 100 episodes
E104: Progress over perfection: Envisioning a more humane nonprofit sector
E105: Building a healthier nonprofit sector
E117: Grounded presence for nonprofit leaders in chaotic times
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Carol Hamilton: I'm celebrating my fifth pod-iversary of the podcast. I started Nonprofit: Mission Impact in August of 2020, and over the past five years, I've done a variety of things to celebrate my anniversary of launching. Last year I celebrated twice. For my 100th episode I reflected on 10 lessons about the nonprofit sector that I'd learned over those episodes.
And then I celebrated the pod-iversary with a reflection from past guests on what a really healthy nonprofit sector would look like. So it feels sad today to be considering where we are at this moment. Today in 2025, the nonprofit sector in the United States is under attack, or rather a part of the nonprofit sector that the orange one and his cronies do not agree with is under attack.
The Heritage Foundation, the Enterprise Institute, the Koch brothers, stand together are all safe from these attacks, as are the entire right wing organizations and their echo chambers. This year has brought a range of attacks from the current administration on both progressive and very mainstream institutions.
From the devastating cuts in federal funding for international development, cancer research, children's health and violence prevention plus so much more. And these cuts have impacted organizations here, but also across the world. . The executive orders, many of which are likely quite illegal, have demonized work on making our organizations and our country more equitable and welcoming.
We have also seen executive orders undermining long recognized principles that undergird our sector, such as the nonpartisanship of nonprofits, including faith communities, specifically of 501(c)(3)s. Specific organizations have been threatened. For example, the United States Institute for Peace was taken over in January by Doge staffers until a restraining order kicked them out.
The murder bill passed this summer targeted Planned Parenthood and is attempting to put it out of business. The 100% cut of federal funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting means that it is shutting its doors. This will severely impact PBS and NPR stations across the country, especially in rural areas.
The quality of programming that they will be able to offer will suffer one of the pipelines to nonprofit careers and a wonderful resource of young people's leadership development. AmeriCorps has been targeted for destruction. The orange one has threatened to revoke a specific organization's tax exempt status if he does not like what they do or disagrees with them, and this includes Harvard University.
Another executive order could be any federal grants that do get offered will be less reliable as funds may be rescinded at any moment by the administration. This is all hitting the sector hard and it will continue. As the cuts to Medicaid and food assistance and other social safety net programs pass during the summer in that murder bill when it gets rolled out, the nonprofits that actually deliver many of those services, nonprofit hospitals, nursing homes, food banks, and assistance to the disabled will all be negatively impacted.
So it feels hard to celebrate five years of podcasting about the nonprofit sector right now.
At the same time, people usually through nonprofits and grassroots organizations are fighting back and resisting these assaults on our freedom and our democracy. For example, democracy now has filed multiple lawsuits, as have universities and other entities. Interfaith groups are rallying against making faith communities partisan, or places where immigrants can be targeted by ice.
The McKnight Foundation recently pledged a large gift to keep public radio and TV stations afloat in historically marginalized communities that have been disinvested over the years. The National Council of Nonprofits is running a public education campaign.
Nonprofits get it done. The National Cal Council has been at the forefront of those resisting the overreach of this administration. They have filed lawsuits and testified in front of Congress on the real value of the profound positive impact that the sector has on the country.
I'll link in the show notes to Diane Y's testimony that lays out the importance of the sector as well as their campaign. When trust in many institutions and sectors is at an all time low in the country, trust in the nonprofit sector is relatively high. And I know I'm preaching to the proverbial choir here.
If you're listening to this show, you probably work at a nonprofit or volunteer with one. Maybe you're on the board, maybe you're a staff staffer, maybe you're a staff leader, so you already understand the good work that your organization is doing as well as your other nonprofit partners in your ecosystem.
But even though trust in the nonprofit sector is high, the sector is also relatively invisible to many in the US. So I encourage you to share the good news with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Share the work being produced by the National Council for Nonprofits, and let people know why the sector is so important and why it needs to be protected and preserved.
With that in mind, here's my take on why the sector is important. I have five major reasons, and I'm sure that there are many more, and this is definitely not a comprehensive list, but here are my top five. First, it fills critical gaps. Second, nonprofits have been critical to the success of every social movement that has fought for rights and making the world better for everyone and more inclusive.
They create social capital, they strengthen democracy in civic life. They create social innovation. So let's go through those one by one first. It fills critical GA gaps that are not addressed by either government or by the markets or by private industry. We in the US have the biggest nonprofit sector because over the years as a nation, we have not chosen to support many things such as social services or the arts through the government.
That are actually government functions in other countries, the largest organizations in the sector, nonprofit hospitals, often the ones who are more likely to serve the poor and educational institutions, whether it's private universities, colleges, and schools. Yet, as we all know, the vast majority of nonprofits are small.
From faith communities to food pantries, veteran servings groups, those serving our youngest children and those taking care of our elderly and disabled. And to quote Diane Yel, nonprofits Feed Heal, shelter and nurture people of every age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and political persuasion. What gaps do you see nonprofit organizations filling?
Second, nonprofit organizations have been instrumental in every social movement we've seen over those centuries from the Battle for Women's suffrage, civil Rights, women's Liberation in the seventies, L-G-B-T-Q-I, rights and Justice, the anti-war movement, the many anti-war movements, the environmental movement, disability justice, immigration, justice, and I'm sure I could go on.
People organized and worked together collectively and in many cases, created organizations to support and focus their efforts. The naacp, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the National Women's Law Center, the Human Rights Campaign, Greenpeace casa, the National Arc Movement, and many more were instrumental in pushing for greater rights and continue to do so today, and recognition for those at the margins of society.
In this current moment, indivisible and other networks of local organizations are organizing to resist our country's slide towards fascism. What movement is your organization a part of? Third, the sector builds social capital at a time when loneliness has been called an epidemic.
Nonprofit organizations provide a way for people to gather and connect and find commonality. Whether it's neighborhood associations, community gardens, faith communities, local arts organizations, service for the elderly or national networks, they bring people together to work on a common cause.
Or this could be as simple as the water aerobics classes held at your local Y that create community among the people who show up every week to jump around in the water together. Could be your local Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts troop or other youth oriented group. People find connections, build relationships and friendships through their involvement in these important organizations. Even associations and unions, and bring people together around their work, whether as institutions or individuals, help people find commonality and connection in their professional realm. There's a sense of belonging and common understanding when a group of professionals come together and can all speak their own special language.
Yes. Now that's called jargon when you're from the outside. But for those instances when you are an insider, it can feel good to know all the phrases and what the acronyms mean. Volunteering gives folks an opportunity to give back and find purpose and meaning to contribute to something greater than themselves.
How has your involvement in the sector helped you build your own social capital? Number four, nonprofits strengthen democracy and civic life. As I mentioned before, nonprofit organizations have been central to all the movements to make our democracy and our country work for more people. They are places of collective action.
In a society that so overemphasizes, the importance of the individual nonprofits create spaces to be together, to work together and to advocate for a vision of a better world and get involved civically. They create ways for people to get more involved in their communities. And I know for myself, as I work towards getting more connected in my community and locally, I started out by finding out what are all the nonprofit organizations in the neighborhood.
I am looking for ways to volunteer and get more engaged. Nonprofits are the vehicle for that. How have you seen your civic engagement evolve with your involvement in this sector? And Fifth Nonprofits promote social innovation. Many breakthrough ideas in education, environmental sustainability, and social justice have begun with nonprofits before they're scaled and become mainstream.
For example, in my brother's lifetime, people with disabilities went from social ostracization and institutionalization to integration into the community, and this didn't happen by magic. This happened through hard work and concerted effort. In a wide variety of organizations working on behalf of disability justice and the inclusion of people with disabilities into the concept of human rights and into our daily lives.
Building affordable housing for all through Habitat for Humanity, or creating jobs in a way out of gangs and gang violence through homeboys industries or microlending or experiments in universal basic income. These are just a few examples of how nonprofits have spurred social innovation. And then of course, there's a whole network of think tanks and research organizations and universities pushing knowledge forward inside and outside of higher education.
Ones that come to mind include this Aspen Institute, the Urban Institute. For you, what comes to mind when you think of social innovation? Which would you name? And they push the culture to consider the people and the world.
What comes to mind for you when social innovation is mentioned? So the nonprofit sector is not perfect. No movement I mentioned was perfect. Neither other organizations, they're all flawed just as people are flawed, yet they do important work that's worth protecting. So, to recap, my top reasons why the nonprofit sector is important to our country and our democracy: nonprofits fill critical gaps that markets, businesses and government do not address.
Nonprofits have been critical to the success of every social movement that has fought for rights and making the world a better place for everyone. Nonprofits create social capital, something we need much more of these days. Nonprofits strengthen democracy and civic life, even as our democracy is in danger.
And nonprofits also create social innovation and push the culture to widen and open up to more people. What would you add to this list? Definitely let me know. So let's come together and meet for the moment. I encourage you to tell your friends, neighbors, and family, and your government representatives why the sector is important, and why it needs to be protected, why it's nonpartisan.
Foundations of the 501(c)(3) need to be protected. Why do churches and states need to stay separate? How its strength protects our free speech and why it really is not cool to use the IRS for political vendettas and how it takes care of people you care about. Check out the National Council of Nonprofits Public Education Campaign, nonprofits get it done and use their materials to tell your organization and the wider sector story.
Let Americans know what they have to lose. Good luck with all your work at this current moment. Despite our challenges, I am looking forward to continuing to celebrate anniversaries into the future. I'm looking forward to continuing to bring you a variety of perspectives on good practice and a wide variety of aspects of nonprofit leadership and management, and all for doing good work without becoming a martyr to the cause and for greater mission impact.
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