Unite in Advance: Philanthropy Coalition Launches Solidarity Campaign

It’s no secret: Foundations could be the next American institutions under attack.

Why does this matter? Because millions of people across the nation depend on nonprofits to meet their basic needs—and those nonprofits depend on resources from foundations to deliver important services, support their communities, and pay their workers. Which is why today we are announcing a public solidarity sign-on campaign to support philanthropy’s freedom to give.

Weaponized oversight. Intimidation dressed up as transparency. It is not new. But our response must be.

Nonprofits promote economic opportunity, invest in education, foster healthy communities, support scientific research, and protect the rights of vulnerable people. From legal aid clinics helping veterans in Alabama, to religious groups supporting refugees in Minnesota, nonprofit organizations are the connective tissue of our communities and our American democracy. And they rely on support from foundations to keep that civic infrastructure strong.

The onslaught of executive orders; revenue and funding freezes; and investigations against universities, law firms, and businesses demonstrate a pattern of attacks foundations may see next: attacking individual institutions to silence a sector and forcing concessions that seek to limit our freedoms.

It does not have to be this way.

We’ve seen this before in American history and across the globe. Weaponized oversight. Intimidation dressed up as transparency. It is not new. But our response must be.

We in the philanthropic community must not wait like sitting ducks. We must prepare and unite to defend our freedom to support the millions of people who rely on charitable foundations to build stronger, healthier communities and opportunities for all.

We three are presidents of foundations responsible for supporting tens of thousands of organizations over a collective 128 years. We are also presidents of foundations responsible for the care and health of our own teams and staff. We know the risk of standing up to a hostile government.

But complacency is complicity. Foundations must lead—not just with grants, but with guts.

Here are three steps we can take to stand with each other and the people and communities we serve.

1. Prepare for what’s coming, but don’t obey in advance.

Philanthropy is often slow by design. We convene. We deliberate. We seek consensus. But right now, time is a luxury we cannot afford.

We must get our house in order—legal teams on speed dial, crisis plans dusted off, reserves lined up—and most importantly, a plan to speak up loudly and together.

We must be prepared to defend core freedoms: the freedom to speak, the freedom to give, and the freedom to invest. As foundation leadership, we must lead by example. We must not ask our grantees or staff to do what we ourselves will not.

And when we tell our story, let’s do it in plain language—not philanthropy speak. Let’s talk about the food bank that stayed open during a hurricane because of a last-minute emergency grant. The immigrant rights organization that kept families together because a foundation had their back in court. The health clinic in a rural town that got its first dentist because of philanthropic economic investment.

Let’s uplift groups working in rural, suburban, and urban areas; and those serving constituencies such as faith communities, veterans, and older adults. Enlist messengers from business leaders to educators who will amplify the message that supporting charitable work is not a partisan concern.

And while it’s always important to comply fully with the legal rules that apply to nonprofits and foundations, we must stand up against illegitimate and illegal attempts to limit our rights and actions. We cannot walk away from our commitments to constitutionally supported core values of fair inclusion and justice or terminate our lawful support for communities who need us most.

2. Stand in solidarity with each other.

Silence isolates. Solidarity shields.

When attacks come, foundations must speak up—not just for ourselves, but for every grantee and every family impacted by nonprofits whose survival may depend on our courage.

Anyone following the news has seen how silence and inaction in other sectors has only provoked more fear and uncertainty. There is power, impact, and security in collective action. Let’s commit to one another that when one or all of us are targeted, as foundations we will:

For those who can afford to increase our giving to address increasing needs, let’s give more. 

• Speak up—together through shared statements and other collective communications vehicles; and independently through press quotes, media interviews, social media, and opinion pieces.
• Rally civic leaders in our communities to join in solidarity statements, enlist frontline groups at the local level to speak about the importance of this work, and recruit unlikely allies to speak out in the media. We can join forces with faith leaders, libertarians, business leaders, and others who share concerns about government overreach.
• Be generous with what we know by sharing information around current and potential threats to ourselves, each other, and adjacent fields.
• Pledge not to undermine one another. We cannot allow fear and chaos to divide us. Strength flows from solidarity.

3. Step up to provide more support to communities who need us.

Foundations do not exist to perpetuate ourselves. Our purpose is to support civil society by expanding the capacities and strengths of charitable organizations that help meet the needs of the communities in which they work.

It may be tempting to lie low and guard our resources—but that will not serve the nonprofits we fund, the people they serve, and the institutions we rely on to thrive.

For those who can afford to increase their giving to address increased needs, let’s give more. The stakes for democracy are existential, and the price of inaction is our freedom.

Today, a powerful coalition of philanthropic institutions, in partnership with the Council on Foundations, is launching a critical public signatory campaign defending philanthropy’s freedom to give. We urge all foundations to join this essential call to protect charitable giving.

We’re committed to reaching every state, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC, building solidarity throughout the sector while demonstrating how foundation work transcends political divides and geographical lines to strengthen all communities.

We know the importance of collective action. We are united to protect our freedom to express ourselves, to give, and to invest in our communities.

Your voice is vital.

Will you add your foundation to this urgent call to preserve philanthropy’s independence and impact, or encourage a charitable giving organization in your community to sign on?

Will you join us?

Tonya Allen is the president of the McKnight Foundation. Deepak Bhargava is president of the Freedom Together Foundation. John Palfrey is president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The views expressed in this article are the writers’ own.