In October 2025 I received a call from an executive director of a nonprofit who shared with me that they would have to cease operations due to non-payment of a major government grant contract. Despite diversified funding, cash reserves, and a conservative 2025 budget, the organization was unable to continue operating without the promised government reimbursement. This story was just one of many stories of partners in distress. At the L.B. Research and Education Foundation, we had to think through what we could do as a family foundation with approximately $40 million in assets and limited staff capacity—less than one full-time employee—to support our grantees.
A New Kind of Crisis
Today, funders and nonprofits are facing a challenge quite unlike the recent pandemic and natural disasters. First, the current crisis is incremental, ongoing, and driven by complex budgets that are challenging to digest. It’s not visual or easy to show on the news. Second, the current crisis is driven by human choices. Some of us voted for those choices and hear messages every day, right or wrong, as to why they’re still for the best. Others of us didn’t. It’s easy to join hands and rally together against the destruction of wildfires or disease. This isn’t easy and decisions and conversations quickly become politically charged.
Six Steps to Act Boldly
For those of you who see a growing crisis but find your philanthropy stuck in business-as-usual mode, I will share what we did, in six steps, to support our grantees through this crisis.
When we began discussing our response early in 2025, I knew that one voice, in particular, could bring us together: the voice of our grantees. We needed data from our own constituents. Figures, facts, and reporting—from the people our board knows, trusts, and appreciates most—give us firsthand information and can’t easily be accused of being influenced by political views. These voices would also tell us whether and how the crisis is affecting the specific nonprofit sectors and places we serve. In our case, that is adult and adolescent education and mental health.
1. Study Grantee Communications
In March, I began scanning the websites, social media, newsletters, and media of our 45 most recently funded grantees. If anyone was already broadcasting a distress signal loud and clear, I didn’t want them to waste their time personalizing that signal for us. I recorded what I learned. I selectively shared the most concerning and instructive stories with board members. We are repeating this type of review every three to six months.
Yes, this eats up some of my time. But I’m driven by the belief that foundations use too much of nonprofits’ time. This is especially true when they are facing budget cuts and threats to their operations, which includes less staff capacity. If I send out a survey or schedule extra calls, I’m adding to grantees’ workload and stress—without any guarantee that I’ll do anything to reduce it.
2. Hold Listening Sessions
I scheduled two virtual listening sessions of 60 and 90 minutes and invited all grantees to attend. This was the design:
- Call in any time. You don’t need to call in at the beginning.
- Drop from the call any time. You don’t need to stay any length of time, though you may have to wait to speak.
- Connect in a way that works for you. Grantees may opt to hear each other’s stories and connect. If you’d like to say more, privately, to the foundation, contact me anytime.
- Ask open-ended questions. I asked two:
- How is 2025 different from other years for your organization—either due to federal funding or policy shifts, or other reasons?
- How can foundations like ours be most helpful now?
The calls were attended by almost half of all our grantees. The appreciation expressed for this opportunity, in this format, was overwhelming. And we learned a lot. Our trove of grantee data grew.
3. Allow the Board to Absorb and Discuss the Data
I shared a grantee impact document—a simple spreadsheet with the facts I’d heard or read from each grantee—with board members in April and May. At our June board meeting, the board materials included an updated version. I presented pressures that multiple nonprofits named, shared two high-impact stories, and invited discussion. Board members expressed their deep concern. The board chair raised the idea of increasing budgeted spending, but we took no action at that time. I’ve wondered if our small additional support, activated on a faster timeline, could have prevented October’s loss of a funded nonprofit. Perhaps we moved too slowly, but it was a deliberate choice to work at this pace to build knowledge toward easy consensus.
4. Design a Response
We gathered examples from other foundations—private, community, and family—of emergency responses to the 2025 crisis, and compared these against the stated needs of our grantees. In the end, I recommended a rapid response grants program of up to $20,000 per grantee. The application was six questions in an online form. To move money quickly, we would make grant decisions within two weeks of an application and disburse the grant within one week following.
From the application document:
The objective of this grant program is to support grantees who face emergent challenges caused or influenced by federal funding and/or policy changes. We ask that recipients use the funds to meet an urgent and/or strategic need within six months of receipt. These grants provide rapidly-deployed funding tied to organizational rather than programmatic goals. Grants may be used, for example, to cover the cost of:
- funding advocacy or policy advocacy efforts at the local, state, or federal level;
- end of year individual/corporate fundraising campaigns that aim to replace lost revenue;
- reorganization, mergers, or efforts to ensure smooth leadership transitions;
- major programmatic shifts that have become necessary due to external pressures;
- staff support / burnout prevention.
The above bullet points are illustrative examples, not a complete list.
5. Present and Implement
At the third quarter board meeting in September, our board chair presented a revised budget to increase spending by 20 percent, and I presented the rapid response grant program described above. We asked for pre-approval of a lump sum. Our board had always approved each grant by name and amount, so allowing staff discretion to award funds to past grantees was new. Both items were approved unanimously.
While it took us a few months to reach the consensus about our next steps, once we had a path forward we moved very quickly. I sent out the rapid response grant opportunity on October 7 and by October 25 had signed agreements for, and disbursed, seven grants. The condensed timeline allowed us to meet urgent and emerging needs and is critical to making the rapid response grants impactful.
6. Operationalize This Work
Sharp and sudden crises like this one never disappear quickly. Whether or not public funding systems correct course anytime soon, a snowball effect of harm is already underway. Our response can’t be a one-and-done effort. Ongoing crisis needs assessment and response is now part of our work. I will hold more listening sessions in the first quarter of 2026. We speak with grantees for many reasons, most often related to their grant applications and follow-up. I now ask “how is this year different” in every conversation. When interviewing new applicants, I’ll ask this at the end, while assuring them it will have no bearing on our grant decision. Our flow of data is ongoing, and it’s likely the data will support continued iterations of the rapid response grant program—or new ideas inspired by what grantees tell us.
The Need is Clear. It’s Time to Act
If you’ve not yet heard from a grantee in existential distress, my most recent conversations suggest that many more of these stories will come our way in 2026. Of our grantees that have public funding, almost all of them report reductions or losses. Grantees also report cautious, declining giving from corporate and private sources due to worries about the economy and tariffs. Lead staff are working overtime with state and local legislatures, loyal donors, and community foundations, seeking support to replace what was lost. I’ve heard a couple of success stories amid mostly frustration.
My experiences are backed by broader data. The Center for Effective Philanthropy reported on more than 400 nonprofit surveys from August and September 2025, and the data are concerning. Among respondents, 61 percent say that the current context poses moderate to significant risk for them to continue to operate just as 81 percent report an increased need for community services. This crisis is existential!
Given these data, it’s clear that we must act. While our response was limited by the size and capacity of our foundation, I hope that sharing the actions we took will motivate other funders to consider how they can take action too. And you don’t have to act alone. I’m glad to share our rapid response grant application, my research on what other foundations are up to, and/or just chat with you about your own process. I encourage you to be vocal about how you’re responding to the moment and what challenges your grantees are facing. Philanthropy has a responsibility to do all we can to mitigate this crisis.
The views and opinions expressed in individual blog posts are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the National Center for Family Philanthropy.