It's Hard to Imagine, but ...

Welcome to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s weekly newsletter highlighting stories and conversations from The Commons , our project exploring how philanthropy and nonprofits are working to close divides, repair the social fabric, and strengthen communities.

From senior editor Drew Lindsay: I’ve been talking with leaders of the nonprofit movement to bring Americans together and strengthen community bonds. Given the scorched-earth election, there were concerns that the country is more divided than ever, with further tumult likely ahead as President-elect Donald Trump takes office.?

But this surprised me: Some leaders see signs of a left-right political reset that could advance their work. Exhaustion from three corrosive presidential elections, they suggest, plus curiosity about Trump’s broadened coalition may be working their way into mindsets that have been locked for the better part of a decade in an “us vs. them” stranglehold.??

“There is a vast opportunity,” says Jake Harriman , founder of +More Perfect Union , a civic-engagement organization working primarily in rural communities.

This might be misplaced hope or a misread of the moment. But I think you’ll enjoy a full airing of the theory of the case. Plus, get an early read on what funders are thinking. Here’s my story.

Why Philanthropy Needs to Pivot — Fast

On Election Day, Democracy Fund president Joe Goldman volunteered at a local polling station, returning home late to results that promised new challenges for the philanthropic movement to strengthen democracy. His organization and many others had been preparing months for the possibility of a Trump win and what they expect will be authoritarian moves at the White House. Now came the time to act.

Goldman joined Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer for our Commons in Conversation series for a wide-ranging discussion about what’s next —?how funders can best support grassroots groups, the potential for a more ideologically diverse coalition, and what to expect in the days ahead.

Advocacy, legal, and policy organizations began long ago preparing for what they see as authoritarian threats from a Trump administration, Goldman said. Funders need to dispense with their usual slow-boiling strategy shifts and support those groups.

“Our grantees are out there on the front lines, and they need our support now. And philanthropy needs to be ready to pivot with them,” Goldman said.

Watch the discussion on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s YouTube channel or on LinkedIn with free registration. And here's an interview transcript .

SPECIAL EVENT!!!! PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Judy Woodruff joins the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Stacy Palmer on Wednesday, December 4, at 12:30 p.m. ET for a post-election conversation about what it will take to bring the country together. They will talk about Woodruff’s reporting for the “America at a Crossroads” series, which examines the country’s fractures and the role of nonprofits and philanthropy in developing solutions.

?? Join the conversation! The event is free on LinkedIn. ?? Registration is required.

News and other noteworthy items:

• Greater Good Magazine looks to the post-election horizon in two installments: “What’s Giving Us Hope Now? ” and “Where Do We Go From Here? ” The pieces round up post-election perspectives (in short form) from writers, thinkers, and leaders such as Marc Freedman and Eunice Lin Nichols of CoGenerate , Mylien Duong of the Constructive Dialogue Institute , Monica Guzman of Braver Angels, and Tami Pyfer of Project Unite .
• The Atlantic’s Jennifer Senior asks: “How do we move forward without venom, without looking at strangers — and people within our own party — as potential enemies?” The answer, she writes , is to zero in on things that matter: “We can focus on our vulnerabilities. We can choose to talk about and pass bills to address and continually emphasize the human hardships that bind us together. We all experience grief. We all have disabled relatives in our family whom we worry about. We all need friendship and mourn the relationships that have faded away. We all get cancer or some other disease that makes us reckon with our own mortality. We get chronic illnesses; our bodies fail.”
• On the Washington Post’s Impromptu podcast , contributing columnists Amanda Ripley , Matt Bai, and Theodore Johnson consider civic involvement in a second Trump “resistance.