'Nonprofits Are Biting Their Tongues'

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 bring Americans together and strengthen fractured communities.

From senior editor Drew Lindsay: Polarization and partisanship are pushing nonprofits away from lobbying and advocacy. That’s the finding of a new study that concludes that even social-service organizations — often considered politically neutral —?fear blowback from donors and retaliation by government officials. “Nonprofits are biting their tongues," the report’s authors say.?

The executive director of an emergency housing center adds: “It’s like there’s no middle ground anymore.”

Scholars Heather MacIndoe of UMass Boston, Lewis Faulk of American University, and Mirae Kim of George Mason University?write about their research in The Commons. The study is a follow-up to a 2023 Independent Sector survey that found that less than one-third of nonprofits have actively advocated for policy issues or lobbied on specific legislation over the past five years. That’s down from nearly three-quarters of nonprofits in 2000.

See the full story.

What Jerry Falwell and the Conservative Movement Can Teach Fundraisers

Fundraiser Jason Lewis grew up attending conservative evangelical churches, and Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell helped push Lewis’s first fundraising drive to a record. While Lewis has changed his politics over the years, he sees lessons for fundraisers in the coalitions that Falwell and his Christian conservative movement built.?

They aimed to transcend ideology and connect people across differences, Lewis writes in The Commons, something missing from many efforts today.?

“Much of today’s fundraising operates with a siloed mindset — single-issue organizations targeting narrow, ideologically pure audiences. This emotionally charged approach often gets everyone riled up and raises a lot of cash in the short term, but it doesn’t ensure lasting relationships or meaningful progress. Instead, it fragments communities and sacrifices long-term impact.”

In his piece, Lewis, founder of Responsive Fundraising , outlines the three elements of a fundraising strategy to navigate today’s uncertain landscape.

Join Us TODAY! A Discussion About Trust and the Nonprofit

GOP pollster and CNN contributor Kristen Soltis Anderson has some counterintuitive post-election findings: that the country is in a moment when we can restore trust in institutions, including nonprofits and grant makers. I invite you to join me for a conversation about Anderson’s findings today, Thursday, February 20, at 12:30 p.m. ET, when she visits The Commons in Conversation. We’ll also talk about her surveys that suggest philanthropy has an important role to play in closing America’s divides.

?? The event is free with registration. ??

Of the Moment

News and other noteworthy items:

• In Forbes, Lumina Foundation CEO Jamie Merisotis endorses civics education as a bipartisan means of reinvigorating democracy. “The increasingly popular notion of requiring civics instruction at every level of education is one supported — for different reasons — by people who sometimes hold very different world views,” he writes. More than a third of Americans cannot name the three branches of government, he notes.
• Colorado Public Radio brought together three groups of state residents — college students, Colombian immigrants, and farmers and ranchers — to discuss the question: “What does community mean to you?” The common thread: “Everyone we spoke with wanted to be understood beyond others' assumptions of them.”
• In a new report, the The Bridgespan Group spotlights what it sees as successful efforts to build a multiracial democracy. “Many people who now experience the greatest threat are also proactively leading the charge, benefiting the broader society by offering a vision of what democracy can look like,” the report says. “And much of that work takes place outside of the structures of elections and focuses on how communities can be heard and included.” Among the groups highlighted: the 22nd Century Initiative, AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, California Donor Table, and New Pluralists.