You're Going To Need A Lawyer

One of the things I've loved about living in New York City over the last seven years is getting to know lawyers. As we all know, lawyers have a huge stake in keeping America honest. I work with law firms as clients, I have a couple of lawyers myself, and I love them. I recommend them to clients and to friends. A good lawyer is a way to ensure you stay out of trouble and are able to focus on what matters: Doing your work.?

I'll admit lawyers also, sometimes, chase ambulances. They also, sometimes, play a huge role in keeping America dishonest. But as the Trump administration comes for federal grant money all over the place, one thing is clear to me: Nonprofits and foundations should be calling their lawyers for a consultation. Yesterday.?

I've recently teamed up with a group of consultants and a lawyer, Jennifer M. Boll, to start a thing called the Department of Nonprofit Efficiency. Jennifer is a specialist in helping nonprofits review their grant agreements to examine the requirements, modification processes, termination options, and compliance verification.?

If those sound like a lot of long words, it's because they are. Lawyers relish complexity and they can help, right now, to keep your organization in compliance. Jennifer is great to work with and her team are actively helping nonprofits to focus on their work, right now. If you or someone you work with might benefit from a D.O.N.E. consult, drop me a line and I'll get you in touch with Jennifer. This is not the time to wait.?

The federal courts have recently proven to be an effective bulwark against the Trump administration. Even as the administration has tried to move with pace too quick for the courts, they have checked it. For example, last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the administration's trying to claw back foreign aid payments.?

Recent stories in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, meanwhile, are troubling. They have chronicled (because I guess that's literally their job description) the failure of major U.S. foundations to live up to their efforts to be "guardians of equity." There are lists of words that are disappearing from federal websites. Honestly, they read like the basis for the majority of my work for nonprofits over the last 10 years. Trump and his team just pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia University and had ICE arrest and threaten to deport a leading pro-Palestinian protester.?

If you don't have legal counsel and you're in the nonprofit or cause driven space, I think you should consider getting some. If you're struggling to figure out what to do with your strategic communications efforts in the meantime, I'm happy to give you an emergency consult that's more in-depth than simply, "pull down your website." Although that has been what a few of my clients have literally done over recent weeks, and I don't blame them. Let's talk.?

Meantime, if your mission matters more than ever — and I'm sure it does — then this is the time to get your website, PR and strategic communications plan sorted out fast. One thing about the DOGE children is they're moving with lightning speed. My feeling is that the cause-driven sector has always moved deliberately but that moving too slowly at times like this is an existential threat. If you need me to come in and support your comms team in critical decisionmaking, or frankly if you've had to lay off your comms team because you've seen your funding yanked, I work fast. I have capacity. And I'm very good in a crisis.?

Matt Davis is a strategic communications consultant in Manhattan