Calling Philanthropy to Action

By Laura McGarry and Julia Alvarez

For those of us in the social change space, I think we can all agree that quarter one of 2025 was a doozy! At Point b(e) Strategies, we found ourselves sad, confused, mad, dismayed (and SO MANY other words) as we watched years—really decades—of work in and by the public sector shattered or erased. We are finding glimmers of hope now (Thank you Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Senator Booker, and all those who joined Hands Off marches), but we have spent the first few months of the year feeling pretty disheartened!

Like most of you, our team members have dedicated our careers to working toward social change. We have worked for nonprofit organizations, for institutes of higher education and  K–12 public education, and for local government. We pride ourselves on being champions of the amazing work that happens in our sector every day. We use this as fuel to develop services that we hope support public sector professionals with the real challenges that you face every day. But, we can only do so much without support from funders who also believe in and stand behind the important work that YOU, our partners and clients, do on a daily basis.

In addition to being confounded by the decisions of the current administration, we are very confused by the decisions—and lack of action—of many grantmaking foundations, both locally and nationally. By law, grantmaking foundations must distribute 5% of their assets on an annual basis. Based on general historical trends, most (but certainly not all) grantmaking foundations stick to just that 5% each year. That said, during the first two years of the Covid pandemic, the U.S. saw dramatic increases in overall foundation funding, and more specifically, in funding for general operating support. Grantmaking foundations stepped up to meet the moment and to ensure that organizations had access to critical funding to keep supporting communities. We are finding ourselves wondering why we are not seeing a similar response today.

We recognize that foundations are also under attack right now, but foundations have access to capital in a way that most nonprofits just don’t have, and this capital is a source of power and strength that can and should be brought to bear against what Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, has called a “coordinated assault on civil society and democracy by the Trump Administration.” Recognizing and naming this assault for what it is, Yentel calls for the sector to “Speak out. Step up. Stay united. We are built for this moment. Let’s meet it, together.”

According to a 2023 report by Candid and Philanthropy Southwest, Colorado is home to 1,633 foundations with assets totaling $25.4 billion. Aligned with the IRS’s 5% giving rule, those Colorado foundations gave $1.5 billion in 2023 (ok, this is more like 5.9% of the total). While $1.5 billion in grants is an amazing number, if foundations in Colorado collectively—and even just temporarily—increased giving to 10%, dollars flowing into the sector would increase to $2.5 billion. Imagine if Colorado organizations had access to one billion more dollars each year! The impact would be amazing!

So, we are joining the movement to ask for more action from our philanthropic partners. Simply put, we need foundations to recognize and leverage the ways in which they can dramatically rethink their approaches and use their assets to defend against these attacks. We know that increasing giving will not be a silver bullet, but with the level of uncertainty that is surrounding federal and state funding right now, grantmaking foundations are uniquely positioned to increase access to capital for the social sector. Vu Le, author of Nonprofit AF, has perhaps said it best with his recent article titled “Dear Funders: Your Endowments Will Be Worthless in a Fascist State.” In this article, he notes that now more than ever we need funders and donors to step up and use their capital and positionality to protect the nonprofit sector and public institutions that are central to caring for marginalized communities rather than choosing to “wait and see” or make minor, incremental changes. For grantmaking foundations that have been saving assets for a rainy day—I think we can all agree that the storm is once again upon us, and the time to act is now.