Nonprofits Under Attack: Is ‘Institutional Strength’ Strong Enough to Defeat the Authoritarians?
Last week, the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice came under attack from the Trump Administration.
The Department of Justice abruptly cancelled $5 million in grants to fund sign language interpretation for victims of domestic violence who are deaf, expand access to counseling and treatment for people in mental health crisis and work with prosecutors’ offices to reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system.
Then Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency stepped in to demand an oversight role in Vera’s operations.
Vera said no, and did so loudly.
First, Vera President Nicholas Turner wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi: “This leads us to believe that we are being targeted for our public opposition to President Trump’s mass deportation agenda and his gutting of federal funds for mental health and drug treatment, among other actions.”
Then Vera publicly refused to give DOGE access to its work. ““This administration has systematically attacked every aspect of civil society, from academia to law firms and the media, and is now coming after the nonprofit sector. We can only surmise that these tactics seek to silence us,” said Turner.
Vera’s actions in the face of authoritarian aggression are vital for readers of Democracy Docket to understand — and to support and emulate. For one thing, Vera is among the foremost justice reform organizations in the U.S., and has been working for more than 60 years to make our broken justice system fairer, particularly for those left behind by economic challenges or racial prejudice. For another, Vera is the model of a non-partisan organization in civil society — often acting as a bridge for government and private funding, and as a trusted partner for many nonprofit organizations and municipalities. If Trump and this outlaw administration can kneecap the Veras of this country, they can sweep the field.
In truth, this is one of the things keeping me up at night.
Back in January, I wrote that the new Trump Administration was attempting to destroy American civil society. “The goal has always been clear: destroy functioning government, cripple the nonprofit sector and obliterate the hard-earned bonds and benefits of 80 years of post-war American progress.”
To some, that probably sounded alarmist at the time. But clearly no one working for a nonprofit organization can think so now.
Collective action is the only force capable of meeting an authoritarian movement with equal resolve.
In the face of daily horror stories of cancelled grants, DOGE incursions, threatened prosecution and the wielding of tax exempt status as a weapon, American civil society — long considered the immune system of democracy — faces a profound test. Nonprofits, traditionally seen by most Americans as service-oriented entities, are now caught in a storm that threatens not just our missions, but our very ability to function, to secure revenue, to retain staff, and to help people. The Trump forces have made their disdain well known for institutions that empower marginalized communities, value equity, or hold the government accountable.
Is the “strength” of civil society institutions — which we once took for granted — enough to withstand the organized, well-funded and increasingly aggressive forces arrayed against them?
I see two distinct reactions to the threat: organizations that pretend it’s business as usual, and those that publicly acknowledge the threat and proactively respond to what’s happening in our sector and our society. (We have already seen the efficacy of “cutting a deal” with the Trump Administration — their word is void from the outset).
In my view, the wolf is at the door. There’s no hiding. The storm will not blow over for a very long time. And if you think they’re not coming for you or your organization, think again.
Political scientist Daniel Stid, a fellow at the center-right think tank American Enterprise Institute, wrote a post called Competitive Authoritarianism Comes for Civil Society in which he confessed he’d overrated the tensile strength of constitutional democracy, and looked at several key measures for the survival of U.S. civil society. First among them (and the most important to me) is collective action and mutual defense.
It was impressive and encouraging — though mostly symbolic — to see the statement put out by the Council on Foundations, which has now been signed by 337 grantmaking organizations.
In a recent essay, the foundation presidents who authored the resolution minced no words:
We in the philanthropic community must not wait like sitting ducks. We must prepare and unite to defend our freedom to support the millions of people who rely on charitable foundations to build stronger, healthier communities and opportunities for all.
It may be tempting to lie low and guard our resources—but that will not serve the nonprofits we fund, the people they serve, and the institutions we rely on to thrive.
I agree entirely that common purpose and common action should guide a sector that Elon Musk called a “graft machine” and a “gigantic scam.” Yet the “how” seems elusive.
From discussions with my clients, colleagues at nonprofits and even the boards I sit on, I can report with total accuracy that fear in our sector is endemic. In a deeply reported special report, nonprofit leaders talked without attribution about the threats they face — specifically to environmental programs, services for immigrants and legal pro bono assistance. “They’re not arresting people yet who work at non-profits, but everybody’s concerned that that is something that they might eventually do,” one person who works at an immigration nonprofit told the Guardian. This feeling is everywhere.
Yet as our former civil society ally — the federal government — pushes to defund essential social programs, restrict voting rights, roll back civil liberties and demonize vulnerable communities, nonprofits can no longer afford to operate in isolation or under the illusion of safety through silence. This is not a time for incrementalism.
If civil society organizations fail to recognize the existential nature of this political moment, they may soon find themselves unable to serve their communities at all. The dismantling of institutions does not begin with tanks in the streets — it begins with budget cuts, regulatory attacks and public delegitimization. These are already underway. The only viable defense is solidarity: nonprofits must act together, loudly and visibly, to defend democratic norms and the rights of the people they serve.
Collective action — through coordinated messaging, shared advocacy, mutual defense and a willingness to push legal and political boundaries — is the only force capable of meeting an authoritarian movement with equal resolve.
We must stop acting like a constellation of siloed stars and begin to behave like a unified front — to take courage from the millions of people marching in thousands of demonstrations in every single city and state in this country. “If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately,” is a saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. But I’d also add the words of James Baldwin to this moment: “ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
American civil society must break through that ignorance or perish.
Tom Watson is a veteran consultant to nonprofits and civil society organizations, and an instructor in the nonprofit management graduate program at Columbia University.