Brace For Impact

Last night, my internet friend Marisa Kabas broke the news of the Trump administration's plans to freeze all federal government funding after an anonymous source slipped her a copy of the memo outlining the plan. You can read more about it on her site, The Handbasket (which is worth the $8/month subscription for this scoop alone, but is also just a great way to support independent journalism). It has absolutely EXPLODED since then, and everyone I know who works for nonprofits is panicked and scrambling, trying to figure out just how badly they're screwed by this.

There is a lot we don't know, things are changing fast, and it's hard to predict what will come of this. A few quick thoughts and suggestions, based on what I know now at a little before 7 pm PST on Tuesday night, all of which could change by tomorrow morning:

1. The Nonprofit Association of Oregon has set up a special page on their website dedicated to tracking the effects of Trump's executive orders on local nonprofits. If you live/work elsewhere, there are still useful national links on it which may point you towards more specific info for your state.
2. Not all of this is going to stick. Maybe not even most of it. It was explosively unpopular right from the jump. By midafternoon today West Coast time, the press secretary was already lying to cover their asses, claiming a memo which clearly stated the intent to suspend ALL funding really just meant TEMPORARILY suspending SOME funding. They also claimed that all fifty states being shut out of their Medicaid portals was just a glitch that would be fixed soon. Both of these are a clear response to the fact that they didn't expect the scale of backlash and instantaneous bipartisan outcry they received. Even Republican House reps and senators were yelling at them. We don't know for sure where any of this is going to land yet.
3. Call your senator and your House rep, even if they're Republicans who never listen to you. They might listen now. Everyone is freaking out over this. Federal funding isn't just a leftist issue; it goes to conservative nonprofits too! We can use that. If you have Dem reps, tell them to vote against every nomination coming out of the Trump White House until they fix this.
4. None of this is technically legal. Congress approved this budget and the President doesn't have the right to just refuse to hand it over. Already this evening there's been a challenge from one DC judge. Sometimes the big dramatic stunts don't get locked into policy if the logistics involved are too complicated and there's enough pushback. Stay on your legislators about this and urge them to be loud.
5. The National Council of Nonprofits is also filing suit and planning to fight this in the courts. They're collecting stories via this form here about how Trump's executive actions - both the spending freeze, and all the rest of them - are negatively impacting nonprofits. If you got screwed by this, tell them. They're also asking who is comfortable having their story shared with reporters.
6. At present, I'm continuing onward with all the grants on my roster which will involve federal funding (mostly National Endowment for the Arts money, either directly or subgranted through state-level arts agencies) until explicitly told not to by the agencies themselves. If you have deadlines upcoming, I'd encourage you to do the same. If you have federal funds committed and owed to you and you weren't able to draw them down today before the freeze at 5 pm, stay on them. The memo said it could be as much as 90 days, but if a judge throws it out, you might have time to get your hands on the funds before whatever the Trump administration tries next.
7. If you or your organization have Trump voters in your orbit, there's already some anecdotal evidence that this is opening some eyes. I've seen a lot of folks on social media talking about conversations they've either had or overheard with people who voted for Trump, seeing him shut down Medicaid and Meals on Wheels and other programs that aren't considered "leftist" or "liberal" and realizing that they aren't immune from harm. If your nonprofit is jeopardized by this, tell people why, and ask them to call their legislators too.

All that being said . . . we would be smart to begin thinking now about where federal funds affect our budgets and what options we might have for supplementing those dollars from elsewhere. I'm doing Prospect Research Workshops on February 8th and March 8th to help folks explore new grant options from a couple giant databases of progressive philanthropy resources. It's a 3-hour workshop for $200. However, if you are a member of a marginalized community who does nonprofit work within that community (particularly BIPOC folks, queer & trans folks, immigrants/refugees, people with disabilities, or anyone in the LA area who was impacted significantly by the wildfires), and this workshop is of interest to you but you can't afford that fee, please email me through my website. I'm willing to work out a sliding scale with whatever you can afford in order to get these tools to folks who need them on behalf of the communities that are really struggling right now.

Lastly, if your mental health took a nosedive this week and you're struggling with how to avoid getting too burned out, overwhelmed, angry or anxious to be able to get up in the morning and keep doing the community work that needs to get done . . . you're not alone. We're all in it together. For folks who were able to join us last Monday night for our Inauguration Night community gathering, my sister Cat presented a brief excerpt of the workshop she'll be leading this weekend on exactly this topic and it was great. We'd love to have you join us on Saturday for the full event!

Beyond Massages and Mindfulness: Taking Care of Each Other (and Ourselves) in Hard Times

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2025 (11 am - 1 pm PST)
Learn new tools to address burnout on the individual, relational, and organizational level. Participants will leave with a basic plan to assess individual and organizational burnout and increase resilience personally and systemically. $100 per person (or 2 people for South Sister & Mount Hood cohort members). Facilitated by Cat Willett.

On Sale Now!

If you're a member of a marginalized community who is interested in attending but can't swing the fee, shoot me an email; same deal applies as the Prospect Research Workshop above. We'll figure out a sliding scale for whatever amount is comfortable for you, so please don't hesitate to reach out.

I don't know how any of this is going to turn out, but whatever it is, I'm in it with you.