Sounding the Alarm: Federal Policy Impacts on the Massachusetts Nonprofit Sector

In early 2025, the Boston Foundation, the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network and MassINC Polling Group launched a survey of Massachusetts nonprofit leaders to get a better understanding of their fears and realities in the initial weeks and months of the Trump administration.

The expectations were almost universally downbeat. More than 90 percent of the more than 500 leaders who responded to the survey said they expected the Trump administration would have a negative impact on their own operations and/or on the communities their organizations were committed to serve. This report pulls together the findings of the research alongside comments from respondents and builds out broader themes for the second Trump administration:

1. Respondents believe the communities that nonprofits serve, and Massachusetts as a whole, will be worse off under the Trump administration.

2. Nonprofits are anticipating losses to their funding, negatively affecting their financial health and ability to provide services.

3. Respondents anticipate that there will be a greater demand for their programs and services and that the Trump administration will make it harder to provide these to communities who need them.

As the ensuing months have proven many of these fears and expectations valid, the research partners are planning a second survey for early 2026.