The Shifting Federal Landscape: Massachusetts Nonprofits Raise the Alarm
May 5, 2025
On May 5, a record turnout for a Boston Foundation forum—nearly 1,200 registrants—gathered in person and online to discuss the findings from a recent survey of Massachusetts nonprofit leaders on a high-profile topic – the anticipated impacts of the shifting federal landscape.
TBF President and CEO Lee Pelton welcomed the audience saying, “I am grateful for this time together, and confident that community, as it always does, will triumph over chaos.” More than 300 different nonprofit organizations were represented in the audience, he noted, but all are united in helping people survive and thrive. Pelton acknowledged the fear inherent in riding the waves of uncaring and even mean-spirited federal actions, concluding, “Know that moral courage is better than fame or fortune, and outlasts them both.”
523 nonprofit leaders and staff completed the survey, a joint effort of the Boston Foundation, Mass Nonprofit Network (MNN), and MassINC Polling Group, in February and March of this year. As MNN CEO Jim Klocke said before introducing the researchers, “You won’t be surprised to hear that the survey doesn’t have good news.” He, too, reiterated hope in the Massachusetts nonprofit sector’s strengths, including its size (500,000 employees and 1.1 million donors), resourcefulness, and powerful role models. He turned the presentation over to MassINC Polling Group (MPG) for the details.
MPG President Steve Koczela and Research Director Zayna Basma-Doyle offered top-line results, with a reminder of the survey’s timing. “A lot of survey questions were about what people thought would happen, and now we’re facing the reality of what people feared,” said Koczela. The survey was offered in six languages, with respondents reflecting strong representation from women-led nonprofits (72%), nonprofits with budgets below $2.5M (55%), and 35% reporting their staff are majority People of Color. Just over half the organizations said they received federal funds, and 89 percent of those expected to lose funding.
But even those who receive no federal dollars shared in the pessimism. Overall, 77 percent of respondents expected Massachusetts would be “much worse off” under the new administration, while another 14 percent said “worse off.” (Just 2 percent thought that the state would be better off.) When asked the biggest factors, respondents named the loss of funding or services, harm to vulnerable populations, and overall economic hardship, with health and mental health decline a close fourth. In sum, the survey showed an overall expectation of decreasing resources in the face of increasing demands, with some organizations losing federal funds for basic needs services, and other nonprofits expecting greater competition for philanthropic funds because of it. (Full topline results are linked here and in the sidebar.).
Faced with these dismal, if not surprising, data, a panel of leaders from nonprofit-serving nonprofits discussed elements of action, reaction, and defense. Moderated by MNN’s Klocke, the conversation began with panelists offering examples of their own organization’s responses. Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, offered that “with threats to the sector being so substantial, existential, and immediate” NCN is doubling down on its four pillars: legal strategy (with two suits against the administration); communications; advocacy and education; and safety and security for nonprofits and leaders.
Agenda
Welcome Remarks
M. Lee Pelton, President and CEO, The Boston Foundation
Opening Remarks
Jim Klocke, Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network
MA Nonprofits Federal Impacts Survey Results Presentation
Steve Koczela, Founder & President, MassINC Polling Group
Zayna Basma-Doyle, Research Director, MassINC Polling Group
Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A
Jim Klocke, Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (moderator)
Shanique Rodriguez, Executive Director, Massachusetts Voter Table
Mary Skelton Roberts, Chief Executive Officer, Philanthropy Massachusetts
Diane Yentel, President & Chief Executive Officer, National Council of Nonprofits
Closing Remarks
Leigh Handschuh, Senior Program Officer, Nonprofit Sector Infrastructure,
The Boston Foundation
Executive Director of Massachusetts Voter Table Shanique Rodriguez said that while her organization focuses on voting rights, its members are largely BIPOC-led nonprofits, serving immigrant communities, and fear is taking hold. Residents are fearful of participation; nonprofit leaders are fearful of exposure; and all are stressed by the threats. “We’re doing a lot around safety and security, not just about the health and well-being of the organizations,” she said. “We’re also trying to get rapid response dollars available. We’re signing advocacy letters and trying to make sure our local laws and policies are up to snuff and counter what’s happening at the national level.”
Fear and insecurity force a challenging balance. On the one hand, as Yentel said, “The level of silence is the #1 problem. Leaders, organizations and members of Congress are staying silent, when we should all be speaking out…. National nonprofits that don’t rely on federal funding, and are often White-led, have the least risk and so the greatest obligation to speak out against the vilification and all that is not normal in this moment.”
Rodriguez acknowledged that in an age when students are whisked off the street for writing an op-ed for a school paper, “folks of color need to be careful of their visibility,” and acknowledged we should ask “how can those people take a silent role so they don’t have to be in public.” On the other hand, Rodriguez said, those organizations taking their first steps into advocacy need to be aware of who’s already in the space. “It’s great to be excited to jump in, but first, look at what is happening already. Maybe join as a supporter rather than seeking to lead the same work. Trusted messengers need to lead—who are the groups on the ground doing the work?”
Speaking out and advocacy are indispensable, but Skelton Roberts urged new approaches too. “We can’t keep trying to solve new problems in old ways,” she said. “What we’re experiencing is unprecedented. Consider New England and New York plus California… and the economic force we are for the country. Use that power. Rather than be responsive. This administration follows the dollars, so let’s use our dollars to do something right.”
After an audience Q and A section focused on a number of practical and tactical recommendations (such as collectively prioritizing fewer, high-leverage goals and policies, considering shared service models and structural collaborations where appropriate, and avoiding redundant responses and efforts that take too many of us away from our missions), TBF’s Leigh Handschuh closed the meeting, offering a last direction: “It’s incumbent on us all to not lose sight of our collective well-being. Not just because of your amazing and necessary work. But for the simple fact that you matter and the people you serve matter, despite what the current administration says. With that, let’s keep the pressure on.”
Navigating the Moment: Resources and Information for Nonprofits
As the support and legislative landscape for nonprofits continues to rapidly change, we have put together a resource hub as a central repository for nonprofits trying to keep up with the latest actions and available resources for the sector. Read it here.