Stay Calm & Break Fake Rules
How to respond to your fears in 2025
Oh my! There is a lot of fear out there…
A lot.
I am hearing from foundations, grantees, and consultants that they are anxious about what the incoming administration will do to the services and programs upon which their communities depend.
I am very unsure that all of this fear is justified. Hysteria just plays into the hands of the incoming players who want to distract their opposition. From what I can tell, based on what was promised during the campaign in Project 2025, and since the election, this administration has an overwhelmingly challenging agenda to execute. They intend to do everything from deporting millions of people, invading Greenland and Panama, firing thousands of public officials, hiring loyal public officials, and passing gigantic tax bills. And they intend to do all of this with a razor-thin majority in the House and Senate. That’s a lot, and I have my doubts that they can get it all done.
But they could! And that is why people are concerned.
Whether the incoming administration is able to get all of this done or not, I am just as concerned about other actors — specifically, donors and trustees.
In a world where most foundations and donors prioritize protecting their assets over giving them away, times like these are always challenging. If the incoming administration successfully cuts back on social services, I fully trust that frontline organizations like the ones that the Stupski Foundation supports will find ways to step up and step in for their communities.
Donors and foundations trustees, on the other hand, I’m not so sure.
When we look at examples like the COVID response, economic recessions, and/or market declines, we see that most foundations move into protection mode. What can we cut today to ensure we will be here for the next crisis? The financial teams take up more space than the programmatic teams, and (unfortunately) the internal dynamic shifts from stepping up for communities to stepping into protecting the donor from financial and reputational risk. Saving legacy. Ensuring perpetuity. Conserving assets.
This, in my opinion, is dangerously antithetical to every tenet of good philanthropy, yet it is nearly an ironclad fake rule that when the going gets tough for communities, the donor retreats.
This time, history doesn't need to repeat itself. Here are three ways we can break the pattern, as a rare but inspiring small subset of donors have done.
Donors need to take on the burden of the day - Frankly, I am not wild about foundation assets being used to fulfill obvious government responsibilities, but we could be in for a rough run where foundations simply need to be the Band-Aid. If ensuring that key service and advocacy organizations are kept afloat during this four year stretch by back-filling losses in government assistance, so be it.
Donors must put humanity above perpetuity - Since starting at the Stupski Foundation in 2015, I have noticed an increasing number of foundations “putting humanity before perpetuity.” This is a healthy movement in the philanthropic sector, one where funders prioritize giving the resources society needs today over preserving philanthropic assets. Donors and trustees have a unique and critical role to play in the midst of crises. As grantees repeatedly model, crises are times of selflessness. Selflessness is a growth area for foundations, and putting humanity above perpetuity is a powerful measure.
Donors need to step up their advocacy - Foundations are excluded from engaging in direct lobbying for specific bills and laws, but we can invest heavily in our grantees to do it. We can also double down on our connections with people who can influence policymakers to fight for the communities about which we care the most. Instead of spending extra time with our financial and legal advisors in the midst of a crisis, put that energy into the organizations working on the frontlines.
I sincerely hope that many of the threatening initiatives this administration has put forward will crash and burn in the inferno of D.C. politics, and I expect that most will. But, should things play out differently, I encourage the donor community to resist our natural temptation to protect our self-interest and do what we are supposed to do - give, advocate, and stand for humanity.
Listen. Learn. Break Fake Rules.
Next month, we’re coming back with a new season of the Break Fake Rules podcast! Catch up on season one and join us at an upcoming live recording to engage with a community of rule-breakers who are challenging norms and sparking new ideas to better serve communities and contribute to lasting change.
Explore the Break Fake Rules podcast on our new site.
In case you missed it! I am excited to inform you that Break Fake Rules is coming back in 2025 with a second season!!
Claire Callahan, Producer of Break Fake Rules, and I discussed it on this special edition of the podcast AND we feature some of our favorite rule breakers.