E.D. Notes for the Field:

2029: Dare to Look Past Trump’s Reign of Terror

With the constant onslaught, it is all too easy to lose one’s perspective. Nonetheless, leading a nonprofit, especially now, requires both responding to today’s challenges and imagining a better future – for your organization, your field, your community, our nation, and the world. Hopelessness is the aspiring autocrat’s secret weapon. If they can lead us to despair, they’ve already won. Even in less trying times, being an E.D. requires you to provide hope, to inspire confidence, and to paint a picture of a better future so others can join you in hoping and in working toward making hope real.

So, let’s take a minute to imagine it is January 2029. Further, imagine the 2028 election cycle swept MAGA from the seats of power. The White House is newly inhabited by a law-abiding President who is too young to collect Social Security, believes in the Constitution, and has a mandate to restore our democracy. In Congress, small majorities enable the new Administration to begin healing a traumatized nation. What will have been the nonprofit sector’s – and your organization’s – role in this process?

Looking back from 2029, with a few notable exceptions, the sector held fast across Trump 2.0, carrying on with the work, tightening belts, marching, demonstrating, filing countless lawsuits and, through the darkest night, remaining true to our values. These organizations will emerge as the nation’s moral guideposts.

What you do now, how you manage the Trump years, will position you to lead in 2029. 

When the tide turns, will your organization be a symbol of hope, resistance, and persistence in the face of terrible odds? Of sticking to immutable values when it seemed safer to cave, accommodate, or just to lie low? Or will you look back and wonder if you could or should have done more?

How do we rebuild a vibrant democracy after this Reign of Terror? Much is uncertain but the nonprofit sector will be core to the effort:

• By showing compassion to and seeking justice for those who have suffered most
• By advocating for laws making it harder for another aspiring autocrat to wreak havoc
• By holding an American Truth and Reconciliation process to give victims voice, shining a light on crimes committed in our name
• By showcasing America at its best – our schools, libraries, and vibrant arts scene; our commitment to lifting every child out of poverty; our renewed dedication to preserving the planet; our commitment to science, discovery, and the search for truth.

These are both human needs and the requirements for a democratic society. They also align with core nonprofit values and pursuits. So, as you fight the good fight today remember, 2029 is coming. What can you do now to be ready?

• Review your mission, then engage your board and staff in a risk assessment. There is risk in standing up for what’s right, for speaking boldly on behalf of your mission or constituents, but there is also risk in acquiescing, in refusing to speak out. Which set of risks do you choose?
• Review your current strategies and business model. Do they still serve in the current circumstances?
• Review your financial strength and resilience and imagine different scenarios over the next 3 years in which you lose some, most, or all federal (and pass-through) funding.
• Speak regularly with colleague organization leaders – what are they doing to meet this moment? Are there opportunities to work together, anything from programmatic collaboration to joint advocacy to merger?
• Talk to key private funders and individual donors. What are they worried about and how can you help them achieve their goals?
• Run an exercise in which you imagine it is 2029, what’s the headline for your organization?

Remember, by far the biggest risk is 2029 cements MAGA – through gerrymandering, voter intimidation, and outright fraud. We can’t let that happen.