Nonprofits Under Attack: Defending Democracy, Community, and Innovation with Carol Hamilton

In episode 130 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol reflects on five years of podcasting and the sobering state of the nonprofit sector in 2025. While celebrating milestones, she also underscores the challenges nonprofits face amidst unprecedented political attacks, funding cuts, and threats to long-standing principles like nonpartisanship. Despite these challenges, Carol highlights the resilience, innovation, and critical role nonprofits play in society—from filling essential gaps to fueling social movements, strengthening democracy, and sparking innovation. She calls on nonprofit leaders to share their stories, advocate for the sector, and remind their communities why nonprofits matter now more than ever.

Episode highlights:

[00:00:00] Five Years of Podcasting [00:00:25] A Sector Under Attack [00:02:00] Specific Threats to the Nonprofit Sector [00:03:38] Resistance and Resilience [00:04:19] Trust in the Sector [00:05:37] Five Reasons Nonprofits Matter

Carol shares her top five reasons the sector is essential:

1. Filling critical gaps in services and support

2. Driving social movements for justice and inclusion

3. Building social capital and connections in communities

4. Strengthening democracy and civic life

5. Spurring social innovation that reshapes society

[00:06:33–00:12:26] Deep Dive into the Five Reasons [00:25:46] Imperfection, Impact and Resilience [00:26:00–00:27:35] Tell the Good News

• Leverage campaigns like Nonprofits Get It Done to tell the sector's story

[00:28:00] Looking Ahead

Important Links and Resources:

https://nonprofitsgetitdone.org/

https://www.urban.org/research/publication/what-financial-risk-nonprofits-losing-government-grants

https://www.vera.org/news/trumps-war-on-nonprofits-will-make-us-all-less-safe

https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Yentel-Written-Testimony.pdf

https://www.aam-us.org/2025/06/26/eo-impact-is-there-an-existential-threat-to-nonprofit-status

https://nonprofithub.org/a-brief-history-of-nonprofit-organizations/

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