Next Stage - Social Impact Services

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Thought Leadership

Community Voice in Times of Crisis

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“Things are not alright.”

This has been a tough couple of months. Everywhere we look, there are signs of strain in the social fabric that once linked us together as citizens, as neighbors. The idea that we are broadly aligned, that we care about one another, and that there is shared commitment to the common good feels shattered. Gains made on trust-building across difference have quickly eroded.

That unease is being reinforced daily by the chaos playing out around us – intensified immigration enforcement, recurring funding deadlines and brinkmanship in Washington, and ongoing policy disruption that makes it difficult for institutions to plan with confidence. The pace and tone of change are exhausting, even for those of us whose job it is to track it closely.

A recent report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy helps put this moment into sharper focus. Drawing on perspectives from nonprofit leaders across the country, the report describes a sector navigating sustained pressure – financial uncertainty, rising demand for services, workforce exhaustion, and an external environment that feels increasingly difficult to anticipate. Leaders shared a sense of operating without a clear horizon, and having to make consequential decisions while conditions continue to shift beneath them.

The findings point to a sector that is deeply engaged in planning, scenario modeling, and risk management. Organizations are revisiting assumptions, reassessing capacity, and preparing for long-term implications that extend beyond a single budget cycle. This level of attention reflects the seriousness of the moment and the responsibility leaders feel toward their missions, staff, and communities.

A Missing (and Needed) Perspective

At the same time, the conditions described in the report extend well beyond organizational walls. Federal policy shifts, intensified enforcement, and sharper public rhetoric shape daily life for the people nonprofits serve. Increased violence evokes safety concerns. The broader environment is present in every interaction, existing just below the surface. 

It wasn’t long ago that the pandemic reminded us of important truths. Many organizations, flush with ARPA resources, learned that strong programs and sufficient resources did not always translate into participation or connection. Engagement patterns changed, and long-standing assumptions about motivation, trust, and access no longer held. People related to institutions differently in the era of vaccine misinformation and mask mandates, shaped by fear, fatigue, and uncertainty.

That dynamic never really went away, and now it has roared back to the front burner.

As organizations focus on financial planning and operational resilience, communities are simultaneously navigating the emotional and practical impact of the national climate. They are noticing who reaches out, who listens, and who creates space for dialogue. Presence and acknowledgment carry real weight in shaping how institutions are perceived and trusted.

That fundamentally requires staying connected to the people at the heart of your mission, ensuring that community voice continues to inform decisions as this period unfolds.

Your people need to hear from you, and vice versa.

So how will you show up at this critical moment?

A Primer for Community Voice in Times of Crisis

Periods of disruption call for a different posture from institutions. When the ground feels unsteady, communities look less for certainty and more for presence, honesty, and care. Centering community voice during times of crisis is not about perfect process or polished engagement strategies. It is about getting proximate in ways that reinforce trust and shared humanity.

  • Listen first. You do not need fully formed solutions right now. Few people do. What matters most in the early stages of disruption is the act of listening itself. Creating intentional space for people to share how they are experiencing this moment – what they are worried about, what they are feeling, what they need – signals respect and partnership.

    Listening strengthens relational bonds at a time when many feel disconnected from institutions. It also helps organizations avoid making assumptions based on outdated conditions. What you hear may challenge internal narratives, but it will better equip you to respond with relevance and care as decisions come into focus.

  • Anchor in what remains true. There will be time to communicate what is changing – program adjustments, scaled-back services, delayed timelines, or difficult tradeoffs. In moments of uncertainty, however, people are often more grounded by what is steady than by what is new.

    Reaffirm your values, naming your commitment to the people you serve. Be clear about why your mission still matters and how your belief in community dignity and worth has not wavered. Continuity of purpose provides reassurance when external conditions feel volatile, and it reinforces the emotional contract between organizations and the communities that trust them.
  • Work together. Designing with communities has long been recognized as a best practice. In times of strain, it becomes a necessity. Decisions about cuts, consolidations, or shifts in strategy land differently when people understand the constraints and have a voice in shaping the response.

    Partnership does not mean consensus on every decision, but it does mean transparency, shared problem-solving, and an acknowledgment that those closest to the impact often hold insights institutions cannot see on their own. Collaboration in difficult moments builds credibility and reduces the sense that change is being imposed rather than navigated together.
  • Dialogue often. Extended uncertainty can make organizations hesitant to communicate. The instinct to wait until everything is known and the message feels complete is understandable. Yet silence creates its own narrative, often one filled with anxiety or misinformation.

    Communicate what you can. Be honest about what is still unclear. Share updates even when they are partial. Invite questions and feedback, and be prepared to listen again. Regular, human communication reinforces trust and reminds people that they are not facing uncertainty alone.

How We Show Up 

Periods like this test institutions. They also reveal what kind of partners we choose to be to the communities we serve. Community voice is more important when conditions are in flux. Listening, communicating, and co-creating in moments of strain helps organizations remain grounded, relevant, and trusted.

Things are not alright. That makes how we show up – and who we choose to listen to – more important than ever.

Why Strategic Planning Can’t Wait: Preparing for Social Good’s Greatest Challenge

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It is now 2026. A new year. And with it comes no shortage of uncertainty about how social good will fare in the months and years ahead.

With so many variables at play, you may be asking yourself: Is now really the time to embark on a strategic planning effort?

Pardon the colorful language, but hell yes.

Organizations that elect to take a “wait-and-see” approach — or focus only on the next calendar year without considering what comes after — are likely to be unprepared when the worst of the disruption arrives in early 2027.

Revisiting the One Big Beautiful Bill

I hate to do this so early in the new year, but some may need a reminder: a tsunami of epic proportions is approaching. Federal policy change in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) will disrupt everyone. It feels like watching a car wreck in slow motion. We know the outcome, and yet there is very little we can do to stop it.

But maybe your area of human services wasn’t mentioned in the bill. Maybe you think this doesn’t apply to you. Maybe you believe you’re the one organization that can rest easy.

Think again.

While the impact of the bill to date has been largely administrative, in early 2027, people will roll off Medicaid in large numbers — and they will lose much more than just access to healthcare.

Medicaid is one of the largest funding mechanisms for addressing the social drivers of health, which include food access, housing stability, and transportation. And when people lose Medicaid coverage, the burden for meeting those needs will not disappear. Instead, it will shift to state governments, local municipalities, nonprofits, and philanthropy, and the challenge that creates is sobering. In our home state of North Carolina, NC DHHS estimates that nearly $50 billion in federal Medicaid funding will be lost over the next decade. No state can absorb that level of loss and continue operating as before. Simply put, there is no realistic way for the gap created by federal spending cuts to be made up elsewhere. It is too large a shortfall to backfill. 

At Next Stage, we believe this represents the single greatest challenge to social good in our lifetimes — one that will manifest in predictable ways:

  • Increased competition for resources. Everyone will be competing for a much smaller pie, forcing painful decisions for boards, executives, and funders alike. The desperation this creates will likely produce false choices about what matters most in sustaining healthy, safe, and affordable communities.
  • Surging need as services shrink. As resources contract, need will continue to grow. When people experience unmet needs — food insecurity, housing instability, untreated health conditions — those pressures do not stay contained. They ripple outward. Families across income levels will feel the consequences of communities under strain, and the calls for solutions will intensify even as capacity declines.
  • Continued politicization of settled assumptions. All this is unfolding in a moment when there is deep disagreement about what it means to be an American. Ideas that once felt broadly shared — that people deserve access to health, opportunity, and dignity — are increasingly contested. Addressing barriers to access becomes more difficult when the language of equity itself is under attack.

That’s why the work in front of us should not focus on overcoming this disruption — that is not where we are. Going forward, the social good sector must work to minimize harm, manage contraction, and make hard choices as thoughtfully as possible.

But without a shared internal framework to create alignment, clarity, and discipline in decision-making, institutions may risk their own sustainability moving forward.

So what does this mean for your nonprofit, government agency, or philanthropic organization? Strategic planning.

A Passionate Argument for Strategic Planning

Strategic planning differs from annual planning or budgeting exercises. And especially in uncertain times, it can be a powerful way to help your organization make intentional operational choices.

The most effective versions of strategic planning include:

  • A focus on external data. Strategic planning forces organizations to look outward — at policy shifts, demographic trends, funding trajectories, and community needs — rather than relying solely on internal performance or historical success. In moments like this, intuition and gut feelings are not enough.
  • Greater clarity on perception and reality. Many organizations believe they understand their position in the ecosystem. Strategic planning creates space to test those assumptions. What role do you truly play? Where are you indispensable? Where are you replaceable? These are uncomfortable, yet necessary, questions.
  • A multiyear horizon. Annual planning keeps the lights on. Strategic planning prepares you for what’s coming. A multiyear horizon allows organizations to scenario-plan, sequence decisions, and avoid reactive whiplash as conditions change.

Strategic planning matters in moments like this because it creates shared discipline when instinct pulls leaders in different directions. It gives boards, executives, and staff a common set of assumptions to work from, a clear understanding of tradeoffs, and an agreed-upon rationale for difficult decisions. Without that alignment, organizations drift into reactive mode — chasing funding, protecting legacy programs, and deferring hard conversations until options narrow. 

A strong strategic plan does not eliminate uncertainty, but it does provide a stable platform for making choices grounded in reality as conditions continue to change.

Our Commitment to You

While we will continue to track and share updates on the impacts of federal spending cuts throughout the year, our central focus will be on supporting you, your organizations, and the communities you serve by highlighting tangible ways social good leaders like you can get actionable.

Because we believe informed, intentional efforts are the best — and only — way forward.

Our collective legacy, as organizations, as communities, and as people, will be defined by how we respond to this moment. This is an eyes-wide-open period. The decisions made now will shape what survives, what adapts, and what is lost.

We stand ready to support you as you navigate the future. Reach out to set up a call today. 

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10 Trends That Will Shape Social Good in 2026

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Every December, the Next Stage team looks back across the year’s retreats, board meetings, listening sessions, late-night conversations, and messy whiteboards. That’s where the real story lives — in the patterns that start to emerge from the lived experiences of leaders trying to navigate an increasingly complex landscape. You can feel when something in the ecosystem shifts, even before the headlines catch up.

2026 won’t be gentle. It will be a year defined by adaptation, creativity, and a reckoning with systems that are stretched thin. Yet I’m encouraged, because our sector has always shown its best instincts when we stop waiting for ease and start building for what’s next.

Here are six trends I believe will shape social good in the coming year:

 1. Innovation Becomes a Requirement

Innovation is one of those things that tends to thrive when times are tough. When the world of social good feels relatively stable, there may be more financial resources available for testing new approaches, but institutions often lack the urgency and appetite for the change management needed to see them through.

But when the pressure is on, “doing things the way we’ve always done it” stops being an option.

The challenge, of course, is that innovating on the fly can feel risky and chaotic. That’s why the best time to test new methodologies is before the crisis hits, when the stakes are lower and teams have more capacity to experiment.

Still, we’ve seen this sector make some of its most meaningful advancements under duress — most recently during the pandemic, when necessity forced creativity at a scale no one expected. If 2026 continues its current trajectory, we’ll need that spirit again. Innovation isn’t a luxury anymore. It’s infrastructure.

 2. Rebuilding Trust Will Be Difficult — But Essential

We’ve talked a lot about trust this year, and for good reason. Communities are waking up each morning to a landscape that feels less stable and less safe than it did just a few years ago.

BIPOC residents have watched the progress made under diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts be rolled back — in many cases literally deleted from nonprofit websites. Families in our own city of Charlotte hesitated to leave their homes after recent actions by Customs and Border Protection. The trauma of these moments is real, layered on top of the lingering disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Service providers are carrying that weight. Communities are carrying it.

Rebuilding trust won’t happen through a new program or a sharper tagline. It will take sustained, visible investment in relationships and transparency — at both the organizational and community-wide level. “Who are we?” is a question every community leader should be asking as the new year crests. The answers won’t come quickly, but they matter more than ever.

 3. AI’s Move From Experiment to Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence is changing the way work gets done, and nonprofits — long understaffed and overstretched — are feeling its impact quickly.

Executives now have something they’ve never had before: a powerful productivity partner sitting on their desktop. A grant application due tomorrow? No problem. Need to untangle an HR issue? AI can surface options in seconds. Administrative teams that have been underwater for years finally have a lever that helps them breathe.

The next frontier is shifting from staff experimenting with AI in isolation to the development of organizational adoption strategies — policies, workflows, expectations, and guardrails.

We predict that 2026 is the year nonprofits begin institutionalizing AI. It will reshape job descriptions, performance expectations, documentation practices, and capacity models across the sector.

 4. A Deepening of AI’s Impact on Social Good Mission Delivery

If AI is transforming nonprofit operations, its effect on mission delivery may be even more profound.

Next Stage works with many organizations focused on workforce development, and the landscape is shifting quickly. For years, STEM training was held up as the ticket to economic mobility — “learn to code” was the refrain. But as developers face layoffs due to AI automation, that assumption is shifting.

Trades educators from carpentry to HVAC repair are positioning their fields as “AI-resistant,” and they’re not wrong. The promise of technology as a universal upward-mobility path needs a fresh look.

Beyond workforce development, AI is reshaping healthcare, human services, climate resilience, and philanthropy. It brings incredible potential, but also new questions about equity, ethics, and long-term opportunity.

We expect 2026 to be the year AI takes center stage in the larger fight for social and economic mobility, and every mission-driven organization will feel its ripple effects.

5. A Renewed Focus on Individual Philanthropy 

Organizations overly dependent on institutional support — foundations, corporations, or government agencies — are heading into choppy waters.

As the most consequential elements of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act begin to take hold at the end of 2026, federal funding shifts will act as a force multiplier. The domino effect threatens the sustainability of countless programs and institutions.

This is the moment when individual donors step forward. What we call “elective taxation” — individuals voluntarily fueling causes they care about — is poised to become a defining factor in who survives and who struggles.

We’ve talked about this trend throughout the year, and all signs suggest it will accelerate in 2026. Organizations with clear messaging, strong stewardship, and genuine community alignment will be the ones positioned for stability.

 6. Gen X Steps Up

The times, they are a’changing. As a member of Gen X myself, I’ve long wondered what it would look like when the Baby Boomer generation began handing the torch to us. We’re now seeing it happen.

The oldest Gen Xers turned 60 this year. Many are still in the workforce, at the height of their earning potential, and stepping into leadership roles across sectors. Our hopes for increased philanthropy need them — especially as Boomers shift into more fixed-income mindsets around giving.

But Gen X is not a monolith. If organizations want to engage this cohort effectively, segmentation, persona-building, and the adoption of an acquisition mindset are essential.

This is a year tailor-made for new approaches to brand marketing, with institutions examining who they’re speaking to and why it matters. At Next Stage, we’re gearing up for a big year in 2026 because we believe Gen X will shape the next chapter of social good.

 What Our Team Is Watching 

One of the advantages of working at Next Stage is that our team views the sector through many different lenses — workforce development, health equity, philanthropy, community engagement, culture-building, and data and evaluation. We are in rooms with people solving very different problems, and we see the through-lines that connect them.

So after reflecting on my own predictions, I asked my colleagues to share the trends they’re watching as we head into 2026. Their insights add important texture to the picture and underscore how interconnected these shifts truly are.

 7. A Push for Partnerships to Address Public Health Infrastructure Gaps 

—Jalah Blackmon, Director of Impact for Health

One concerning trend I’m watching is the quiet erosion of our public health infrastructure. We’re seeing holes left by job turnover in government agencies, and with that, a real fragility in the systems we rely on. As a new parent, I was alarmed to learn during my child’s early doctor visits that the CDC’s vaccine schedule was temporarily unavailable online. Key datasets and alerts are becoming inconsistent or disappearing altogether, creating a dangerous void that challenges public trust and health equity.


Yet, I’m optimistic. Health-focused nonprofits and community-based organizations are stepping into the gap as temporary librarians and translators of essential information. The increased focus on the social drivers of health and lessons from the pandemic have equipped them to provide trusted, hyper-local outreach. It’s a powerful testament to the sector’s agility.


This interim work is crucial, but underscores an urgent call to action. We must come together across sectors to defend and restore a public health system that doesn’t leave anyone behind. Protecting our most vulnerable isn’t just a healthcare issue; it’s a test of our collective commitment to a healthy society.

8. A Shift in Strategy Horizons 

—Caylin Haldeman, Director of Strategy

Across my work with Next Stage clients and leading internal strategy, one pattern is showing up again and again: the speed at which the world is changing and communities are organizing far outpaces the speed at which institutions and organizations are planning. The three-to-five-year strategic plan — once a reliable anchor — feels increasingly misaligned with a world shaped by policy volatility, funding whiplash, and localized crises that unfold on weeks-, not years-long, timelines. Meanwhile, grassroots groups and informal networks are adapting in near real time, guided by proximity, trust, and an ability to move without bureaucratic drag.

In 2026, I believe the most resilient and impactful organizations will rethink not just what they plan, but how far out they plan. Strategy will need shorter horizons, lighter structures, and stronger feedback loops — designed for calibration, not prediction. Long-term vision still matters. What’s changing is the operating posture required to sustain it: governance models that absorb uncertainty, funder relationships that allow for course correction, and measurement systems that surface signals early rather than reporting outcomes too late.

The organizations that thrive won’t be the ones with the most polished plans. They’ll be the ones that treat strategy as a living practice — and build the muscle to respond as conditions, and communities, change.

 9. An Increased Need to Meet Donors Where They Are Scroll

—Nora Hines, Marketing Manager

Vertical video content will only become more essential in 2026. With 41% of Gen Z and 24% of Millennials being motivated to support causes based on what appears on their social media, and short-form video content consistently performing better on TikTok and Instagram, social good organizations that fail to prioritize video-first storytelling risk missing out on significant swaths of the younger generations. Posts with images already see 650% more engagement than text-only posts, and video only further amplifies this effect.

And the good news is, you don’t have to have an in-house TikTok expert on your team to pull this off. In 2026, nonprofits can (and should!) tap into their existing community for content creation. Organizations can reshare videos from volunteers on the ground, ask donors to explain why they give, and turn testimonials into Instagram Reels. Successful nonprofits will crowdsource their video content, giving beneficiaries, volunteers, and young supporters simple prompts to create authentic 15-30 second stories about their experiences with the organization. This user-generated approach solves both the expertise and authenticity gaps, as peer-created content resonates far more with younger audiences than polished organizational messaging ever could.

 10. A Renewed Demand for Authentically Human Visual Designs

—Wendy Orrego, Visual Design Manager

As audiences face information fatigue, fractured attention spans, and growing distrust in institutions, the role of design will shift from decoration to translation, turning complex data, community insights, and impact stories into visuals that people can immediately understand and emotionally connect with.

While AI will continue transforming how creative work gets produced, I predict a strong counter-trend: a renewed demand for authentic, human-centered visuals and storytelling. In a world where almost anything can be generated instantly, audiences will value what feels real — original photography, genuine community representation, and narrative and design choices rooted in lived experience rather than automated templates.

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Getting Your Nonprofit Ready for 2026: An End-of-Year Checklist

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The season of end-of-year leadership retreats are upon us. Next Stage is supporting a number of organizations as they prepare for an unprecedented set of circumstances in 2026, and one thing is certain:

It’s difficult to plan when the ground feels like it’s shifting beneath your feet. 

The ongoing federal government shutdown has created real consequences across the social good sector — for nonprofits, local governments, and even private companies like ours at Next Stage. Many organizations are seeing ripple effects from delayed contracts, paused grants, and reduced cash flow. The reality is that this moment of instability is not isolated, but rather a part of a larger wave of change resulting from ongoing policy shifts and legislative stalemates.

So yes: things feel uncertain. But “wait and see” is not a strategy. Sitting on the fence until the dust settles is the surest way to get left behind. Because what distinguishes resilient organizations isn’t an innate ability to predict the future, but a willingness to prepare for it (uncertain as it might be).

If you’re heading into your end-of-year retreat or annual planning process, here’s a simple checklist to help get your nonprofit ready for 2026.

:ballot_box_with_check: 1. Conduct a Risk Assessment

Federal policy impacts won’t disappear when the shutdown ends. Many analysts predict 2026 will be a staging year for broader spending shifts in 2027, which makes now an essential time to examine your organization’s exposure.

  • Where are you reliant on government contracts or federal programs?
  • How might indirect impacts, like delayed reimbursements, declining consumer confidence, or disruptions to partner agencies, affect your work?

To get started, gather a small cross-functional team, including finance, operations, and program leaders, and spend a few hours mapping your dependencies. Identify all major revenue streams, partnerships, and contracts, then rate each by both likelihood and impact of disruption. Explore: What might happen if this funding source pauses for three months? If this vendor can’t deliver? If this partner downsizes? Document your findings in a simple risk matrix and note which exposures can be mitigated now versus monitored later. 

The Bottom Line: Performing a proactive risk audit can help you identify your exposure before gaps become crises. Use this process to strengthen your balance sheet and clarify your strategy.

:ballot_box_with_check: 2. Gather Metrics and Know Thy Databases

If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that data clarity equals decision clarity. On the revenue side, review your fundraising or new business data to pinpoint trends:

  • Which funders or customers are dependable?
  • Where are you seeing growth?
  • Where are you overexposed?

On the operations side, consider how your organizational structure supports (or hinders) agility.

Activate these efforts by pulling a year-over-year comparison from your CRM or accounting system. Look beyond totals to instead segment your data by source, type, and relationship length to see what’s really driving results. Then, bring that same discipline to internal metrics: staff capacity, program utilization, and expense categories. Schedule a short data review session with your leadership team to translate those numbers into insights, identifying where to double down and where to pivot.

The Bottom Line: You can’t build resilience on gut instinct alone. Use your databases to guide resource allocation, performance targets, and scenario planning. Numbers tell stories; make sure you’re listening to them.

:ballot_box_with_check: 3. Check In With Peers

You’re not alone in this uncertainty. Every nonprofit executive, municipal leader, and small-business owner is navigating similar headwinds. Rather than making decisions in isolation, use this moment to engage your peers and compare notes on what’s changing.

Create a top-20 outreach list by identifying the leaders and partner organizations whose perspectives you trust the most. Schedule brief, focused conversations – even 20-30 minutes can reveal valuable insights about funding pipelines, staffing shifts, and community demand. Consider hosting a small roundtable or virtual session to surface shared challenges and spark new ideas, and commit to at least one peer discussion each week through February 2026. 

The Bottom Line: Shared learning uncovers blind spots and builds a sense of solidarity across the sector. In volatile times, collaboration becomes a risk-mitigation strategy.

:ballot_box_with_check: 4. What Can We Do About It? An Advocacy Toolkit

Uncertainty is unsettling, but ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. 

Build your framework by outlining three plausible futures for your organization over the next 18 months: best case, middle ground, and worst case. In each, map your financial position, staffing levels, and program adjustments. Assign clear decision triggers: at what point would you pause hiring, cut expenses, or shift priorities? Involve both leadership and frontline staff so plans are realistic and account for downsides that are not readily apparent.

Keep these scenarios handy and revisit them quarterly. Doing so turns preparation into a habit rather than a reaction.

The Bottom Line: Scenario planning is less about accurately predicting disruption and more about building the muscle to adapt when it happens. The goal of this exercise is steady footing, no matter how unpredictable the future may appear.

An Ounce of Prevention 

We often tell clients that the work of planning is the work of hope. It’s an act of optimism to prepare for a future you can’t yet see

The coming year will test many institutions, but those who make time to plan now — with clarity, courage, and a willingness to adapt — will enter the new year from a position of strength.

If your organization is ready to take a proactive approach, we’d welcome a conversation about how our team can help facilitate a risk assessment, scenario planning process, or end-of-year strategy retreat to help get your nonprofit ready for 2026.

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Establishing an Advocacy Strategy for Your Social Good Institution

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Earlier this summer, we examined how organizations can move beyond crisis messaging and shift toward approaches that center community strength and invite genuine participation. We then explored how to create compelling call-to-action campaigns and the concept of boundary spanning to expand supporter pools.

Then, in September, Next Stage’s Helen Hope Kimbrough hosted a powerful discussion with Angela Woods, COO of Crossnore Communities for Children, about embedding advocacy in daily operations.

These are conversations framed against a very real backdrop: the looming disruption caused by federal policy change. The passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in July 2025 set into motion a series of reductions to social safety-net programs that will ripple out across the country. Medicaid alone will see a $900 billion reduction over the next decade, forcing states to make hard trade-offs. SNAP benefits are being reduced, and new requirements will make it harder for vulnerable families to access food support. 

These sizable funding cuts will force state and local governments to reallocate resources from other core community supports. So even if your workforce development organization or arts institution isn’t directly impacted, the funding you’ve relied on could be realigned.

Unlike the pandemic’s overnight transformation, this is a slow-moving crisis. The practical effects may take 18–24 months to reach local communities, but the trajectory is clear. The silver lining? This delay offers something unusual: time to prepare, mobilize, and have honest conversations about advocacy.

To Advocate or Not to Advocate?

Many service providers see themselves as apolitical, leaving advocacy to mission-focused organizations. This creates a real quandary (one that should be added as an agenda item to your next leadership team meeting and/or end-of-year board retreat).

Because organizations are facing competing pressures: preserving relationships with policymakers and some donors by steering clear of politics versus responding to supporters who expect them to be vocal champions for change. And in today’s polarized environment, sometimes even stating facts can feel like picking sides.

Facing an Uncomfortable Truth

The nonprofit sector has long been split between service providers delivering programming and advocacy institutions focused on changing systems through coalition-building. 

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the services you provide are often only needed because of upstream policy failures. While you try to remain neutral, you’re most affected when policy shifts undercut your work. 

And the reality is, neutrality isn’t cost-free. It leaves communities unprepared when cuts hit, alienates passionate supporters, and normalizes policies that damage the most vulnerable.

Because the real question isn’t whether advocacy is political — it always is — but whether silence actually serves your mission. Instead of debating whether to advocate, organizational leaders should focus on developing effective strategies to lead decisively in this unprecedented moment.

What Are the Options?

There’s not a single “right” answer. Advocacy exists along a spectrum, and each organization must decide where it feels comfortable. Here are three broad approaches:

  • Invite Individual Action. The least controversial form of advocacy is empowering individuals to make change in their personal lives. When you send a fundraising appeal that explains how policy cuts threaten your budget and asks donors to help close the gap, you’re already engaging in advocacy, connecting policy to personal action. The same applies programmatically. At Carolina Raptor Center, where I’ve been serving in an interim leadership role this past year, visitors are encouraged to think about how their daily choices — from recycling to protecting habitats — can improve outcomes for birds of prey. Equipping individuals to act in mission-aligned ways can create a powerful ripple effect.
  • Oppose a Damaging Policy. The next level is taking a stand on a specific policy. This doesn’t mean endorsing candidates or parties — it means naming the harm that a particular decision will cause and speaking publicly about it. Consider ourBRIDGE for Kids, which earlier this year lost federally derived after-school funding without warning. The organization didn’t stay quiet. Staff and board members went to the media, explained how the cuts would harm local children, and urged the state Attorney General to intervene. These advocacy efforts ultimately resulted in funding being restored. Without clear public advocacy, those dollars likely would have been lost.
  • Galvanize Your Constituency. The boldest approach is to mobilize your base: ask constituents to call legislators, sign petitions, attend rallies, or submit public comments. For many service providers, this feels like unfamiliar territory. But as policy changes mount, it may become necessary. After all, who better to tell your impact story than the people you serve and the supporters who believe in your mission?

Each approach along this spectrum comes with trade-offs. Individual action is safe but limited. Policy opposition is riskier but potentially powerful. And mobilizing constituents can transform systems but requires courage and resources. The key is to decide where your organization will stand.

What Can We Do About It? An Advocacy Toolkit

If your leadership decides the time has come to engage in advocacy, here are four foundational steps to guide the work:

  1. Define clear goals. Advocacy without a clear objective becomes noise. Whether you aim to restore funding, change eligibility rules, or build awareness of an issue, having clarity will keep your efforts focused and prevent message drift.
  2. Identify your target audience. Focus on those with the power to influence the outcome, whether they’re state legislators, local agency heads, school boards, or corporate partners. But equally prioritize who your messengers will be, recognizing that the most credible advocates are often constituents, volunteers, or community allies rather than staff or board members.
  3. Craft your message and call-to-action. Craft your communications with simplicity in mind: focus on one problem, one solution, and one clear action for supporters to take. Avoid jargon and link the issue directly to your mission and the lives of those you serve. Make the call-to-action specific and easy to follow to ensure strong engagement and impact.
  4. Implement and monitor. Advocacy requires persistence. It’s essential to roll out your campaign methodically, track engagement carefully, evaluate results regularly, and make adjustments as needed. Celebrate small wins along the way to help maintain momentum and keep supporters motivated for the long haul.

These steps may seem basic, but they’re effective. Advocacy need not feel overwhelming. It can be seamlessly integrated into your existing communications and aligned with your broader strategy. By weaving advocacy messages into regular outreach channels and coordinating with overall organizational goals, social good institutions can amplify their impact while maintaining consistency and clarity in their messaging.

What Do Your Values Tell You? 

True advocacy transcends tactics and campaigns; it’s a profound commitment to standing alongside those most affected by injustice and amplifying their voices. It challenges organizations to expand their own understanding, confront uncomfortable realities, and embrace the courage that sustained social change demands. 

In this way, advocacy isn’t just a strategy concept but an essential expression of the values and vision at the heart of every social good institution.

If you’d like some help navigating these topics, reach out for a free consultation. We’re here to help.

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Boundary-Spanning Strategies to Expand Your Pool of Individual Donors

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Everywhere you look these days in the world of nonprofits, there’s a focus on threats to the sector. The optimism about the direction of social good that was so prominent one year ago has been replaced by a strong thread of pragmatism. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

The cuts to the social safety net imposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed into law this past July, will have a domino effect on all nonprofits — whether their organization or sector was directly impacted or not. Huge reductions to federal spending on social good will force states, municipalities, foundations, and corporate social responsibility leaders to make difficult decisions about how to allocate limited resources. This reshuffling will inevitably lead to a contraction of the overall nonprofit system. With less overall funding available, many organizations are going to have to get smaller.

The one saving grace is just how slowly the federal government moves. Demands by policymakers that the OBBBA modifications be enacted within six months are colliding with the realities of such sweeping change management. What was expected to take half a year will more likely take 12–18 months, giving nonprofits a critical opportunity to get proactive in defending their castle.

Why Individual Giving Should Be a Primary Focus

Across the country, philanthropic leaders are preparing organizations for the coming wave of financial strain. Much of the early emphasis has been on internal change management: layoffs, reduced programming, and consolidation. This support is badly needed — it’s been some time since nonprofits faced an economic downturn of this magnitude.

But just as important is a renewed focus on fundraising. Finding new sources of financial support will be essential, and that means taking a harder look at individual giving. Many nonprofits rely heavily on grants and sponsorships from institutional funders while underinvesting in their ability to cultivate individual donors. Institutional sources are inherently capped — there are only so many municipalities, foundations, and companies in your orbit. But individuals who care deeply about your mission are far more plentiful.

The good news is that even in these uncertain times, Americans remain open and willing to give. A recent Vanguard Charitable survey found that 70% of Americans donated to charity in the past six months, and 87% plan to give the same or more in the next six months despite economic uncertainty. Notably, more than one-third (36%) of donors who intend to maintain or increase giving say they do so because they view charitable giving as a civic duty.

Giving USA’s 2025 report reinforces this, showing that individuals continue to account for three-quarters of all charitable giving — far outpacing foundations and corporations. In other words, while institutional funding is likely to contract and realign, the largest portion of charitable support remains accessible — if nonprofits are prepared to reach for it.

The challenge, of course, is that individuals don’t have entry points like foundations or corporations do. There is no application portal for a major donor. Building relationships with individuals requires strategy, patience, and a willingness to expand beyond your existing circles.

Creating a Focus on Acquisition

At a time when individual support is more important than ever, organizations have two clear strategies: increase investment from existing donors or acquire new donors who have never given before.

Our latest two blogs focused primarily on strengthening connections with existing supporters — moving beyond crisis messaging and designing call-to-action campaigns. These efforts may pick up some new givers, but the people most likely to respond when you communicate digitally are those who already follow and subscribe. The harder, and often more neglected, path is the acquisition of individual donors.

We call this boundary-spanning acquisition — the effort to identify, engage, cultivate, and ultimately solicit individuals who are not currently in your donor database. Hospitals, universities, and cultural institutions have long been set up to do this, leveraging grateful patients, alumni, and visitors to fuel their pipelines. Health and human service organizations, on the other hand, often lack a natural pool of prospects. With events and galas losing their luster, the question becomes: how can these organizations compete for individual donor dollars?

Building a Culture of Philanthropy

The answer lies not just in tactics, but in mindset. The organizations that succeed are those that foster a “culture of philanthropy” — one that extends beyond the development office and permeates the entire organization.

Three key components stand out:

1. Focus on Your Supportive Constituency

Donors are not simply rewarding impact; they’re joining a movement of people aligned to a cause. Nonprofits that highlight donor stories alongside programmatic outcomes create a sense of belonging that draws in future supporters. Prospects are more inspired by seeing themselves reflected in the generosity of others than by a list of program statistics.

In practice, this can look like a restructuring of your newsletter, blog, and social media to feature a steady stream of volunteer- and donor-centered stories. Interviewing and engaging these people also provides excellent opportunities to learn what got them involved in the first place and why they stay involved, which is important data to inform your future strategy development.

2. Grow Ambassadorship

Too much pressure is placed solely on board members to open doors. While governance volunteers play an important role, organizations often overlook the potential of volunteers and donors who want to deepen their involvement. A structured ambassador program allows these allies to extend your reach, helping to identify new prospects while staff lead the cultivation process. The request isn’t for them to solicit gifts — it’s to help others discover your mission.

Organizations often struggle to create volunteer opportunities because their programming and operations do not lend themselves to outside involvement. When ambassadorship is treated like volunteerism, the effort extends beyond friends and neighbors to center constituent recruitment as a way to give back. That will require creating new methods to activate this interest, raising the visibility of your organization through outreach efforts.

3. Create Targeted, Multiyear Strategies — And Stick With Them

Acquisition takes time. Quick-hit experiments rarely deliver immediate results, and too often they are abandoned prematurely. Instead, organizations should identify a tightly defined segment of potential supporters — perhaps a profession, a faith community, or a geographic area — and commit to a multiyear strategy. Like any program expansion, this requires research, planning, volunteer leadership, and measurable goals. The most successful campaigns recruit current donors to lead efforts to connect with their peers, making acquisition an extension of authentic relationships.

For example, if Bob the Architect is one of your biggest supporters, it may be worth exploring whether others at his architecture firm may have similar interests. More adventurous would be to link architecture firms across the community in a sector-wide effort that makes your nonprofit a beneficiary. These sorts of ideas come when nonprofits proactively put themselves in a position to make them happen.

Making the Most of This Gift of Time

The slow rollout of the OBBBA is, in its own way, a gift (I swear, go with me here…). The Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic hit suddenly, giving nonprofits little time to prepare. This time is different. We can see the storm on the horizon. The question is how we use the time we’ve been given.

Yes, nonprofits should prepare their operations for leaner days ahead. But they should also seize this moment to strengthen their culture of philanthropy. By embracing boundary-spanning strategies and focusing on individual giving, organizations can grow even as others contract.

At Next Stage, we believe that movement-building brand marketing offers a roadmap to do just that — aligning donor acquisition with community building in ways that create resilience and momentum.

If you’d like to explore how your organization can expand its pool of individual donors, let’s start a conversation.

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