I know I speak for many in my Gen X cohort when I say it’s killing me how the social progress we fought for is being undone. Much of that advancement was driven by nonprofits and the philanthropic sector, which were vulnerable then and are likely bigger targets now.
Was this generation naive enough to believe that progress, once attained, would be automatically retained? We attended “No Nukes” rallies in high school. We built shantytowns on the college quad to dismantle Apartheid. Hundreds of thousands of us marched in DC in 1992 to rally for abortion and other reproductive rights.
Apparently, we won those battles but not the war. Those smoldering embers caught flame in Project 2025. Sure, Trump is trying to run away from it like so many district attorneys, but even if Trump loses, do we think the Heritage Foundation and its compatriots will just fade into the sunset?
My first campaign as a comms professional was in 1994 when Newt Gingrich led the “Contract for America,” which tried to end public TV and radio. Under the guise of reducing “government waste,” the 104th Congress fought to silence the voices they disdained, and I found my passion fighting for nonprofits, foundations, and their grantees. They tried to kill Big Bird and NPR, but we held on.
There’s more money now to go after. Estimates say over the past 30 years, there’s been an increase in total giving from all sources of $360 billion. And it’s not just our nearly half-trillion-dollar size but the impact we’ve had in moving the culture that has rattled the cage. Decades of reproductive rights, advances in DEI, marriage equality, increasing voter participation, the Affordable Health Care Act, fuller recognition of climate change, misogyny, and racism – our progress poked the proverbial bear.
Before VP candidate JD Vance called foundations “social justice hedge funds,” he told Fox News in 2021, “we are actively subsidizing the people who are destroying this country, and they call it a charity.” A major party candidate for national office who calls progressive foundations “cancers on American society” is firing warning shots we should heed.
What I’ve read of Project 2025 makes me wax nostalgic for the 1990s. It’s a hellscape pledging mass deportations of immigrants, gutting the civil service for loyal henchmen, and the end of abortion, IVF, and possibly birth control and divorce. It defines a family only as a married man and woman and their biological offspring. The rights and recognition of those outside the platonic ideals of white Christian Nationalism are in danger of being erased forever.
Unlike when my generation was coming up, new media tools make dividing and conquering much easier for the forces arrayed against us. Today, disinformation, misinformation and media corporatization are dangerous. But let’s not forget that we have the truth and the values of our work on our side. The demographic changes of these past decades also mean fewer Americans can easily be convinced otherwise.
Gen X frustration aside, all the generations need to get aligned to defend ourselves and promote a vision of how nonprofits and philanthropy are forces for good. Here’s what I believe our sector needs to do right now:
- Message strength and unity. We may work on different issues and compete for precious few resources, but we should emphasize our combined power. With nearly 2 million nonprofits and 7% of the national workforce, our sector is on the frontline of solving people’s everyday problems and making our country stronger, healthier, and more equitable.
- Keep declaring our value—not corporations or government, but a massive field of professionals dedicated to the public good. Most Americans have little understanding of the infrastructure nonprofits provide to everyday life. They know even less about philanthropy, and less knowledge means more vulnerability to misinformation.
- Invite the public into our challenges. We hide the serious obstacles that we face at our own peril. If giving was down in 2023 but needs are up, we need to say so. If we face a politically motivated attack, we need to call it out. Anti-democratic forces try to weaken civil society, and that means us.
- Listen to youth and let them lead. Some of the most impressive work being done right now is by young people. From guns to race equity to community safety, Gen Z and the Alphas behind them are less risk averse or hidebound to doing things the old ways. They are not just the potential donor base, they are the future’s leaders and we should be making space now.
- Maintain the commitments to DEIJ. While the country faces a Great Regression, especially from the corporate sector, it’s critical that we don’t give up our ideals. The Supreme Court’s ruling in higher education created a permission structure for Wall Street and corporate America to abandon their flimsy commitments. We can and must do better.
Jennifer Hahn is the Chief Client Officer at Fenton.