Let’s not kid ourselves. We’re in a perfect storm—economically, politically, socially, and institutionally—and it’s testing every organization’s capacity to endure or even survive.

Trust is at a low ebb, public confidence is fractured, and for nonprofits, the ground beneath their feet is shifting again. In moments like this, I’m reminded why fundraisers exist in the first place: to organize, to sustain, to fight back.

You see, when democracy and trust are under assault, the role of organized people — and the fundraisers who fuel their work — becomes existential.

A Bleak Present

Federal budget cuts and a grinding government shutdown are hitting nonprofits with a one–two punch: revenues are delayed or disappearing just as demand spikes. For example, Washington, D.C., food insecurity has reached “extremely high levels,” affecting one in three residents.

The Capital Area Food Bank has given out five million more meals than expected this year, even as US Department of Agriculture supplies — normally one-third of their food — were slashed in half. SNAP cuts will push 230,000 families in the D.C. region off the cliff, and shelters are doing triage to figure out who they must help first..

This isn’t just a D.C. story. Across the country, nonprofits are absorbing the fallout of a shutdown that delays federal reimbursements and drives up community need. The Nonprofit Finance Fund reports that 85% of nonprofits expect demand to rise this year, but more than half say they won’t be able to meet it. Government contracts are paid late — if at all — forcing nonprofits to dip into reserves, pause programs, or take on debt they’ll never be reimbursed for. Inflation, layoffs, and policy cuts compound the strain.

On top of the misery inflicted by the Republicans’ massive budget cuts and billionaire tax breaks is the uncertainty of an economy apparently headed south because of tariffs, rising unemployment, and political paralysis — all swathed in a nerve-jangling tangle of Trump chaos.

Hard Times Require Hard Tactics

We’ve seen some of this before. During the Great Recession, giving fell two years in a row — the sharpest decline in decades. Yet many organizations survived, even grew, because they didn’t retreat. They adapted.

Today’s fundraising environment is paradoxical: total giving has rebounded to record levels, but it’s increasingly concentrated among fewer, wealthier donors. Small-gift donors are disappearing. Retention rates are eroding. Meanwhile, food banks, domestic violence shelters, immigration organizations, and housing groups face the heaviest demand in a decade.

I’m positive the tactics that worked then still work now — if we have the discipline to use them:

• Prioritize sustainers. Monthly giving is growing steadily, making up 31% of online revenue. It’s the closest thing to stability we’ll get in this storm.
• Don’t go dark. Cut acquisition and communications volume if you must, but maintain a  presence—especially with your donors. Silence is financially fatal.
• Use matches and deadlines strategically. Short matching windows. Board or Donor Advised Fund matches. They stabilize cashflow.
• Name the need. Show real lines for food, real cost spikes in what you provide, real trade-offs you’re forced to make
• Push funders for flexibility. If you rely heavily on foundation or state grants early disbursements and indirect cost coverage aren’t luxuries; they’re survival mechanisms.

I’m not going to turn this post into a survival manual. My point is there’s a lot more organizations can do, and we’ll be back with some specific fundraising-in-hard-times advice soon.

For now, one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — things fundraisers can do is look back.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel — Learn from It

Every crisis has sparked ingenuity. Hunger campaigns that turned donor walls into public scoreboards. Domestic violence shelters that raised tens of thousands in 24 hours with hyper-specific asks. Immigration groups that built flash-appeal engines to respond to headlines overnight. Homeless networks that ran sector-wide match challenges to keep their doors open.

We’ve gathered a sampling real campaigns from SOFII — the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration— that fundraisers mounted in emergencies: economic crashes, natural disasters, sudden policy shifts.

These examples span food banks, homelessness, domestic violence, immigration and refugee services, and more. They’re short, clear, and downloadable — a practical reference for fundraisers facing today’s storm.

👉 Download the Crisis Campaign Compilation from SOFII

AND REMEMBER…

• You can see the latest in campaigns at SOFII’s I Wish I’d Have Thought of That (IWITOT) conference on November 26^th. You can go to the live event in London or, for most of our US and Canadian readers, join the party live online for only $40 U.S.
• Register here today.
• Use your Agitator 20% discount. DVAGITATOR20

Resist this Temptation  

The temptation in hard times is to pull back. To cut acquisition. To wait it out. That’s exactly the wrong instinct. More than ever we need smarter fundraisers, not quieter ones.

Learn from those who’ve navigated storms before. Adapt proven tactics to your situation. And remember: in every era of uncertainty, the resilience of organized people and the fundraisers who fuel them has been a deciding factor.

Roger