To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, there is a time to bank resources and capital, and there is a time to spend; a time to be silent and a time to speak. 

While some nonprofits and funders are pleased with the new Trump administration’s policies, statements and “efficiencies,” others are confronting serious shortfalls and reversals of key priorities. The Jewish establishment — including supporters of President Trump — have largely been caught off guard by the “new normal” since Jan. 20. Many organizations whose priorities and budgets have been directly affected have not directly challenged the new administration, and this despite the fact that its policies are directly affecting a wide range of core Jewish concerns: foreign aid, medical research, education, racism, treatment of immigrants, resources for the disabled, protections for women, LGBTQ and other vulnerable populations in American society — the list goes on and on. This decision could reflect a choice to balance risks with rewards, keeping powder dry for the right moment; deference to lay leaders with complicated interests and allegiances; disconnect between leadership and their clients/constituents; and/or executives lacking deep experience in their core missions. None of these factors necessarily justify the silence, but they are real nonetheless.

Illustrative. Wasan/Adobe Stock

Unlike nonprofits, which depend on fundraising and often must defer to the interests of their lay leaders, foundations and donor-advised funds have far more flexibility to fund, to act, and to speak up. Decades from now, family names may be remembered by how they responded when so many causes and constituencies were being threatened and even shut down. 

It is understandable that many philanthropists will shy away from taking any actions which might be deemed political or controversial. With that in mind, here is a range of actions and approaches that family foundations and other philanthropies can consider, in line with their own respective tolerance for risk and attention. Most of these options don’t involve taking a public stance, and some won’t even be seen as undermining the current administration’s agenda:

1. Increase funding and capacity for nonprofits engaged in advocacy and advocacy training on behalf of the causes under fire. This requires no public pronouncements or direct engagement with decision-makers, politicians or partisan activists.  

2. Announce and promote new grant opportunities, especially for grassroots solutions to immediate needs. This encourages and attracts activists — those willing to do the hard work — along with other philanthropists who may be sitting on the fence.

3. Connect and coordinate with other foundations and philanthropic actors, and with beneficiaries, to maximize support for those issues and initiatives that will best deliver and sustain.

4. Leverage donations and prestige to encourage private businesses, universities and agencies to stay the course and uphold important values that are now under attack: equal rights and access, freedom of conscience, scientific research, public health, bridge-building, education and so on.

5. Be an equal: When you are sitting with fellow philanthropists or in the board meeting of a nonprofit you support, do not cede the floor to those arguing caution or capitulation. If you are on a steering committee, then help them to steer. Use your own voice and your wallet to at least make the strongest case that you can for what matters to you.

6. Fill the gap when programs lose funding from the government or other sources intimidated by the political climate, or when they are overburdened by increased demand for services. Focus on force-multipliers: teacher and advocacy training, professional development, issue-based conferences, volunteer recruitment, social workers, community clinics and crisis centers, international exchange programs, assessments and process improvement, fundraising assistance, scholarships for newly marginalized students and post-doctoral fellows and educational innovation. Don’t dismiss overhead as low-impact or unimaginative — overhead can mean the difference between sustainable and transitory. 

7. Begin that longer-term process of developing and launching more of your own initiatives, and tell others. Just knowing there’s something in the pipeline can energize activists, attract strategic partners and lay down implicit markers in defense of that priority cause.

8. Be vocal about government measures and other challenges to issues on your agenda, especially when your own partners or beneficiaries are being affected. Be specific and stick to what you know and how this affects outcomes. (This involves no lobbying or electioneering, merely the exercise of your free speech to articulate your own goals and inform the public. But yes — in this new climate, it could carry risk.)

9. Finally, philanthropists can also host or support partisan political events, not an undertaking for the faint of heart.

The current situation could continue and evolve for years to come in ways that make it hard to predict or make future-proof plans. Philanthropists should want to honor commitments to partners who have also invested and sacrificed for joint efforts. The most sophisticated foundations tend to process opportunities and challenges with sober deliberation and across a multi-year schedule of studies, consultations and detailed budget decisions. In this historic moment, however, the next weeks and months will prove most critical in determining whether causes and key stakeholders even survive long enough to benefit from an enhanced philanthropic safety net in 2026 or 2027. Now is the time to ensure grantees have the resilience and adaptability to transition to a new reality where government support and even protection cannot be assumed. Waiting this out, perhaps until after the next Congressional or presidential elections, is effectively sitting it out. 

As important as endowments are for generating interest revenue and undergirding a legacy of impact, and as risk-averse as foundations normally need to be, for many causes today is the rainy day you’ve been saving for. It should be possible, and I would argue imperative, to start eating into those principal funds before their entire purpose becomes moot. There is good reason to do it, and no shortage of tools.

Shai Franklin is a lobbyist, consultant and former Jewish community executive.