We are in a critical moment, one where authoritarian forces are rising against our community partners, movements, and those who fund them. As the intensity of these threats escalates, organizations that have been at the forefront of advocating for Palestine, Black liberation, immigrant justice, and trans rights are especially vulnerable. 

What could attacks look like? 

  • Legal attacks called “lawfare,” like frivolous lawsuits, Congressional inquiries, or threats to an organization’s charitable status.
  • Criminalization of movements or movement leaders, or using tools like grand juries or deportations. 
  • Reputational attacks and smear campaigns, from falsely associating people with terrorism to claiming that fraud is happening or other false accusations. 

We know from history,  like the intense COINTELPRO repression of movements in the 1960s and 1970s, that spreading false rumors about groups and leaders and stoking infighting was a huge part of the strategy to dismantle movements. 

Many attacks on movements and infrastructure are intended to reduce their access to funding. It makes donors and funders scared or reluctant to fund and makes progressives feel overwhelmed, disillusioned, and powerless. These attacks are also designed to pull organizations away from their core missions, erode their political base of support, demobilize people, and isolate people and groups from one another.

To help philanthropy navigate this time, here’s our list of Do’s and Don’ts, made in collaboration with Resource Generation, Donors of Color Network, and Solidaire Network:

DO:

  • Get involved with WDA and invite a friend or family member. It’s easier to be both safe and brave in a collective.
  • Be ready to lose your tax deductions for at least some of your donations. Since attacks may come on organizations’ nonprofit statuses, some organizations will be exploring starting alternative formations like LLCs or taxable non-profits.
  • Proactively reach out to organizations to offer your support so they know they can count on you. Organizations may be hesitant or afraid to tell you about threats they are facing or preparing for. Ask them if there’s anything different they need about your gift this year.
  • Give now, and add extra if you can. Many organizations need to spend extra time and resources on legal defense or preparations. Giving now versus later in the year gives organizations time and resources to prepare.
  • Keep funding threatened organizations until/unless it becomes illegal to do so. If you’re part of a foundation, begin looking into Expenditure Responsibility (“ER”) Grants to fund charitable work with alternative infrastructures other than traditional 501(c)(3) organizations. 
  • Organize other donors in your field of influence. There may be more people open to joining networks like ours than ever before. Help provide an entry point for them to enter organizations.
  • Practice good baseline privacy and security practices to protect yourself and the groups that you contribute to. If you are or anticipate being in the public eye, consider a service like Delete.me that regularly scrubs your private information from the internet. If you give PAC donations that require an address, or have a business that shares your home address, consider getting a PO Box so people don’t have your home address. Provide secure ways of being in touch with you to the groups you fund, such as a Signal number. 
  • Trust grassroots movement leaders. Trust that they are deeply reflecting on ways to build more power for a progressive agenda, and doing so where movements haven’t yet succeeded.

DON’T:

  • Don’t comply with any repression that isn’t actually passed into law by withdrawing funding or other support.
  • Don’t move all your giveable money into a DAF or foundation this year. They’ll have way more limitations on what kinds of organizations you can support (i.e., only incorporated C3s/fiscally sponsored projects). If you need separation, consider opening a new bank account or sub-account. 
  • Don’t believe or spread rumors about movement groups, especially about claims about incompetence, conflict, or illegal activity. 
  • Don’t stop funding long-term power-building work just because we are facing crises.

As Dakota Hall shared, “This is precisely where our broader movement often struggles: in chasing quick headlines or urgent crises, we lose sight of the long-haul work needed to build lasting power.” Long-term power-building is the only thing that will get us out of these conditions.Movements need us fully engaged—learning, strategizing, and taking risks right alongside them. Now is the time to increase funding where we can, to clearly articulate to groups the ways we will stick with them, to stay connected to our long-term freedom visions, and to protect the organizations and communities that lead our visions for a much different world.