2024 Election Thoughts (Part 1)
I’ll be honest, I had to take a couple of days to process the election. So much unfolded. I believe we’ll be unpacking the results of the election for years to come. There are a few questions I’m sure a lot of organizational leaders and their staff are thinking about. I wanted to take a few moments to explore some of them and offer some considerations as answers to some questions.
What do I do if my programs aren’t funded anymore or are underfunded?
Especially for social service nonprofits, Republican presidencies have sometimes come with an incredible amount of increased scrutiny. Audits beyond audits beyond audits. I can remember coming into my first nonprofit executive position at Community Alliance of Tenants and learning that renters’ rights organizations, under the Bush presidency, resulted in a number of them being shut down because of failed audits and pulled funding. Over the last four years, the Biden administration rolled out a number of initiatives that a lot of nonprofits engaged with - as direct awardees or passthrough recipients or mixed in their local dollars. Initiatives in housing, internet, housing development, neighborhood development, green economy, transportation, education, healthcare, women’s healthcare and LGBTQIA2S+, etc. Alot of these projects were centered on building new service infrastructure or expanding capacity that had currently been limited. And let’s face it, a lot of us were hoping to do some of these things over the long haul. So, this question is very, very valid.
History says (and my gut agrees) that we need to be prepared for some rollbacks. There’s a lot of debate about Project 2025 and the numerous items targeted for rollbacks in that plan. Trump says Project 2025 isn’t his roadmap, but I don’t believe we should be naive. Yes, some of the things are extreme, but I would not be surprised if folks with significant power and influence are attempting to put some of these things in place, including Trump himself. So, I advise a number of proactive strategies to get ahead and I’ve listed a couple below. I’m sure a lot of you may have been engaging in some of these things already - during the election.
Truly look deep and re-evaluate the share of dollars you receive from federal programs, including those that are passthrough programs or programs that are leveraged against federal dollars with local dollars. It is deeply important for you to understand the federal money you receive (or monies that are leveraged against federal dollars), the congressional acts they came from, and priorities for those who have influence over those dollars. For money that you receive from local governments, get in touch with your funders and their higher-level leaders to understand how they braid money together with federal programs. It’s not uncommon to try and rearrange local money to cover gaps for programs that are high priority for legislators (broadly speaking, not just State officials). You want to understand three key things: (a) the programs that these federal and braided resources fund, how much and how its distributed; (b) what your funders are thinking in terms of covering gaps if money is rolled back; (c) priorities for those that oversee their operations (like legislative committees or elected leaders who determine monetary allocations). Understanding this landscape will help you get a sense of how you may need to adapt. It will help you prepare your roadmap to making your organization a priority and/or prepare for a shift within your organization that finds themselves with less resources. Now, you should do this quickly. Do not wait.
If you have the ability or plans to diversify some of your funding streams, now is the time to REALLY get going. I know we talk about it a lot and in some cases, we work to actually do it. Capacity sometimes limits our abilities to move as quickly and comprehensively on doing these things. But now? Now’s the time. Consider partnerships you may not have invested so much time in in the past. Reach out to those prospects you had planned to reach out to awhile ago. Schedule time and begin making your pitch. Be smart about it too, don’t go in there desperate. Were you considering an income stream to boost your revenue and just needed to build that business plan? Build it and launch. If you met with that one organization who was really interested in finding ways to partner and/or fund your work, do that extra follow-up.
What is the audit landscape gonna look like?
Now look here, I know we’re audited up the ying-yang, but you better believe that is likely to only increase if you are an organization supporting the issues that are in opposition to Trump’s agenda. You know who you are. I have a few important words for you: get your house in order because I wouldn’t be surprised if more audits are coming. If you know you’ve been struggling with internal controls or maybe even slackin’ a lil bit on documentation; get it together. Even if it means that you need to change some internal processes that require staff to do things a little differently than you’ve always done it, make the changes. Grab a hold of change management principles, perhaps even a consultant to help you map out your changes and make them. If it means scaling down a little bit to make those changes, take a real hard look at doing that. It’s not comfortable, I know. But it’s important. Maybe you won’t have to, but you have to ask the question and think through what you may have to do. Don’t go around sounding the alarm to everybody (I made that mistake before), but pull together your closest leadership, your board, and your core supporters and do some brainstorming.
Assess the risk of you being labeled a high risk investment. Review your processes and files: are you meeting CFR requirements? Are your program recipients qualified under the definitions outlined for who can be served and who can’t in the act your money comes from? I know you put rules in place; look anyway. Are your documentation standards up to par with program guidances? Did program guidances change recently and you implemented changes - did they go all the way through? If you haven’t already looked at some of these things you are behind and you need to start now. If you find discrepancies or potential violations - get them in order. Don’t write them off. Our local federal offices have been pretty doggone flexible in times when we may have a lil thing here that’s messed up and a lil thing there. Now? Expect a hammer. The big feds likely won’t be as flexible nor allow our local field offices to be. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of our friends in local offices are looking for other jobs. If what you find reveals some big violations, think about proactively addressing them and what you’ll do if those violations result in some not-so-great outcomes. The key is to attempt to be prepared.
What do I do if we lose funding or I lose my job?
This is definitely going off the deep end, but I wanted to address it because I know people are thinking it. First of all, we have to fight back. Just as much as these times are scary - remember the last time he was in office and the new energy generated to take action and fight back. Get together with some advocacy organizations who have some weight and put some pressure on these local entities and philanthropy to avoid this scenario. Trump also can’t be everywhere at the same time. My guess is that - like his last presidency - we might actually have some folks that take it upon themselves to be helpful and block the craziness and maybe even create opportunities out of what may look like destruction. Local leaders also stepped up in a major way in the previous Trump administration. I read an article the other day where California is gearing up for a special session to put up some safeguards in early December. Sure, they mentioned the big-ticket issues, but I’m sure they’re talking about A WHOLE LOT of programs. So, don’t give up hope yet and avoid jumping off this deep end just yet.
Aaannnnd…my therapist says sometimes we have to just move our ruminations to neutral to help us calm and be prepared. This can happen. What can also happen is something good. If something good happens, great! If the worst happens, what am I going to do? Don’t unhealthily resist the urge to disaster plan (meaning don’t ignore it completely), but also don’t dip into the depths of despair. Take a few moments to center yourself and calmly think about one step at a time. IF you did, what’s the first step you’d take? Take a break for a couple days. Then ask yourself what the second step will be? Take it in bites. Take care of yourself and remember that things CAN go well. Reach out to people in your network and have honest conversations once you feel like you’re calmer to talk about potential options.
I know this doesn’t cover everything. There’s a whole lot more to think about and consider. If you’d like to chat more, feel free to reach out for some coaching services or organizational planning. I’m happy to support your organization in thinking through potential scenarios.
