How Did We Get Here? Why Nonprofits Are On the Menu—Not at the Table

If you’re leading a nonprofit right now, you don’t need me to tell you that we’re under attack. The funding threats. The legislative restrictions. The smear campaigns. The executive orders. You’re living it.

And here’s the uncomfortable question I can’t stop thinking about: how the hell did we get here?

Here’s the hard truth I’ve been grappling with—and maybe you have too:

Nonprofits are being targeted because we’re powerful.

But we’re also vulnerable because we haven’t always used that power.

Now let me be clear: I’m not here to blame the victim. The attacks we’re seeing—on charitable status, DEI, civic engagement, LGBTQ+ programming, and more—are coordinated, cynical, and dangerous. These are not the natural consequences of quiet nonprofits; they are the strategic moves of bad actors who know how much is at stake.

But we do need to ask ourselves: Have we truly embraced advocacy as a sector? Or have we sidelined it as optional, risky, or “not our lane”?

For decades, many nonprofits—especially white-led, well-funded ones—have stayed in their programmatic comfort zones. Many foundations have funded direct service but not the systems change that would make that service less necessary. Boards have tiptoed around policy engagement out of fear of rocking the boat. And too many organizations have mistaken charity for change.

Meanwhile, conservative forces were building the playbook. They invested in infrastructure, trained policy champions, and created the narrative that nonprofits should “stay in their lane”—even as they drove the bulldozer.

And now, here we are. Nonprofits aren’t just adjacent to the policy battlefield—we’re the target.

Every one of us—from food banks to arts organizations to housing advocates—is now at risk of losing funding, losing voice, or losing legitimacy. And the only path forward is not to play smaller. It’s to play smarter, bolder, and more united.

As we say often at Snyder Strategies: You want to be at the table, not on the menu. But let’s be real—right now, nonprofits are the entrée.

So what do we do?

Here’s what I believe the sector needs to do—urgently:

• Fund advocacy like it matters. Because it does. Foundations: Stop funding only the symptom and start funding the fight.

• Train boards and staff to understand advocacy. If they don’t get it, they can’t lead it.

• Make space for public policy in your strategic plan. If you’re not shaping the rules, you’re stuck reacting to them.

• Speak up early and often. Silence is being interpreted as compliance.

• Join coalitions and show up for each other. This is not a moment to go it alone.

We can’t go back and rewrite the last 20 years. But we can use this moment as a wake-up call—and a call to arms. Our missions, our communities, and our democracy depend on it.

Let’s stop pretending advocacy is a side hustle. It’s the core of protecting everything we’ve built.

Want help building your advocacy program, training your board, or navigating this moment? That’s what we do at Snyder Strategies. Let’s talk.

👉 Join our email list for more insights, tools, and real talk about what it takes to win in today’s policy landscape.