NGOs are scared — with good reason. U.S. President Donald Trump has made a mission of targeting them. Some are lying low, hoping to fly under his radar. But others are starting to speak up and fight back.
Also in today’s edition: OSF’s Binaifer Nowrojee and CIFF’s Miles Kemplay open up about how their philanthropies are adapting to today’s politically fraught environment.
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NGO big or NGO home
An “existential threat” and “open declaration of war.” That’s how some experts described the scorched-earth policies for NGOs in Trumpworld.
Just consider the attacks lobbed since January: Funding has been eviscerated, NGOs have been framed as enemies of America, Trump has threatened to strip them of their tax-exempt status or slap them with charges of terrorism, and groups perceived as left-wing that engage in work such as gender equality have big, fat targets on their backs.
“Nonprofits are very fearful right now about the political and financial risks that they’re facing,” says Sarah Saadian of the National Council of Nonprofits. “They’re worried about being targeted based on their missions and who they serve. And many are speaking up but many are really afraid to,” for fear of “putting themselves on the radar of the administration” and potentially finding themselves under investigation even when there has been no wrongdoing, she tells Devex contributing reporter Jessica Abrahams.
While the trepidation is palpable, so is the determination. The situation has “generated a lot of energy to assert the rights of civil society,” says Kay Guinane, a lawyer who came out of retirement to tackle the threat to the sector.
“There’s time and resources going into shoring up defenses for civil society … but also [into] speaking out vigorously about the authoritarian nature of what the Trump administration is doing,” she says. “The main thing is to not be silenced.”
Indeed, after an apparent lull earlier this year, many have been speaking up. In the nonprofit sector, “we all believe in the mission of working for the greater good,” said an aid leader who asked to remain anonymous. “So I think a lot of people are quite brave and are saying ‘no,’ and are working [to figure out] … how we can work together to push back or resist.”
The aid leader added: “I feel like he took on the wrong constituency if he really wanted to get people just to lie down and give up.”
Read: NGOs say they’re under attack from Trump — and are ready to fight back (Pro)
Related reading: What is Trump doing to US nonprofits and philanthropies? (Pro)
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Bracing for battle
One organization firmly in Trump’s crosshairs is the Open Society Foundations, founded by Democratic donor and perpetual Republican boogeyman George Soros. But OSF is not taking anything lying down.
To the contrary, it’s digging in, as my colleague Ayenat Mersie reports.
OSF will not change any of its programming in the U.S. despite scrutiny from the administration and potential plans to investigate progressive nonprofits, the organization’s president, Binaifer Nowrojee, tells Ayenat.
So far, OSF has received an inquiry from Congress, but not the Justice Department or Internal Revenue Service, Nowrojee says, adding that “if we feel that our rights for free speech or the right for peaceful protest is being infringed on, we will move to court to defend our rights.”
OSF originated in Hungary in 1984 and later promoted democratic principles in post-Soviet countries, so it has ample experience operating in countries where civic space has narrowed.
“We need to view the United States not as some exceptional example, but as part and parcel of just the nature of human rights and democratic space,” Nowrojee says. “It’s never guaranteed, and there’s no finish line to the work we’re going to have to do.”
Exclusive: OSF will maintain US programming, go to court if needed
ICYMI: Trump’s scrutiny of nonprofits escalates, with Soros’ OSF at the center
CIFF upper lip
The London-based Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, one of the world’s largest philanthropies, is taking a different tack — part of a broader transformation. CIFF made waves when it announced it would no longer support U.S.-based nonprofits, citing uncertainty over the policy environment for foreign funders.
During a session at the seventh International Conference on Family Planning in Colombia, CIFF’s Miles Kemplay described the decision as “extremely painful,” but said the foundation will continue to collaborate with U.S. NGOs, describing them as “valuable and vital parts of the ecosystem.”
Kemplay is CIFF’s executive director for sexual and reproductive health and rights, or SRHR. Greater access to SRHR is part of the foundation’s work to improve the lives of children and adolescents. It’s also an area that’s come under fire from the Trump administration.
But Kemplay said CIFF remains “completely committed to comprehensive SRHR, family planning, safe abortion care, sexually transmitted infections,” and the prevention of HIV and sexual and gender-based violence, adding “these are fundamental to how our portfolio works.”
But some things are changing, my colleague Jenny Lei Ravelo reports.
That includes expanding partnerships with countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Uganda, and Senegal, in addition to placing a “deeper focus on masculinity and masculinity norms, and working on men’s SRHR,” Kemplay said. It is also looking to explore the potential of “femtech” — technological solutions aimed at improving women’s health.
“We know there is a collapse in traditional sources of financing. Our value add as philanthropy needs to be even more clear under these circumstances," Kemplay said.
Read: Here’s what CIFF says it will do more, and less of (Pro)
'More creativity, more humanity'
One of the world’s best-known philanthropies is also undergoing some changes. The Gates Foundation is hiring for three big communications roles on the back of a refreshed communications strategy. All three positions are director-level, with salary ranges approaching $500,000 a year.
Alex Reid, Gates’ chief communications officer, tells my colleague Michael Igoe that the foundation wants to reach “broad public audiences” and get people “to care again about health and development around the world, at a time when attention and resources are pulled in so many different directions.”
In the wake of USAID's dismantling and global cuts to foreign aid, many development advocates are soul-searching for reasons their message and mission have struggled to gain traction. It appears Gates is putting some serious resources behind an effort to take back the story.
The foundation wants to “reach out to folks beyond the development community to try to appeal to the hearts and minds of everyday people,” Reid tells Michael. “We are looking for more creativity, more humanity in our communications,” she says.
Related reading: Did the aid sector really screw up its communications strategy? (Pro)
Challenge accepted
Over the years, the Millennium Challenge Corporation has used a scorecard of governance and economic indicators to determine if countries qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. grants.
But my colleague Adva Saldinger has learned that those indicators are changing, though opinions vary as to whether that’s a good or bad thing, or somewhere in between.
One of the most significant changes is that instead of having to pass a corruption “hard hurdle,” countries now need to either pass a corruption or a “government accountability” hurdle, making it easier for them to qualify. In addition, the previous democratic rights hurdle has been replaced by a new metric called personal freedom.
“These do seem like more substantial changes than we’ve seen in recent years,” says Erin Collinson of the Center for Global Development. “Some of them appear to reflect interests of the administration and others reflect availability of data.”
For example, the scorecard appears to lean into places the Trump administration believes will benefit U.S. economic interests, while seeking to expand the pool of countries MCC can work in.
And while the loosening of corruption criteria raises some concerns, many experts have long wanted changes to the scorecard, considered sacrosanct by the agency. That was especially true of the corruption hurdle, which some found inaccurate and limiting.
Read: Millennium Challenge Corporation changes country selection criteria
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In other news
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels signed a new peace framework, including humanitarian access and return of the displaced, on Saturday in Qatar. [BBC]
Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus in the southern part of the country, with nine cases confirmed so far. [The Guardian]
The United Kingdom seeks to reform its asylum policy, which would shift refugees to temporary protection and extend the path to permanent settlement to as long as 20 years. [CNN]
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About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
