Confront Trump, Don’t Indulge His Attacks on Nonprofit Priorities

Is Independent Sector losing some of its integrity?

As nonprofits and foundations decide how to influence policy in the Trump administration, Independent Sector has stumbled in one of its first major efforts to reach out to the White House.

Shortly after the inauguration, Independent Sector, a coalition of 500 grant makers and other nonprofits, sent a letter asking Mr. Trump to provide the organization and other nonprofits a seat at the table to discuss the role nonprofits can play in helping the federal government determine its policy priorities and approach to working with civil-society organizations.

The letter struck me and other observers, including several Independent Sector members, as too obsequious. Critics noted that the letter failed to mention any of the concerns that have rattled many nonprofits, especially the president’s attacks on immigrants, Latinos, Muslims, African-Americans, disabled people, women, and others. There was no mention of the administration’s distortion of the truth or its critiques of the media or the judiciary.

Both the tone and content of the letter were insulting to a large majority of organizations and the people Independent Sector seeks to represent.

It even used President Trump’s words in stating that nonprofits can help the administration “make America great again.” And it talks about assisting the president in “strengthening and uniting this great nation,” when in fact the administration has quickly demonstrated its intent to divide the country in its policies toward Muslims, refugees, and immigrants.

Serious Concerns

When I asked Dan Cardinali, president of Independent Sector, why the letter had not mentioned some of the serious concerns of nonprofit leaders, he said the letter was designed to open a conversation about joint efforts that charities, foundations, and the White House could take to unify and heal divisions in American society. It was meant to open the door to such an exchange of views, not to provoke tensions between nonprofits and the administration.

Mr. Cardinali said the idea for such a conversation came out of a conference of 1,000 nonprofit leaders sponsored by Independent Sector a few weeks after the election and from “town halls” that Independent Sector held during the conference. Mr. Cardinali said many nonprofits wanted a chance to meet with members of the new administration, and that’s what prompted him and others to shape the letter.

Mr. Cardinali’s letter professes to speak for the 500 members of Independent Sector, as well as for many of the participants of the November conference.

But some of Independent Sector’s members will be shocked to read a letter that they never formally approved — and probably had not seen before it was released on their behalf.

I spoke to representatives of more than 25 Independent Sector members. Not one had been consulted about the letter or approved it. Some were critical of both the content and the tone of the letter, feeling it was much too supine in tone and less forceful than it should have been.

Currying Favor

It is understandable that Independent Sector and other nonprofits would like to engage the administration in a fruitful discussion of issues affecting nonprofits. They should do so, but in a manner that upholds the highest principles of civil society and informs the president that they will challenge his hateful speech and policies that divide, not unite, all segments of our society.

Instead of expressing concerns about the vital interests of nonprofits that are being endangered, the letter seeks to gloss over such problems to curry favor with an administration that has already demonstrated little interest in the health of the nonprofit world.

Mr. Cardinali — and those who endorse the approach he took in his letter — have unintentionally done a disservice to all nonprofits. What nonprofits need today is a heavy dose of honesty and courage. Independent Sector should be in the forefront of making certain that President Trump and his administration hear the unvarnished truth, that they clearly understand that nonprofits will fight to uphold America’s democratic institutions and processes.

Pablo Eisenberg, a regular Chronicle contributor, is a senior fellow at the Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. His email address is pseisenberg@verizon.net.