November 12, 2025 | Read Time: 3 minutes
This collection of essays is part of a special package of predictions from sector leaders and thinkers about what lies ahead in 2026 and how to respond to what will likely be another unprecedented year for the nonprofit world. Read more predictions about Major Donor Giving | Foundation Giving | Democracy and Threats to the Sector | Fundraising and AI | Equity Efforts | Nonprofit Operations | Policy Changes | Bridge Building, and Predictions for 2030.
Amid Existential Threats, Communications as a Survival Tool
Matt Watkins
In 2025, budget cuts, shutdowns, and political policing stripped away the idea that nonprofit work — and speech — can remain neutral. Next year will test whether nonprofits can still speak freely at all. Communication is no longer background noise. It’s a battlefield.
In my work with coalitions and grant makers, I’ve seen both silence and defiance take hold this year. Some groups have scrapped communications plans overnight, fearing retaliation. Others have rewritten their plans to push harder, taking risks even when resources were on the line. That split will define 2026.
The path nonprofits take will be characterized by three distinct approaches to communications and speech:
- Shelter speech: groups that go quiet, convinced survival depends on caution and self-censorship
- Struggle speech: organizations that speak louder and double down on equity, organizing, and direct service for people under attack
- Solidarity speech: nonprofits that adopt a plain, unifying voice that resonates from church basements to union halls to food pantries. They will insist that food, housing, care, and dignity aren’t partisan causes but the shared necessities of democracy itself.
Philanthropy’s leaders are morally obligated to push for the second and third paths. When funders put their weight behind resilience and solidarity, they give smaller organizations cover to keep speaking.
Nonprofits have always been political because they operate where government, business, and community overlap. What’s new is that the Trump administration is now casting them as partisan and treating them as dangerous. In 2026, communication will matter less as branding and more as a tool for survival. The challenge won’t just be to tell compelling stories but to protect the ability to speak and be heard.
Matt Watkins, the CEO and principal consultant at Watkins Public Affairs, writes the “Watch Your Language” column for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Job No. 1 for Nonprofits: Rebuild Trust Among Burned Out Staff
Sidney Abrams
The biggest human resources challenge facing nonprofit leaders in 2026 will be rebuilding trust within their organizations.
I lead a team of consultants who work with hundreds of nonprofits navigating the political and economic shocks of 2025 — federal funding freezes, rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and increased scrutiny of nonprofits. While missions vary, the resulting HR issues are strikingly similar. Employees are burned out and frustrated over unclear communication, lack of psychological safety, and misalignment with leaders about mission and strategy. Nonprofit leaders in turn are struggling to retain staff and maintain morale amid constant change.
The nonprofits that are thriving, on the other hand, are those where trust is actively cultivated, not assumed. Leaders are transparent about decisions, responsive to feedback, and intentional about culture. And HR practices aren’t rote and transactional, but empathetic, equitable, and inclusive.
In 2026, nonprofit leaders will need to invest in emotionally intelligent leadership development and create safe channels for staff to express concerns. These aren’t just HR strategies. They’re trust-building tools.
The sector is at a crossroads. The nonprofits that value trust will retain talent and deliver on their missions more effectively. Those that don’t risk losing not just their people, but their purpose.
Sidney Abrams is the managing principal of the nonprofit practice at Nonprofit HR, part of OneDigital.
Photos: Courtesy of Matt Watkins; Nonprofit HR, Powered by OneDigital
