The Berrien Community Foundation has been providing workshops for its nonprofit partners, equipping them with resources to meet the current policy landscape and to plan for the future, and listening to their concerns and needs.
The presidential administration’s actions to withhold federal funding while it reviews and challenges diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts have impacted the work of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy.
While the federal grant freeze was rescinded, many unknowns remain for our nonprofit partners in Michigan and beyond who receive federal funds to support their communities. Michigan philanthropy continues to stand with its nonprofit partners, leaning into its convening power and centering community voices in understanding what is needed.
The Berrien Community Foundation (BCF) has been providing workshops for its nonprofit partners, equipping them with resources to meet this current moment and to plan for the future, and listening to their concerns and needs.
“As these different Executive Orders were announced, I reached out to some of our nonprofit partners to sit with them and asked, ‘How is this impacting you?’ There’s no way that philanthropy can replace federal funding. We wanted to listen to our nonprofit partners to see how we can help them during this time,” Lisa Cripps-Downey, president of BCF said.
Once the community foundation heard from their nonprofit partners and understood what they wanted to learn and how they could be supported, BCF connected with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy for insight on how to provide valuable workshops specifically for those working in the nonprofit sector.
The community foundation held two in-person workshops around scenario planning and advocacy.
“The scenario planning workshop was a very hands-on opportunity for our nonprofit partners to ask questions about what they should plan for, what their options are, and what actions they can take now to prepare,” Cripps-Downey said.
Through these conversations, BCF saw a need to prepare its nonprofit partners with the tools to advocate for their work.
“We explored ways that they could advocate for the people that their agency is serving. We provided them with tools to ensure that the message of the value of the work was shared. It was very important to equip our partners with the knowledge of what advocacy could look like, the actions they could take, and what they could do as this cloud of uncertainty hangs over them,” Cripps-Downey said.
The workshop provided the nonprofits with insights on how they could connect with their members of Congress, the other ways they could work within their community and the media, and how they could collaborate with each other to share the value of their work.
“These conversations had us thinking about not just who they could talk to, but how they could represent their work in a way that was most impactful,” Cripps-Downey said.
Cripps-Downey shared that the connections made among nonprofit organizations and with philanthropy during the workshops were valuable in generating ideas about how the sector can come together to support each other.
“How do we face this together? What can we do as philanthropy to come together and advocate for the nonprofit community as a whole? There was also value in acknowledging the chaos and fear facing our sector today,” Cripps-Downey said.
Cripps-Downey shares that the community foundation is exploring how best to use its funding and connections to support its nonprofit partners.
“We’re looking at the best uses of our resources to ensure our nonprofit community continues to thrive. We need to be open to pivoting and to step in wherever we can. As we’re providing information on scenario planning for our nonprofit partners, we’re doing the same,” Cripps-Downey.
In February, Cripps-Downey attended the 2025 Foundations on the Hill as a first-time attendee, which energized her to continue advocacy work at the community foundation.
“This is new territory for us, but we’re connecting with our legislators, we’re talking about philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, ensuring they understand the value of our work and how we’re serving vulnerable people in the communities they represent. We’re taking the lead from CMF as they are preparing us and keeping us up to date so that we can be the most informed that we can be as we talk to our legislators,” Cripps-Downey said.
Cripps-Downey shared that the community foundation plans to continue convening nonprofit leaders together.
“I want our nonprofit partners to take the lead in sharing what they need and how we can be helpful. Whether you’re a small or large foundation, we have to look at what we can do in this environment and how we can make the most of our resources. We’ve had a lot of practice at being creative through COVID, and it’s time to do that again. We just have to keep the people that we’re serving in the community at the forefront of the decision-making,” Cripps-Downey said.
Want more?
CMF’s Government Relations Public Policy team is sharing resources to help you schedule meetings with policymakers and plan for productive and engaging conversations together.
Register for Foundations in Lansing, taking place on May 7, for housing-focused conversations with our state lawmakers. There’s also another Foundations in Lansing focused on career and technical education on June 4.
Explore CMF’s resource hub to help you navigate the uncertainty with access to relevant resources, timely news, and opportunities for action.
