In May of 2026, Jon Pratt (Senior Research Fellow, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits) and
Ruth McCambridge (Director of Content, Nonprofit Financial Commons) collaborated on a blog post for the Center for Effective Philanthropy as a review of CEP’s State of Nonprofits 2026 report. “While philanthropy cannot (and, in most cases, should not) attempt to replace established federal investments,” they say, ”it can play a substantial and historic social venture capital role in the renewal of nonprofit approaches and the strengthening of their civic bases.” They offer an overview of the current funding and policy environment for nonprofits and make the following suggestions:
- Invite plans and proposals from your grantees and other nonprofits for remaking their business models to fit a new revenue and operating landscape.
- Build the capacity of field level intermediaries to document successful models in the field, track trends, and facilitate collective action.
- Prioritize transparency to ensure that time and energy is not wasted.
- Seriously consider increasing grant payout budgets over the next three to five years to preserve prior investments and advance fields of interest.