The Shifting Federal Landscape: Massachusetts Nonprofits Raise the Alarm�Results from a survey of nonprofits in Massachusetts

May 5, 2025

Steve Koczela

President, The MassINC Polling Group

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Zayna Basma-Doyle

Research Director, The MassINC Polling Group

info@massincpolling.com MassINCPolling.com @MassINCPolling

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11 Beacon St Ste 500 | Boston, MA 02108 | Phone: (617) 224-1647

Survey Background

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• Survey of 523 staffers of nonprofit organizations operating in Massachusetts.
• The survey was fielded online from February 25 through March 24, 2025.
• The questionnaire was translated into six languages: English, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
• Survey links were distributed to nonprofits by The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, The Boston Foundation, and other partner organizations.
• This project was sponsored by The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network and the Boston Foundation.
• Thank you to all the nonprofit leaders and employees who took the time to respond to the survey. We value your opinions and perspectives.

Survey demographics

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• Senior leaders: 79% hold senior leadership roles, including 51% serving as Executive Directors, Presidents, or CEOs.
• Smaller nonprofits: 55% report annual budgets under $2.5 million; 62% have 25 or fewer employees, including 39% with 10 employees or fewer.
• Diverse respondents: 72% identify as women, 20% as BIPOC, and 16% as LGBTQ+.
• Diverse organizations: 35% report their staff are majority BIPOC; a quarter say same of their senior leadership (26%) and board (25%).
• Federally funded: 58% report their organization receives federal funding.

Vulnerable populations served by nonprofits

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• Most respondents report serving a combination of vulnerable populations.

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• Three-quarters are working with low-income individuals (74%) and/or people of color (72%).

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• Majorities work with immigrants, youth, and LGBTQ+.

Q: And which of the following populations, if any, does your organization serve?

Responding orgs mainly serve a combination of vulnerable populations

% who say their organization serves ____

How will Mass. & populations served fare under Trump?

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• Nearly all respondents (92%) think Massachusetts as a whole and the populations they serve will be worse off under the Trump administration.
• Over three quarters think each will be “much worse off”.

Q: Do you think Massachusetts will be better off or worse off under the new administration, or will it be about the same as before?

Q: Overall, do you think the populations your organization serves will be better off or worse off under the Trump administration, or will they be about the same as before?

Nearly all respondents say Massachusetts overall and the populations they serve will be worse off under Trump administration

% who say MA & pop. Served will be ____ under the new administration

Nonprofits expect increased demand…

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Q: Do you anticipate an increased demand for your nonprofit’s programs or services under the Trump administration?

• Overall, two-thirds (64%) expect demand for their nonprofit’s service to increase; 29% are unsure.

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• Demand is expected to increase even more among nonprofits serving vulnerable populations.

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Most organizations expect demand for services to rise

% who say demand for services are anticipated to increase

… but more challenges doing their work.

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• Two-thirds (65%) think the Trump administration will make it “much harder” to do their work.

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• Nonprofits that get federal funds are particularly concerned, but even those that don’t anticipate a negative impact on their work.

Q: And do you think that the Trump administration will make it harder or easier for your organization to do its work, or will it not make much of a difference?

Most say Trump administration will make their job harder

% who say Trump admin. will make ability to do their work much / a little harder

Impacts on populations served

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Populations served could lose services & face direct impact

% of open-ended responses citing each impact

Q: In a few words, in what ways do you think the populations you serve will be worse off under the Trump administration? Open-ended question.

• Respondents are worried that their clients will suffer from a loss of funding and services.

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• They also worry about the impacts on vulnerable populations, including economic, health, and mental impacts stemming from immigration enforcement.

In their own words…

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“Federal cuts to (and attacks on) basic civil rights and liberties impact everyone in the populations we serve, but especially the most vulnerable (BIPOC, queer and trans folks, recent immigrants, among others). The new administration is also making it harder to talk about the fact that they're making it harder.”

“The level of fear in the community we serve has increased, impacting the mental health of children and adults. The impacts to social services will also negatively affect their lives.”

Q: In a few words, in what ways do you think the populations you serve will be worse off under the Trump administration? Open-ended question

Loss of funding is top of mind for nonprofits

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Q: ... In a few words, how do you think the work of your organization will be affected by the new administration? Open-ended question

Most orgs anticipate funding cuts, impact on populations served

% of open-ended comments that cite each impact

• A majority (58%) of respondents anticipate funding cuts under the new administration; 8% have already lost funding.

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• This is a very high level of agreement for an open-ended question, demonstrating consistent concern.

In their own words…

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Q: In a few words, how do you think the work of your organization will be affected by the new administration? Open-ended question

“We are primarily federally funded. We do not have reserves. Our organization may no longer be viable as a result of current and future actions by the Trump Administration.”

“We serve the immigrant community, most of our clients are undocumented. Our current clients are already afraid to meet their volunteer tutors in public. They are canceling sessions more frequently due to fear. We fear our numbers of new clients will decline.”

Nearly all federal funding recipients expect cuts

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Q: Does your organization receive any funding from the federal government?

Q: Asked of those receiving funding: Do you think that the amount of funding you receive from the federal government is likely to increase, decrease, or stay about the same under the Trump administration?

• A majority (58%) report their nonprofit receives federal funding.
• Among those, nearly all (89%) expect their federal funding to decrease.

Types of funding expected to be cut

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• A quarter (25%) expect funding for health and human services to be cut, followed by funds for housing and economic or community development (22%).

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• Money for education and workforce (17%), food and agriculture (16%), and climate and environment (14%) are also expected to be cut.

Q: Asked of those who receive federal funding: What specific types of federal funding that your organization receives do you think might decrease under the Trump administration?

Health, housing, education among top anticipated funding to decrease

% of open-ended response that mention each type of funding

In their own words…

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“30% of our revenue is federally funded. The gov claims that our program will continue, but we have seen no proof of that, and currently they owe us $225K from services rendered in 2024. I have already had to lay off about 40% of my staff.”

Q: In a few words, how do you think the work of your organization will be affected by the new administration? Open-ended question.

Q: In a few words, in what ways do you think the populations you serve will be worse off under the Trump administration? Open-ended question.

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“Farmers will have less markets for their goods, higher supply costs, reduced margins on sale of goods, reduced availability of labor, less financial means to start/grow their enterprises.”

Most anticipate a financial decline in the next year

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• A majority (59%) believe their org’s financial condition will be worse off in a year from now; 27% say it will be “much worse off”.
• Orgs that receive federal funding are more pessimistic about their future finances.
• Overall, less than half (43%) say they could continue operations more than 6 months if revenue were cut off.

Q: Do you think your organization’s financial condition a year from now will be better or worse than it is currently, or will it stay about the same?

Most nonprofits anticipate a financial decline over the next year

% who say their organization’s financial condition will be _____ in a year from now

Contingency planning for federal impacts

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• While 40% of nonprofits are already contingency planning, another 44% say they will.
• About half (51%) of those who receive federal funding are already planning ahead; 54% of those without federal funding intend to.

Q: Has your organization done any contingency planning regarding the effect the Trump administration will have on your operations and the communities you serve?

Most nonprofits are or plan to do some contingency planning

% who say their organization is doing contingency planning or not, overall and by federal funding status

Fundraising tops nonprofits list of future needs

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Q: Over the next four years, does your organization anticipate an increased need in any of the following areas?

Nonprofits see increased need for fundraising, advocacy

% who anticipate increased need in each aspect of their work

• Fundraising is the clear top need anticipated, cited by 86% of respondents.

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• Organizations also anticipate increased needs in advocacy (60%), staffing (47%), direct services (42%).

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Advocacy and lobbying

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Q: The next few questions are about advocacy and lobbying. Does your organization do any of the following? Select all that apply.

• Most respondents engage in advocacy, directly or via associations or coalitions.
• Lobbying is much rarer. The top reasons for not lobbying are a lack of finances (46%), not wanting to jeopardize nonprofit status (45%), and not having enough staff (38%).

Majorities are engaged in advocacy, but lobbying is much rarer.

% who say their nonprofit engages in each activity

Individual donations are key to most nonprofits

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Individual donations are “very important” for most nonprofits

% who say individual donations are very important to their budget, overall and by federal funding status

Q: How important are donations from individuals to your organization’s budget?

• As nonprofits foresee increased fundraising, majorities say individual donations are “very” (63%) or “somewhat” (24%) important to their budgets.
• Individual donations are more likely to be very important for those who do not receive federal funding.
• Some respondents were worried that the loss of federal funds would mean increased competition for funds from other sources, including private and individual philanthropy.

In their own words…

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“I believe we will lose all of funding from philanthropy as they shift and respond to the federal executive orders. I believe that our fiscal sponsor may find us as too high risk to keep their portfolio if we are unable to fundraise for anticipated lost of funding and not yet able to diversify funding.”

Q: In a few words, how do you think the work of your organization will be affected by the new administration? Open-ended question.

Q: In a few words, in what ways do you think the populations you serve will be worse off under the Trump administration? Open-ended question.

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“We are bracing for a number of downstream potential impacts. If philanthropic dollars shift to fill the gaps of government funding, that would make the philanthropic landscape that we rely on more competitive.”

Conclusion: bracing for impact

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• Nearly universally, nonprofits think the Trump administration will be bad for Massachusetts, for nonprofits, and for the populations they serve.
• Nonprofits simultaneously anticipate increased demand for their services and a more challenging environment to operate in.
• The loss of federal funding is top of mind, both in terms of impacts on vulnerable populations and nonprofit budget.
• Even nonprofits that do not receive federal funding worry about downstream effects as philanthropic resources shift and become more competitive.
• Nonprofits see a need to invest in their own fundraising to compensate, even as they anticipate being in a worse financial position a year from now.
• The role of philanthropy will be even more important as the federal government turns its back on nonprofits in Massachusetts.

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info@massincpolling.com MassINCPolling.com @MassINCPolling

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11 Beacon St, Suite 500 | Boston, MA 02108 | Phone: (617) 224-1647

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Additional slides

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Larger organizations more likely to receive federal funding

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Q: Does your organization receive any funding from the federal government?

• Larger nonprofits—both in staff size and annual budget—are more likely to report receiving federal funding.

Larger organizations are more likely to receive federal funding

% who say their organization receives funding from the federal government

Many say Trump admin. will hinder their work

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Q: And do you think that the Trump administration will make it harder or easier for your organization to do its work, or will it not make much of a difference?

• Most nonprofits think the Trump admin. will make it more difficult to carry out their work.

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• Those in orgs who lobby and receive federal funding more likely to say the administration Will make this work harder.

Most say Trump will make work harder

% who say Trump will make their work harder by each group

How will Massachusetts fare under Trump?

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• A large majority say the state will be “much worse off” under the new administration, with just 2% saying the state will be better off.

Q: Do you think Massachusetts will be better off or worse off under the new administration, or will it be about the same as before?

Over three-quarters say MA will be worse off under Trump admin

% who say MA will be ____ under the new administration

Future state of populations served

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Q: Do you think the populations your organization serves will be better off or worse off under the Trump administration, or will they be about the same as before?

Nonprofits anticipate constituents served to be worse off

% who say populations served will be worse off, by population served

• A large majority of nonprofit respondents say their populations served will be much worse off, no matter the population groups they serve.

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• In all, 92% say their served populations will be much or a little worse off under the Trump administration.

Most respondents hold leadership roles

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Q: Which of the following best describes your role within your organization?

• Most respondents hold senior leadership roles (79%), with over half serving as Executive Directors, Presidents, or CEOs.

Respondents represent senior leadership and above

% who say their role is ____

Federal funding expected to decrease across organizations

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Q: Do you think that the amount of funding you receive from the federal government is likely to increase, decrease, or stay about the same under the Trump administration?

Nearly all nonprofits expect federal funds to be cut

% who receive federal funds who say they expect their funding will decrease

• A majority (89%) anticipate a decrease in federal funding.
• Regardless of population served, nearly every organization receiving federal funds is expecting a decrease in funding.

Size of the nonprofit

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Q: Which of the following describes your organization’s annual budget?

Q: Including yourself, how many people are currently employed (full or part time) by your organization? 

• Over half of respondents’ nonprofits have annual budgets under $2.5 million (55%).

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• Most respondents come from organizations with lean staffing, where most (62%) have under 25 staff members.

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• A plurality (39%) have 10 employees or fewer.

Respondents come from mid-sized orgs with lean staffing

% who said their company annual budget and number of employees were ______

Respondent demographics

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Q: Do you identify as any of the following?

Q: And do at least 51% of any of the following in your organization identify as BIPOC?

Respondents and organization represent variety of demographics

% who say they identify as _____ or over half of their org identifies as BIPOC

• A majority of respondents identified themselves as women (72%), and 20% identified as BIPOC.
• Over a quarter come from organizations where over half of their staff, senior leadership and board are BIPOC.

Respondent identifies as following

Respondent says over half of any of the following in org identifies as BIPOC

Housing, education, and health care among top priorities

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• Housing is identified as the top priority for state leaders, echoing broader polls of residents.

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• Education, healthcare, immigration, human services, and civil rights round out the top set of most important issues for these workers.

Q:Which three of the following do you think should be top priorities for Massachusetts over the next four years?

Housing identified as top priority for MA over next four years

% who say ____ should be top priority for MA over next four years