Philanthropies: Let’s Give More, Ask Less during this time of crisis for non-profits

It is our shared goal at MacArthur Foundation to give more and ask less of our grantees and investees during this time of crisis.

You will be forgiven if you have not being paying close attention to the challenges facing many non-profits over the past 18 months. There has been a lot to pay attention to! Our partners in the charitable non-profit sector — who are providing essential services in communities, meeting the needs of those who are hungry or unhoused, those who provide opportunities and scholarships for young people, those who volunteers in our hospitals and health centers in all 50 states — have experienced deep funding cuts from federal, state, and local sources. At the same time, the demand for their services have grown. I am describing here a dynamic in the United States, but we know we are not along in facing this crisis which is felt in many communities around the world.

You don’t have to take my word for it: the Center for Effective Philanthropy has been tracking the story with care, detail, and data. Check out the State of Nonprofits Report for 2026. The situation is probably rougher than you might imagine. On the flip side, the opportunity to help and provide resources has never been greater. There is great work being done by Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Phil Buchanan, Aaron Dorfman, and others who have stayed on this key story over the past few years through research and advocacy.

Since early 2025, we at MacArthur Foundation have made a series of commitments about how we can invest more of our philanthropic capital in this time of sincere and growing need in the charitable non-profit sector.

By putting more of the Foundation’s assets to work across the entire continuum of capital, we can do more to meet today’s challenges and fuel meaningful progress–locally, nationally, and globally.

For MacArthur, doing more with our assets across the full capital continuum includes the following:

First, we are increasing our grantmaking and other charitable payout to a minimum of six percent through 2028 (Set it at Six), a 20%+ increase every year from 2025 to 2028. We support the Level Up Pledge in Philanthropy and encourage our peers to give it careful consideration, if they can. We especially applaud those who have stepped up with even more resources or who are spending down their endowments altogether in this period. There is a great set of examples in this piece by Carmen Rojas, Ph.D., president of the Marguerite E. Casey Foundation, and Rickke Mananzala, president, New York Foundation.

Second, we announced this past week that we are growing our impact investments portfolio. Starting this fall, we are allocating $750 million to our revolving, long-term pool for impact investments, a 50 percent increase.

Third, we continue to grow a portfolio of sustainable investments in our endowment. Now totaling $250 million and growing, the portfolio aims for strong risk-adjusted financial returns along with positive environmental benefits. We are steadily finding ways to increase the alignment between our endowment investing, our impact investing, our grantmaking, and our other charitable activities.

Given the magnitude of need for philanthropy worldwide – which has grown, not shrunk, as government resources have pulled back – we know our resources alone are never enough. But that’s no reason not to do what we can. Instead we step into the breaches where we are able and we prioritize collaboration at scale in both grantmaking and impact investing. Our catalytic capital also helps to mobilize additional investment from public, private, and philanthropic sources.

We hope others will join us in stepping up during this time of growing need in the charitable nonprofit sector. There is more that all of us can do — and ways in which we can all ask less of our grantee and investee partners while they are navigating these challenging times.