ALLIANCE COMMUNITY FIELD INSIGHTS
New Report: How the Nation’s Top Nonprofit Executives are Navigating 2025
America’s Promise Alliance is a community of more than 150 leading youth-supporting nonprofits working in K-12 education and youth development, postsecondary to workforce pathways, and democracy/civic engagement.
The leaders in our community have powerful and unique perspectives on sector-wide trends, challenges, and opportunities in the field. In this report, we release a summary of the themes we're hearing from members alongside specific, anonymized examples of how our sector is grappling with the political and economic realities of this moment.
This report is the culmination of feedback from our member organizations on the most important trends they’re seeing across the field, during the first half of 2025.
What’s Inside: Insights from the Report
The policies and decisions of the new administration – alongside an unpredictable funding landscape and staff dynamics – are dramatically changing how the most senior nonprofit leaders are spending their time, impacting both current strategy and long-term planning.
1
Youth mental health challenges are showing up on the front door of the nonprofit organizations that work to improve education, postsecondary, workforce, and civic engagement outcomes. This is especially true for international, undocumented, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC students.
2
More than ever before, there is an increased interest in deep structural partnerships between organizations, including mergers and acquisitions.
3
Nonprofit organizations need more shared services to ensure they can access the legal, communications, and strategic support needed to navigate the complexities and variabilities of this moment.
4
There is a divide between the types of support nonprofit organizations want from philanthropy and what the philanthropic sector feels they are able to do right now.
5
"I’m finding that more and more of my time is being pulled toward scenario planning, safeguarding core programming, and navigating a complex mix of uncertainty and urgency."
- Nonprofit Leader
Alliance Community Reach
31M
Collectively, our Alliance Community serves 31 million young people annually
$2B
Our member organizations control more than $2 billion in annual spending
11,000
Together, the nonprofits in our Community employ over 11,000 FTEs
Overall, it’s creating an overwhelming environment for families and students, generating even more confusion in a process that is already complex and fragile at best.”
- Nonprofit Leader