The Communications Network’s 2025 Pulse Polls | Survey #1 offers a snapshot of how nonprofits and foundations are adjusting their communications strategies under the new administration. Fielded February 4 through 10, 2025, the survey asked 340 communications professionals about shifts in priorities, top challenges, and external messaging. We spoke with Communications Network CEO Sean Gibbons and Anita Sharma, researcher and principal at 4th Street Communications, who ran the survey, about the findings and the road ahead.
Doubling down on core mission leads communications strategy shifts
When asked how their communications had shifted most significantly, 24% of respondents said they “reaffirmed or strengthened commitment to core mission.” About 16% each reported adopting a more cautious tone or decreasing messaging on politically sensitive issues; 14% took other preemptive steps, such as removing references to DEI or climate change.
Fewer organizations reported stepping up their communications as the most significant shift—emphasizing protecting vulnerable communities (9%), increasing advocacy and policy-related messaging (4%) or collaboration to amplify messages (4%), and adopting a more proactive and bold tone (3%).
Reaffirming core mission likely emerged at the top because it’s both a tactical and an emotional response, notes Sharma, as organizations digest what’s happening in the news cycle while also communicating what their organizations are trying to accomplish in an unprecedented environment.
Gibbons suggests that every organization is making a different analysis of what risk might mean for them and how to navigate the moment. “Are you trying to mitigate risk, or are you trying to avert loss, or are you trying to build something? Fewer folks are feeling comfortable saying, ‘Let’s continue to build toward something right now,’” he adds. “I also think there’s just a lot of fear…. Fear of retribution was one of the primary things we saw.”
Fear of government backlash is a challenge for nearly two-thirds of nonprofits
“Fear of government retaliation or loss of funding for advocacy” was a major communications challenge for 55% of all respondents, but more widespread among nonprofits (63%) than private foundations (29%). In addition, 48% of all respondents cited “potential backlash or criticism for addressing politically sensitive issues” more broadly as a challenge.
Other challenges included the “need for more frequent crisis communications in response to policy (39%) and difficulty navigating changing regulations or legal constraints on advocacy” (31%).
Despite the challenges facing social sector communications teams, Gibbons believes the current “flood the zone” strategy, while extraordinary, won’t last forever. The sector’s greatest strength, he argues, lies not just in naming problems, but in helping people understand them—and, more importantly, in communicating solutions. In this crisis, there’s an opportunity to imagine what comes next and begin building toward it.
“[A] wise thing for folks in our sector [to do]—given that we are, by nature or orientation, optimists—is to think about ways to have constructive conversations with people about the kind of world they want to live in 10 years from now,” he says. “I’d say we want to hear more about where tomorrow needs to go, rather than just the problems of today… What I think we all need are visionaries.”
Few organizations are making public statements
Only 35% of all respondents had issued public statements in response to the new administration’s actions. Nonprofits (40%) were twice as likely to do so than private foundations (20%). Among organizations that have issued statements, they were most likely to use “owned media” channels—email newsletters (61%), websites (57%), and email (53%). Among social media, LinkedIn (58%) was the most commonly used platform, lagged by Facebook (42%) and Instagram (41%).
“This February poll is very consistent with what we’ve seen over the last couple of years,” says Sharma. “There’s been a drop in the use of properties like Facebook and Instagram, a precipitous drop in Twitter/X, and an increase in owned channels—whether that’s email, newsletters, or LinkedIn.” Sharma attributed the shift to audience behavior and declining reputations of certain platforms.
Speaking out, stepping up as nonprofits push forward
The survey suggests that organizations that have issued public statements have likely done so with careful deliberation.
Meanwhile, the Center for Effective Philanthropy has highlighted some responses, including publicly opposing specific actions, voicing support for nonprofits and civil society, or reaffirming their commitment to DEI, increasing payout levels, launching grant initiatives, streamlining application processes, and offering unrestricted funding.
Gibbons points out that the word “community” and the word “communication” share the Latin root “communis,” which means “common, public, shared by all or many.” “It’s the same idea,” he says. “You can’t communicate without a community, and you can’t have a community unless you’re communicating.”
“So, thinking about the future, how might we continue to rebuild—or build—more trust? Because trust has been precipitously declining over the last several decades, particularly in institutions, whether that’s do-good institutions, government, or for-profit entities,” Gibbons asks. “There’s a rapid and profound shift happening. Embracing that, understanding it, and recalibrating for it will be essential for smart, forward-thinking organizations that intend to do good today and into the future.”
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