However, over the past year, federal funding for organizations providing direct services to vulnerable groups has shrunk dramatically. This has put extraordinary pressure on foundations and other private funding streams to “make up” the difference – an ask that, as we have discussed elsewhere on this blog – is simply not feasible in light of the scale of government funding.
In a recent article, I provided some overall lessons learned from a year of grantseeking under the second Trump administration. Here, I dive a bit deeper into what we are learning from our partners operating in the social services sector, including key action steps that the most successful organizations are taking to adapt.
What changed in 2025?
Without a doubt, nonprofits supporting the most vulnerable groups saw a dramatic increase in need at the same time that federal funding cuts to essential programs rolled out throughout the year.
Specific observations that our teams supporting Elevate’s partners in the social services made over the course of the last year included:
Housing first is under attack
Under the current administration, federal policy is rapidly shifting away from a housing first model – an evidence-based approach that prioritizes stable or permanent housing for individuals experiencing homelessness without precondition and before addressing any of the underlying issues that led to homelessness in the first place.
Housing first approaches were developed in the early 1990s. Since then, housing first interventions have become the gold standard for nonprofit housing programs nationwide, and they serve as the basis for most state and federal housing funding streams.
Organizations providing housing services face the very real possibility that public funding will continue to dry up for housing first programs.
The need is extraordinary (and growing)
Over the past year, social service providers that offer case management services saw record high numbers of community members reaching out for help navigating public benefit systems, employment barriers, health services, child care, and more.
Furthermore, with increasing unemployment and skyrocketing insurance costs, there is more and more pressure on agencies providing affordable (or free) health services.
Private foundations won’t replace government dollars
Even while public funding dwindles for direct social services, private funders by and large remain uninterested in providing funding for ongoing, direct services like food pantries, case management, and housing supports.
This is noteworthy, as it is not the same behavior that we saw from grantmakers during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, many private grantmakers offered rapid response funding to address direct service needs. Foundations did not provide the same type of support services in 2025.
The competition is fierce, and grantmakers are taking action
Finally, as I discussed in my last article, we saw a number of grantmakers close application portals before the published submission deadline, while others required additional application steps with little notice to grantseekers.
One potential cause of this unfortunate trend is the significant increase in applications from organizations looking to replace public funding; foundation staff are simply overwhelmed by the volume of applications, and these steps serve to limit the number of proposals to review and respond to.
How are Social Service providers responding?
While these changes resulted in an extraordinary burden on human service providers, Elevate’s clients in this space took action to rise to the challenges presented. Our most successful partners adapted in a few key ways.
Leverage Individual Donor Fundraising Campaigns
Several Elevate clients turned to their base of individual donors, establishing substantial fundraising campaigns designed to meet acute, time-sensitive community needs. For example, when SNAP funding was paused and other public benefit programs shrunk due to increased eligibility requirements, our partners appealed to donors to help meet the needs of their community members.
Align Programs to Policy Priorities
Some organizations identified the opportunity to launch new programs in 2025 that were mission-aligned and addressed specific community needs, but which also remain aligned with public policy trends.
For example, organizations that sought support for addiction programs and mental health services were more successful than those that continued to focus on housing first initiatives. And, even with the recent threats to addiction and mental health services, bipartisan support for nonprofits meeting these community needs has effectively insulated these programs from more dramatic cuts to public funding.
Steward Existing Funder Relationships
Building strong relationships with your funding partners is key to any successful grant program. (If you’ve read an Elevate blog, participated in a webinar, or engaged us for grant writing services, you have likely heard us beat the drum for cultivation and stewardship!)
So it is no surprise that this tactic is key to adapting to the changes in grantmaking that we’ve seen over the past year.
Our most resilient partners in the human services sector have focused on funder stewardship, with a particular eye toward anticipating application cycles and identifying opportunities to submit grant reports and proposals early.
Nonprofits that invested in their relationships with their current funders were able to cut through the noise by maintaining relationships with program officers, differentiating their requests for support from other organizations competing for limited funding, and staying on top of their grant and report deadlines.
Are you looking for more analysis from Elevate on the trends we are seeing in grantseeking across our dozens of nonprofit partners?
Check out our observations on How 2025 Changed Grantseeking overall, and read this article from August 2025 which captures our data analysis on How the Public Funding Landscape is Shifting for Nonprofits.
And, if you’re interested in exploring how Elevate can support your organization to rise to the current challenges across the sector, we invite you to get in touch with our team! We’ll be glad to schedule a meeting to discuss your unique needs.
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President & Managing Director
