How Nonprofits Forge Ahead When Faced with Potential Cuts to Foreign Aid

American University News


Teen girls in Zaporizhia, Ukraine participate at a calligraphy workshop, learning to write symbols on a paper with brush and black gouache.
The Trump Administration's 2018 budget proposal suggests big changes to foreign aid, and cuts to support of many nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the United States. How would these changes affect the goals of these institutions?

Khaldoun AbouAssi, assistant professor at American University's School of Public Affairs is an expert in public and nonprofit management. Recently, he published an article in the journal

Public Administrative Review, which focuses on how nonprofit organizations make decisions in a changing resources environment, especially when they have to respond to donor demands.

Q: What are the Trump Administration's proposed budget implications for nonprofits?
"In general, we are noticing more government scrutiny and less funding; that does not necessarily apply across the board since some entities in the nonprofit sectors, such as religious or faith-based organizations, might be less impacted or even positively impacted. But, if you are an organization like Planned Parenthood or even a nonprofit in the arts, then the impact could be substantial. Again, it is not just the budget cuts but also how the Administration deals and works with the nonprofit sector, through policies and legislation, contracts and grants."

Q: What sort of reactions from nonprofits can we expect should proposed cuts occur?
"We are actually witnessing different reactions. After the 2016 election, some nonprofits witnessed a peak in individual donations; the donations were directly tied to the results of the election and came as signals of support to the work of some organizations that focus on women's health or LGBTQ issues or civil rights, due to the fear that the new administration would scale back rights and cut funding. I believe this trend has stabilized now. But, we also should expect more advocacy work and collaboration among the nonprofits ...

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