I had just returned from AAC&U’s annual meeting in D.C. on “reaffirming higher education’s public purpose” when the new administration announced a pause on federal grants. I’d planned to write a note about the characteristics of high-impact practices related to academic civic engagement pedagogy, thanks to a vibrant town hall session on this topic at the AAC&U conference. However, it seemed misaligned with the CCCE’s stated purpose to focus on civic learning in the classroom without acknowledging the volatile environment in which so many small non-profit community organizations have found themselves this week. Their work is the applied context for many ACE courses and other CCCE programs — they are our community co-educators and partners.
As of Wednesday, January 29, the federal grant freeze has been rescinded. However, as we only send out the ACE newsletter once a term, I will use this opportunity to highlight some of the ways community organizations rely on federal funds, as I expect we can continue to see these funding streams fall under scrutiny.
What federal funding means for non-profits
For many at Carleton, we’ve spent the last day or so trying to make sense of these destabilizing threats to federal grants and what that would mean for our work and research. Similarly, non-profit community organizations have also been staring down profound uncertainty.
In a January 29 post, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) executive director Nonoko Sato asserted, “Lives of the most vulnerable Minnesotans and our nonprofit sector’s ability to meet their needs will be drastically impacted by this federal grants freeze.” The MCN post goes on to explain, “The funding freeze could affect the billions of dollars Minnesota gets each year from the federal government, including funds directly to nonprofits and funds to the state of Minnesota, some of which are then used by nonprofits in furtherance of the state’s priorities. In 2024-25, Minnesota received $39 billion in federal grants according to the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget.”
In our local context, 81% of the HOPE Center’s budget came from government grants, according to their most recent tax return. Community Action Center’s budget is 22% government grants, and the Northfield Union of Youth’s is 38%. While some of these may be state grants, those are often pass-through funds that originate at the federal level.
I once worked for a small nonprofit where I managed a federal grant that funded an AmeriCorps VISTA program. Maybe some of you have worked in such contexts, too, or your work here at the college is federally funded. If so, you are probably familiar with the rhythm of regular disbursements of awarded funds. Funds did not arrive in a lump sum. Rather, we received deposits throughout the grant period. Small organizations, like research teams, build annual budgets that depended on those funds arriving in bank accounts at the planned cadence. So vulnerable are many of these organizations that in its post, MCN dedicated a large section of its coverage to advice for nonprofits on managing cash flow, contacting banks regarding lines of credit, and developing budget scenarios for reduced services and staffing.
What this means for us, as partners
I share all of this because it is a good time for us to be particularly sensitive to the relative precarity of our community partners.
Because academic civic engagement is, in part, about “understanding issues in their real-world complexity”, perhaps the recent upheaval presents an educational opportunity for students in ACE courses: How do our partner organizations use public funds? What do those organizations wish the broader public knew about their missions and what it takes to carry them out? And how can we support them in this turbulent environment?
MCN is “collecting stories, data, and any relevant information [nonprofit organizations] think [MCN] should know as [they] communicate and collaborate with our national and local partners, elected officials, and other key decision-makers.” If there are ways our students can support our partners in that effort, this could be one way we contribute.
-Sinda Nichols, Director, Center for Community and Civic Engagement