"Donations can't fill the gap": Nonprofits support local partners through USAID upheaval
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A Trump administration freeze on foreign aid has left nonprofits and volunteers scrambling to fill gaps in funding that have forced layoffs, suspended services and closed doors.
The big picture: But with the future of U.S. foreign assistance uncertain following confusion-inducing stop-work orders, organizers warn that it will likely be impossible to sustain critical services with philanthropic efforts.
- The State Department last month ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign assistance in accordance with a Day 1 executive order from President Trump that called for aid to be paused pending assessments of foreign assistance programs.
- The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development dropped a bomb on the already difficult-to-navigate quagmire, further complicated by the ongoing legal saga over the freeze.
- It has rocked foreign and U.S. contractors, stranded assistance at ports and risked livelihoods — and lives, experts told Axios.
The U.S. is the single largest humanitarian donor in the world. Though foreign assistance accounts for just around 1% of the total federal budget, that's a massive gap for crowdfunding organizations and nonprofits to fill.
Case in point: Nonprofit GlobalGiving, which works with some 6,000 nonprofit partners across 175 countries, recently launched its GlobalGiving Community Aid Fund to assist organizations on the front lines providing assistance amid the U.S. government's freeze.
- CEO Victoria Vrana told Axios that nonprofit partners in at least 75 countries have been impacted. The collateral damages range from having to halt vital services, like providing HIV treatment, to closing doors.
- But "donations can't fill the gap," Vrana stresses.
Friction point: After announcing the freeze, Secretary of State Marco Rubio later announced there would be waivers for "life-saving humanitarian assistance programs."
- But confusion persisted. And a list of exemptions obtained by Reuters showed the majority of waivers went to security and counternarcotics programs, while a limited amount went to humanitarian relief.
- Asked for comment, the White House said Trump returned to D.C. with a "mandate" to "bring about unprecedented change in our federal government to uproot waste, fraud and abuse."
- Rubio in an interview last week acknowledged the freeze has been "disruptive for some programs" but said he thinks it will ensure "every program ... serves the national interest because it makes us stronger or more prosperous or safer."
Yes, but: Even if the flow of funds is restored, organizations that have had to dismiss staff may no longer have the necessary infrastructure to actually provide aid, says Susan Appe, a University at Albany associate professor who researches government-nonprofit relationships.
- Fluctuations in aid are not a new phenomenon, she said — but this was an extreme case with no "responsible exit strategy."
- She noted there are strategies local aid partners can use to try to sustain services, like forming mergers or leaning on local philanthropy or governments to fill public service gaps. Others will have to close doors.
By the numbers: According to globalaidfreeze.com, a site that surveys nonprofits and organizations to gauge impact of the pause, 60% of 725 respondents as of Feb. 20 have had to lay off or furlough staff.
- Among nonprofit respondents, more than 21% say they have only one month of financial resources remaining, according to the site.
- "People have very little time right now," says Cheri-Leigh Erasmus, the co-CEO of Accountability Lab, one of the organizations collaborating on the freeze-tracking site. "And even a 90-day freeze — after 90 days, you don't have an organization left anymore."
What's next: The seismic shifts triggered by the halt may signal the "whole ecosystem of international aid being reshaped," Erasmus says. As actors scramble to find the most important gaps to plug, other sectors in the field may go underfunded.
- Accountability Lab has worked with organizations to identify themselves for potential mergers or strategic partnerships amid the freeze, she noted. Local governments will also likely be forced to think of ways to build resiliency to sustain services without bilateral funding support.
- "We have to try and sustain parts of an ecosystem," Erasmus said. "We're not going to be able to save every organization — that's just a reality of where we are."
Go deeper: Most USAID workers to be fired or placed on leave by late Sunday
