US-Canada Nonprofits: Challenges and Opportunities of Working Together in 2025

Economic uncertainty, political disillusionment, societal pressures, and emotional exhaustion… name your ill, and you have it in 2025. This environment creates challenging conditions for nonprofits tasked with addressing society’s various problems and presents complexities for any aspiring philanthropists. Despite some systematic differences between the US and Canada, similarities across the border reveal shared struggles. While thinking along national lines is sometimes helpful in framing an issue, the root of a problem usually transcends geographical boundaries.

How do we continuously do more with less? How do we respond to increasing polarization? How do we prepare for the future when we are having a hard time coping with the present? Let us look at trends across the US-Canada border as we ponder some of these big questions.

The Economic Squeeze

More than half of Americans polled by Gallup in early 2025 believed that the economy was getting worse, and this was before targeted tariffs, a tit-for-tat trade policy, and stock market losses continued to deepen the sense of economic instability.

Canadians likewise are feeling less optimistic about their nation’s economic outlook, according to a Gallup poll. In fact, their optimism has been waning since the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, and really took a nose dive in 2021 as inflation increased significantly that year.

Economic uncertainty often negatively impacts nonprofits: donations decline as donors become more cautious with their giving, corporations face greater budget constraints, and governments reduce or redirect their aid. Unpredictability surrounding funding in turn impacts the services that nonprofits provide; a drop in the former due to economic strain often necessitates a drop in the latter. Yet, demand for nonprofit services – particularly food, housing, and health services – tends to rise in stressful times.

Civic and Political Decline

Another poll by The New York Times in late 2024 revealed eroded confidence in the US political system: more than three-fourths of respondents believed that American democracy was under threat, as checks and balances seemed to be crumbling under politicians’ power grabs.

Many Canadians are similarly disheartened and dissatisfied with the political scene– more than a third of Canadians, according to data collected by the Angus Reid Institute, find that the political parties have become too extreme and offer no potential for compromise.

Nonprofits walk a tightrope when it comes to expressing their values: espousing the “wrong” views risks getting public ire; staying silent risks losing the support of vociferous advocates. On the one hand are the donors whose disillusionment extends beyond the political realm; on the other are the donors who take on extreme stances and demand the same from nonprofits or they would withdraw their support. In both cases, it seems increasingly impossible to retain either group while remaining bipartisan.

Pressure from the Digital World

Meanwhile, the online world doesn’t offer any reprieve, and in fact can be a dominant source of pressure for people, especially younger adults. A study by Common Sense Media and Harvard Graduate School of Education reported that over 80% of American teens felt pressured by social media to appear a certain way or to measure themselves by others’ achievements.

Social media users in Canada are not immune to the phenomenon of cancel culture, where people get criticized, publicly shamed, and even ostracized for expressing beliefs deemed unacceptable. This has propelled entities– from individuals to corporations alike– to make public proclamations to align themselves with the righteous side … whatever that may be.

The pressure to always be “on” and to always say the “correct” thing has real consequences. Every entity is after more likes, more clicks, more shares, more dollars. While the Internet has allowed nonprofits to be omnipresent and to reach broader audiences, online interactions have prompted ideological fights rather than honest dialogues. Fear of backlash and public scrutiny has nonprofits claiming increasingly higher moral grounds, and the fear of losing relevance in today’s world forces participants to become obsessive and short-sighted.

Shared Struggles

These results offer glimpses into a broader sentiment of unease and emotional strain, and people are feeling a kind of collective fatigue. While it may be easy to say the Americans have it the roughest, tempting even to dismiss certain issues as pertaining to the US only, we needn’t look far to see that many key challenges faced by individuals and nonprofits are shared more broadly: from inflationary pressure and economic instability, to loss of pandemic relief support and Federal government pulling the plug on aid, to civic discourse deterioration… In addition to any personal obstacles each individual faces, our miseries are compounded by problems unfolding on the national and global stages.

A Resilient Sector

The situation indeed seems dire, and all the statistics and anecdotes cited in the media paint a worrisome picture. However, this is also a good time to be reminded that nonprofits have always faced difficulties, and many have emerged from them stronger. For instance, the drastic Reagan-era budget cuts professionalized nonprofit and fundraising, and employment in the nonprofit sector grew and in fact became a vital source of jobs for people. Arguably, all quite good things that came from an otherwise terrible time.

And, however counterintuitive it may seem, depressed economic conditions offer the most growth opportunities. After the Great Financial Crisis, foundation assets took a hit but recovered nicely in the decade that followed. And the swift financial rebound in 2021 helped assets in US foundations exceed $1 trillion in that same year. Over the long haul, temporary dips become cumulative gains: data from Candid, a company specialized in nonprofit data reporting, indicates charitable giving has grown 4.3% annually for the past 40 years despite periods of economic downturn.

Challenge Into Change: How We Help

Just as growth becomes most prominent after depressed periods, so can we be the most resilient during challenging times. We can transform public discontent and appetite for change into a desire for action. We can find common ground despite divisive rhetoric. Obstacles can now be used as catalysts for change, and decisions made today will have repercussions that transcend boundaries. Now more than ever is the time to make meaningful and lasting changes. Let us help you articulate your beliefs and your vision, and transform good intentions into impactful action.

As philanthropic advisors, we help nonprofits and civic leaders in reaching their charitable aspirations, navigate uncertainty, respond to challenges, build resilient communities, and remain mission-driven. With international reach but local knowledge, we bring global perspectives to regional issues– whether economic, political, or cultural. We tailor our approach to meet your unique needs and offer strategic advice across all stages of your philanthropic journey. Backed by a team of associates with deep expertise, S. Sutton & Associates Inc. is here to help guide you on how to do good– even when the world feels anything but.