For nonprofit leaders navigating policy shifts, funding uncertainties, and rapid social change, it’s hard to keep up among the chaos. At the 2025 Nonprofit Leadership Conference, the central theme was clear: this is not a time for paralysis—it’s a moment that demands we show up differently.

Redefine Your Role in Real Time
The assumptions and foundations that guided your work in the past may no longer hold true. Policy landscapes are shifting, funding models are evolving, and the communities you serve are facing new pressures daily. Good leaders are those willing to ask: What is my role right now? This means being radically present—asking questions before making declarations and listening to your staff on the ground and those you serve. They’re already adapting to the moment you’re strategizing about. Your role isn’t to predict the future perfectly; it’s to stay responsive enough to pivot as conditions change.

Uncertainty breeds an aversion to risk. When the path forward is unclear, some leaders default to overanalyzing, often missing the moment. Others swing to opposite extremes, making reactive decisions that sacrifice long-term strategies for short-term comfort. Both responses miss the opportunity embedded in this moment. As one conference panelist reminded us, quoting Bob Marley: “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” The question isn’t whether we face uncertainty; it’s whether we’ll let it paralyze us or propel us forward.

Stop Trying to Own Everything
The most powerful insight from the conference might just be this: it’s time to stop trying to own everything. The scarcity mindset that has long plagued the sector is becoming obsolete. What’s working now is radical collaboration. Nonprofits are teaming up with funders to advocate collectively, not individually. Foundations are providing more unrestricted funding and investing in coalition-building infrastructure. Organizations are exploring mergers and strategic partnerships, asking “What are we trying to preserve?” and realizing the answer isn’t individual institutions, it’s the capacity to serve communities effectively. Research from Independent Sector confirms that coalition-based advocacy dramatically increases support and impact.

Invest in People First
Earned revenue models are no longer optional experiments; they’re essential strategies for meeting people where they are. Organizations that are thriving aren’t waiting for traditional funding streams to stabilize; they’re reinventing how they generate resources. But sustainability means nothing without investment in staff. Living wages, motivated teams, and skill-based frameworks aren’t line items to cut when budgets tighten. Instead, they’re the foundation that allows you to pivot with resilience. The urgency of today demands that we fund infrastructure, not just programming, compensate our people well enough to retain institutional knowledge, and stop doing things that don’t add value so teams can focus on what truly matters.

This moment also demands an evolved relationship between leadership and governance. Organizations need their boards to be thought partners and collaborative problem-solvers able to navigate uncertainty alongside staff leadership. This requires boards bringing their best strategic thinking, not just their compliance expertise, and investing in skills-based frameworks that position board members to add real value in areas like innovation, earned revenue, and coalition building.

Here’s what won’t serve you in this moment:
• Hoarding resources
• Making fear-based decisions
• Clinging to models that worked in a different era

What will serve you:
• Getting comfortable with measured risk
• Being willing to pivot and bringing your stakeholders along transparently
• Speaking up and risking your significance for the sake of the communities you serve
• Centering collaboration and deploying shared assets strategically

The truth is, you can’t plan for every scenario. What you can do is build the organizational muscle to respond: resilience through diverse revenue streams, agility through streamlined operations, and strength through authentic partnerships. Reach out to partners you haven’t engaged with in a while. Revisit your risk management framework. Examine your work and board composition with a fresh set of eyes. Ask hard questions about what you’re preserving, and why. Most importantly, deliver on the promises you make. In uncertain times, trust matters most—trust between nonprofits and communities, between organizations and funders, between boards and leadership teams.

The moment is here. It’s chaotic and unnerving. But it’s also ripe with opportunity for those bold enough to reinvent, courageous enough to collaborate, and innovative enough to lead differently.