Our Impact

Guided by passionate leadership and strong values, our team leverages extensive experience and knowledge. Partnering with our nationwide network of state associations and mission supporters, NCN achieves transformative impacts that support and equip charitable nonprofits to provide essential services in their communities that improve lives.

• Our network deepens nonprofit relationships across state lines, promoting knowledge sharing, advancing equity, and amplifying the collective voices of the nonprofit community, creating a more connected and empowered sector.
• Policymakers, the media, and the public gain a deeper understanding of the nonprofit sector through NCN’s timely, practical, and credible information, leading to more informed decision-making and support for nonprofits.
• NCN safeguards the entire nonprofit community across all levels and branches of government, uniquely positioning us to protect and advocate for the sector, ensuring its stability and growth.
• Our unmatched advocacy and extensive network build a supportive public policy environment, enhancing nonprofits’ capabilities to serve their communities effectively and sustainably.

NCN is equipped to act with swift, surefooted, and coordinated responses when policy threats and opportunities emerge. Examples of our most significant public policy achievements include:

• In 2013, our relentless advocacy efforts led to a groundbreaking mandate requiring governments to cover the indirect costs for nonprofits delivering community services with federal funding. Building on this success, our continued advocacy in 2024 resulted in significant improvements to this mandate, including an increased minimum indirect cost rate and a more equitable, streamlined federal grant process.

• We secured $50 billion from Congress in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans for nonprofits’ COVID-19 relief and guided more than 100,000 organizations in learning how to access those loans, helping to preserve 6.2 million nonprofit jobs (data from the Small Business Association).
• We succeeded in making nonprofits eligible for funding from the $350 billion in American Rescue Plan Act dollars allocated for pandemic relief and recovery.
• We preserved nearly a billion dollars in charitable donations by defeating attempts to limit giving incentives in multiple states.

“In moments of crisis and demand, you can’t just funnel money to an organization and expect it to be effective. What NCN achieved for nonprofits during the pandemic requires consistent support to build capacity, skill, and relationships that can be mobilized for both the ongoing work and those moments of crisis or opportunity. ”

–Roger Nozaki, Barr Foundation, VP for Strategy & Programs

Get involved

Nonprofits are bridge-builders weaving our communities together. Everyone benefits when they succeed. Join our collective efforts to create a connected and powerful nonprofit community equipped to advance the public good.

Nonprofit Staff and Board Members:

• Join your state association of nonprofits to get connected and stay informed.
• Share the nonprofit community’s advocacy actions.
• Use our trusted resources to grow your organization’s capacity to advance its mission.
• Subscribe to our free newsletters to stay informed.

Funders:

• Connect with our staff to learn how investing in our work strengthens and amplifies the impact of your grantees, your foundation, and the nonprofits you are unable to support directly.
• Partner with us to identify threats and opportunities for nonprofits and the communities they serve.
• Subscribe to our free newsletters to stay informed about the latest nonprofit resources and trends.
• See our other donors and funders.

Policymakers:

• Recognize that your constituents rely on nonprofits in countless ways, reducing the burdens on governments. Nonprofits are a vital part of every community. In addition to delivering critical services, they are significant economic engines that collectively employ the third largest private workforce.    
• Ensure nonprofits are always at the policy table, as they are closest to the community’s challenges and are most knowledgeable about the solutions.