How Central Indiana Nonprofits Are Responding to 2025

No theme is more common this year than the sudden cuts to funding many organizations have experienced. If your business model relied on public dollars, whether at the state or federal level, you’re likely making a big shift in 2025. 

That is certainly what “Organization A” discovered (a pseudonym for an area nonprofit we spoke with that is working in the Health and Human Services sector).  

At our first meeting, Organization A told us they were concerned they might be one of the targets for state funding cuts in the wake of an unexpected $2-billion revenue shortfall during the last statehouse session.  

They were right. At our second meeting with Organization A, we learned that virtually all of their state funding had been cut. As a Health and Human Services provider, the group provides critical services to the community; despite funding losses, they did not want to dissolve completely. They had already made the painful decision to lay off staff and cut some of their services, but they would still need a new funding model if they were to continue. 

As a partner agency of United Way of Central Indiana (UWCI), Organization A could call on a temporary source of added funding. But it wouldn’t be a permanent solution.  

So in the meantime, we suggested they consult with their board of directors to consider if they were willing to continue operations under a new business plan with streamlined services.  

Organization A, fiercely committed to their cause, returned for a third time to office hours. Yes, they said, they can maintain two core programs with a smaller staff and a new business plan; however, this plan would include an annual fund and they had little experience in fundraising.  

That was another common thread among nonprofits we spoke with – how to shift from a government grant mindset to a more diverse fundraising approach, one that included funding from philanthropists, foundations, and corporations in addition to public support. Not every organization has developed all four funding legs to be of equal length.  

Indiana Humanities, for example, had received unrestricted operating support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for over fifty years. In 2025, that funding went away entirely.  

“We were founded to make grants,” they shared. “We’ve always done programming and communications, but grantmaking is our root.”  

With NEH funding gone, their ability to regrant funds – especially small but catalytic grants in rural communities – has been paused. 

Rather than rushing to replace the funds, Indiana Humanities emphasized their focus on maintaining relationships and transparency. “We’re not trying to say we have the answers,” one staff member shared. “We’re just being honest about what we’re going through.” In conversations with donors and community members, they are positioning unrestricted operating support not as a band-aid, but as a bridge toward sustainability. 

They’ve also taken the opportunity to talk with donors about things like restarting their Action Grants program—“a small-dollar, high-support program” they say is essential to their mission—and how general operating funds could help bring that back online. 

For some, the idea of expanding their fundraising outreach proved less daunting when it was reframed as “storytelling”.