I originally planned to write a reflection on our accomplishments in 2024, but I would be remiss if I didn’t first address the looming political climate. Many of us are still processing the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election — our disappointment, emotions, anxieties, and questions about what comes next. One thing is clear: 2025 promises to bring chaos, intentional ambiguity, further erosion of civil liberties, and continued efforts to criminalize organizing and systems change.
There’s much to dissect about the recent election cycle — what went wrong, what could have been improved, and how we can learn from it. However, one area that stands out to me as essential for profound improvement is our collective investment in base-building and canvassing.
Base-building is a long-term endeavor. It requires time, resources, and an unwavering commitment to building trust in communities. It cannot be something we pursue only during election seasons or in response to campaign issues. We’ve all heard the adage: change moves at the speed of trust. Trust is born from relationships that are built and sustained over time. When we engage with communities only when we need their support for a campaign or election, the interaction becomes transactional —and people recognize that. They see through it, and they don’t buy in.
If we know that relationship-building takes time, why don’t we invest in it? Across the country, organizers are stretched thin. Their organizations need the capacity and flexibility to dedicate time to building relationships within the communities they serve. Only then can those community members be empowered to address the issues that affect their lives and material well-being. Without this foundational work, the outcomes for systems change — and for our democracy — will remain stagnant, as we saw in the 2024 election.
Leadership development, community-building, and trust-building are the bedrock of a healthy democracy. They are more critical now than ever. As a sector, can we commit to prioritizing trust and relationship-building? What would such a commitment look like, and what would it take to make these investments a reality? These are the questions I find myself asking as a philanthropic leader.
At Woods Fund Chicago, much of our work in 2024 centered on creating the space for our team to focus on deepening relationships. We moved 90% of our portfolio to three-year, multi-year grants, continued offering unrestricted, general operating support, and streamlined our grantmaking cycles from two to one. These changes allowed our program officers to dedicate more time to fostering meaningful relationships with grantee partners, connecting them to resources, and collaborating with peers across the philanthropic sector.
Investing in long-term relationships and trust-building strengthens our democracy and amplifies the impact of our work. If we’re serious about transformative change, we must prioritize these investments — not just in theory, but in practice.
As we look ahead to 2025, we are reflecting on how we can serve as a buffer for the organizations we support. Organizing is already under relentless attack, and legislation like HB9495 represents a calculated effort to silence organizations by threatening their nonprofit status. I have no doubt this measure will resurface — and likely expand — under the new administration.
What will organizations need to withstand these challenges? Will they require legal support to defend against unjust attacks? Protection from doxxing or cyberattacks? How will they navigate if their assets are frozen?
And perhaps most critically: what courage will it take from us, as philanthropic leaders, to stand firm and protect them? How can we ensure that we’re prepared to hold the line, no matter the obstacles ahead?
We approach the new year with the resolve to remain open to the evolving answers to these questions, hold and bolster the required courage, and respond with the action necessary to be true partners to our communities through the challenging work ahead.
