Nonprofit Toolkit: Resources for organizations facing government investigations

Nonprofits are an integral part of civil society, providing critical services to communities across the country and often calling out abuses of power. As authoritarian-minded leaders try to insulate themselves from accountability, they often target nonprofit organizations they see as a threat. In order for nonprofits to keep thriving and serving communities in need, they have to understand the tactics they may face and how best to respond.

On this page, you’ll find short topic-specific primers that build on our full-length guide, Protecting Civic Space, along with additional resources to equip nonprofits navigating politicized government investigations.

Why protecting nonprofits matters for our democracy

A healthy democracy allows for and is sustained by a strong civil society — where people can debate ideas, organize to contest or advocate for policies, share information freely, and serve as an important check on the government.

Nonprofit organizations are an integral component of civil society. They provide critical services to local communities; feed, house, and clothe the poor; support veterans; advocate for access to healthcare; protect children and the elderly; offer religious services; fight for clean air and water; and defend civil liberties and other core freedoms. Among this mission-oriented work, nonprofits often call out and check abuses of government power. 

That’s precisely why authoritarian-minded leaders across the globe leverage government authority to target nonprofits with unfounded regulatory intimidation, invasive audits, and other forms of politically motivated government investigations, sometimes together with online harassment and even threats of violence. As authoritarians seek to grow more powerful and insulate themselves from accountability, they often target the nonprofit organizations they see as a threat, many times starting with organizations that are under-resourced or that work with marginalized populations in order to send a message to others.

In this kind of environment, nonprofits may be tempted to scale back or halt their work entirely, taking themselves “off the field” before they themselves come under threat. But we should not lose sight of the bigger picture.

The path forward lies in organizations across the ideological spectrum calling authoritarian tactics out for what they are, forcefully pushing back, standing up collectively, and continuing their lawful, mission-oriented work.

More resources