Earlier this year, Taproot conducted a survey of the nonprofit sector to better understand how they’re weathering the changes 2025 has brought. The results of this Nonprofit Pulse Survey were alarming and illustrated that organizations are under unprecedented pressure. From funding instability, increasing demands for programs, declining staff wellbeing, and shifting priorities, nonprofits need support now more than ever.
In this moment, action is imperative, and the corporate sector has an important role to play. Companies must continue to center community partners by building out impact programming and pro bono initiatives.
Read on for five data-informed strategies companies can use to harness employee talent to reinvigorate the nonprofit sector.
Prioritize capacity-building investments, long-term funding, and flexible grant expectations.
Nonprofit funding challenges are nothing new, but nonprofits today are forced to look beyond the previously reliable funding streams, like government grants. With that loss, nonprofits must plant their revenue roots in new places.
What you can do: Build upon existing grantee relationships with steady and dedicated backing. This may be the moment for deepening support rather than increasing your grantee portfolio. Also consider help that goes beyond writing a check, such as pro bono programming, brown bags with experts, and moments for grantees and community partners to share their missions with employees.
Unlock opportunities to build resilience.
Nonprofits are navigating new terrain with an unpredictable playbook. Organizations have long known how to do more with less, but with challenges coming from all sides, teams can be stretched to the breaking point.
What you can do: Companies can interrupt this decline in resiliency by providing training and organizational culture development opportunities that grantee organizations may not be able to access elsewhere. Encourage pro bono opportunities that focus on team design, strategic planning, and even leadership coaching.
Promote culture-building and wellness-focused benefits.
The current landscape is taking a toll on nonprofits, and staff’s mental health isn’t immune. A concerning 89% of nonprofit staff surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the current political environment is taking a toll on their well-being. More than three-quarters of them agreed or strongly agreed that as a nonprofit worker, they feel worried.
What you can do: Support mental health and wellness initiatives within grantee organizations. Offer pro bono support focused on organizational culture, trauma-informed leadership, and staff care. While direct support of team wellbeing can be impactful, building capacity in structural elements of the organization also contributes positively.
Facilitate new and expanded pro bono opportunities for employees that focus on delivering strategic skills-based support for nonprofits, encouraging longer-term investments in volunteer relationships.
Given strapped budgets, increasing program demands, and limited staff capacity, nonprofits benefit greatly from access to reliable volunteers with the right skillsets. 69% of executive leaders we surveyed expect that their organization will need increased volunteer involvement this calendar year. And this trend is global—100% of executive leaders surveyed from EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, Africa), LATAM (Latin America), and APAC (Asia-Pacific) countries expect they will increase volunteer involvement.
81% of respondents are interested in receiving pro bono support from a skilled volunteer in the next 6-12 months. If given the opportunity for pro bono support, the top areas respondents prioritized were fundraising and donor engagement, marketing, and strategic planning.
What you can do: Focus employee volunteer programs on the strategic skills nonprofits are looking for, especially in fundraising, marketing, and planning. Long-term volunteer relationships can be transformative.
Bridge the AI learning gap with internal expertise.
While AI offers opportunities for analysis and streamlining processes for nonprofits, most have not yet incorporated the technology into how they get work done. Only 29% of respondents were proactively adopting AI, 36% were cautious but curious, and 22% were neutral.
The biggest barriers reported in our survey included lack of staff training (26%), limited internal capacity (18%), and no clear use case (14%). These challenges are surmountable with expert support. As a company, consider how you can harness your talent pool to bridge the learning gap in the nonprofit sector.
What you can do: Offer AI training, ethical guidance, and hands-on support run by employee experts. Help nonprofits move from curiosity to confident adoption.
The data is clear: nonprofits are stretched thin, but eager to adapt. CSR leaders have a powerful opportunity to step in, stabilize, and scale impact. We don’t have to wait for stability to return to the sector—we can help create it.
If your company is ready to deepen its impact, start by connecting with your nonprofit partners. Ask what they need. Offer what you can. And commit to being part of the solution.
