In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.
—Toni Morrison,“No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear”
Last month, the executive director of a Mississippi community center reached out to me. Let’s call her Ava. Ava does not opine on podcasts. You won’t catch her advocating for change on The Daily Show—or any other show, streaming or otherwise. But every day, Ava and her nonprofit do what too many political “leaders” promise but don’t deliver: meet the needs of the communities they serve.
For over 30 years, Ava has unlocked her center’s front door and welcomed elders who have healthcare because of her organization’s advocacy. Mentored teenagers building educational dreams denied to their parents. Checked on families whose post-hurricane homes exist because the center rebuilt them—one hammer, one grant, one neighbor at a time.
Ava didn’t wait for permission to support the community and, in turn, advance the promises of American democracy. She got to work, as nonprofit leaders do.
Purpose-driven nonprofits expand the “We” of “We the People” when those in power seek to exclude people from it.
From isolated Appalachian towns to redlined urban neighborhoods, purpose-driven nonprofits create democracy’s frontline for care—and its last line of defense. We house veterans. We feed neighbors. We register voters. We protect the planet. We publish hard truths when easy lies are cheaper.
Purpose-driven nonprofits expand the “We” of “We the People” when those in power seek to exclude people from it.
The nonprofit sector is not a charitable sideline or tax write-off for the “real” work of democracy. We are the work—and the workers—advancing democracy’s promises daily.
That’s why, this Fourth of July season, we’re asking you to join us. Let us celebrate not the past myths of “America’s founding,” but the potential for new futures, powered by nonprofit workers and leaders like Ava.
Nonprofits: The “Invisible Backbone” of Democracy
In this contemporary world of violent protests, internecine war, cries for food and peace, in which whole desert cities are thrown up to shelter the dispossessed, abandoned, terrified populations running for their lives and the breath of their children, what are we (the so-called civilized) to do?
—Toni Morrison
Earlier this year, the National Council of Nonprofits shared a valuable advocacy tool to help us reclaim nonprofit narratives. Among other core messages, it notes that “nonprofits are America’s invisible backbone, providing critical support to improve communities and save lives.”
The invisibility is all too true—and too dangerous. The nonprofit sector employs over 12 million people, but Capitol Hill dismisses our policy power. We contributed $1.4 trillion to the economy in 2023, but national narratives dismiss us as “charity.” Nonprofits are immigrant-led cooperatives and Native-run community clinics, LGBTQ+ aid networks and IEP advocates for students, schools for liberation and researchers for medical cures.
For too many years, stories about our sector have been fragmented, incomplete, and yes, made invisible. This is a decades-old sector problem that is a contributing factor to our current constitutional crisis and a critical impediment to our work to advance a democracy that one day belongs to all of “We the People.”
The Value of Our Stories in an Era of Erasure
Dictators and tyrants routinely begin their reigns and sustain their power with the deliberate and calculated destruction of art.
—Toni Morrison
In the first half of 2025, we witnessed a coordinated campaign to flatten, whitewash, and silence American voices. Book bans muted our stories. Anti-DEI legislation erased our presence. Funding freezes shuttered the organizations that serve our communities. Censors stripped truths from textbooks, libraries, airwaves, and archives.
These attacks on our stories, our schools, and our freedoms are not isolated: they are pearls on the same string. Each act is polished to appear routine, even respectable. But together, they form a tightening strand—less a necklace than a noose—meant to choke the “We” out of “We the People.”
Every story we don’t tell is a vote we don’t cast. Every voice we don’t amplify is a policy we can’t pass.
This is not chaos. It is a strategy. Authoritarians understand narrative as warfare: Control the story, and you control the policy. Control the policy, and you control the people. Narrative is both a battlefield and a weapon. It is the foundation of belonging—and a critical lever of democratic power.
This pattern is reinforced in democracy scholars’ research, which identifies that modern aspiring authoritarians “tend to employ the same seven basic tactics in the pursuit of power”:
- Attempt to politicize independent institutions
- Spread disinformation
- Aggrandize executive power at the expense of checks and balances
- Quash criticism and dissent
- Scapegoat vulnerable or marginalized communities
- Work to corrupt elections
- Stoke violence
The nonprofit sector is not on the sidelines of these actions. We’re at the center of impact. Yet too often, the public narrative about nonprofits is shaped by others. We are written off as charity cases, not change agents. Called service providers, not system builders. Painted as dependents of philanthropic largesse, not architects of transformative movements.
Losing these narrative battles has national consequences. Every story we don’t tell is a vote we don’t cast. Every voice we don’t amplify is a policy we can’t pass.
When voters don’t understand the role nonprofits play in advancing justice, policymakers feel emboldened to attack our tax-exempt status. When the wealthy overlook our innovation, resources are redirected to flashy but superficial solutions. When young people don’t see our impact, they seek other paths to change the world. When our sector’s voice is missing from public debate, our communities are left behind.
But perhaps the most dangerous consequence is this: If we don’t tell our own stories, we cannot build the collective power necessary to defend democracy itself. When our communities don’t see themselves in civic stories, it becomes easier to disengage from democracy. Organize less. Doubt our own power to create change.
And yet, the opposite is also true.
When we see ourselves as protagonists in American life, we rise. We resist. We run. We volunteer. We speak up and show out.
#WeTheCivic: Democracy’s Defenders Unite
But no prince or king or dictator could interfere successfully or forever in a country that seriously prized freedom of the press.
—Toni Morrison
This July—in deliberate celebration of our founding ideals and defiant response to those who would narrow our “American” stories—NPQ and a coalition of nonprofit workers, leaders, artists, journalists, organizers, and funders are launching #WeTheCivic. This is our month-long narrative celebration of the unquenchable nonprofit and civil society voices fighting for our democracy—and our future.
When we see ourselves as protagonists in American life, we rise. We resist. We run. We volunteer. We speak up and show out.
Every Fourth of July, we’re sold t-shirts and tight definitions of patriotism that flatten and whitewash the complexity of workers and the work advancing democracy daily. Inspired by the #UniteInAdvance call for solidarity from our colleagues in philanthropy, this July, #WeTheCivic partners will raise our nonprofit voices to:
- Reclaim July as a season to center community voices, celebrate civil society’s impact, collaborate on democracy’s challenges, and champion its potential
- Amplify sector storytelling, solutions, and solidarity to expand opportunity, joy, and freedom for all
- Advance civic partnerships to develop nonprofit media and narrative power building
- Celebrate the expansive democratic actions taken by nonprofit organizers like Ava over the narrow history of democracy told in too many textbooks
NPQ’s #WeTheCivic Commitment: Building Power Through Partnership
We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
—Toni Morrison
NPQ’s mission is to advance both conversation and practice in civil society. For 26 years, we’ve advanced bold ideas and real-world practices that move us closer to a just, multiracial democracy. We don’t just report on civil society—we help shape it.
We launched the #WeTheCivic coalition because fighting fascism is a group project—and solidarity is a sector strategy. We believe we’re stronger when we collaborate, not when we compete. And at a moment when many of our nonprofit readers feel abandoned or alone, we want to state our commitment publicly and clearly: We stand with you.
We’re doubling down on centering voices at risk of erasure—leaders of color, queer families, youth organizers, cooperative builders, community journalists, changemakers who are neurodiverse and those with disabilities—the voices shaping our sector, our democracy, and our planet’s future. We will continue to publish stories that reflect who we are and who we’re becoming, truths that confront power, and tools that build sector capacity.
This #WeTheCivic season, we’re backing those commitments with #UniteInAdvance actions. Throughout July, we will share new stories, tools, and support tailored for nonprofit workers and leaders to meet the moment and advance sustainable, healthy, and equitable impact. They include:
New Civic Storytelling and Solutions Infrastructure
- Our first Civic Columnists Cohort to offer you recurring wisdom from frontline nonprofit leaders
- A new Ask a Nonprofit Expert Series, so you can ask for real-world advice from principled nonprofit leaders who have been in your shoes.
- Local Nonprofit Voices Partnerships to build capacity to syndicate local and community nonprofit newsroom sector reporting to our national audiences.
- A #WeTheCivic library of rotating stories that unpack nonprofit roles in advancing justice, democracy, and opportunity
Resources That Restore
- New resources to advance sector storytelling, solutions, and solidarity, including Justice This Week, Resourcing the Field, and We Stood Up newsletters
- Discount (50 percent off) Leading Edge Memberships to offer equity-centered nonprofit management skills to as many organizations as possible
- Journalism partnerships to expand nonprofit sector coverage, including solutions journalism and longform storytelling
Your Voice Is Your Power—Will You Use It?
‘No! No, no, no! This is precisely the time when artists go to work—not when everything is fine, but in times of dread. That’s our job!’
—Toni Morrison
While authoritarians will sell a simplified, sanitized version of “America,” we have the power to disrupt it with truth. With voices like Ava’s. With stories that show how democracy gets built. Because we know that democracy doesn’t just happen—it is built by us.
In a time when silence is surrender, storytelling is resistance. So, will you share your #WeTheCivic story?
Let this be the moment we make the “invisible backbone of America” that much more visible.
- Share Your Nonprofit Pride: Download a visual from our #WeTheCivic graphics collection. Share a story from your nonprofit or the story of someone who has touched your life. Use #WeTheCivic and #UniteInAdvance to flood the feeds with justice-in-action.
- Tag a Democracy Defender: Honor a nonprofit worker, local leader, or storyteller. Tell their story. Make their work visible.
- Want to do more? Pick one:
- Give the gift of a community newsroom subscription
- Call your elected official to defend nonprofit protections
- Donate to a local mutual aid or legal defense fund
- Sign up to volunteer—and invite a friend
- Support a nonprofit classroom with supplies or service
The narrative belongs to us. The future belongs to us. The time to tell our stories is now.
#WeTheCivic
