2025 Tested Us: How the JustFund Community Responded

By Iara Peng, Founder and CEO, JustFund

After an impressive year for U.S. generosity, $590 billion in total giving in 2024, 2025 brought a different reality. Stock market volatility, economic uncertainty from tariffs, and attacks on the philanthropic sector all took their toll. A slowdown in funding was inevitable, but unfortunately, it happened at a time when nonprofits were already under siege.

Roughly one-third of U.S. nonprofits receive federal funding. In January 2025, the federal government notified many organizations that it was canceling and freezing some grants. More than 20% of nonprofits reported losing at least some federal funding. Another 27% faced delays and pauses. Nonprofit leaders were forced to pivot fast to sustain their programs. 

JustFund’s own data reflected this trend: In 2025, more than 7,200 applications were submitted by nonprofit organizations seeking funding. That’s nearly twice the number from just two years prior. 

How the JustFund Community Responded

As nonprofit leaders turned to JustFund to seek out alternative funding sources, and found funders also looking to respond to the moment.. One applicant, Pilgrim's Progress CDC, told us that when its federal funding for a youth employment program was put on hold, the team used JustFund to successfully apply for $25,000 in funding from a new donor. It reinvested $22,000 back into the community.

In 2025, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) itself came under attack, and with it, the very nonprofits built to serve communities that have always had the least. The leaders in the JustFund community didn't freeze. They adapted; many moved resources through collaborative structures for the first time, finding ways to honor their commitments even when their institutions couldn't. 

The JustFund community's response: $53 million out the door, directed precisely toward the people the opposition was targeting. Black communities received $29 million. Latino/Latina/Latinx communities, $27 million. Youth, $23 million. Women, $21 million. Immigrants, $20 million.

The Haven Fund is a perfect example. When founder Lisa Cowan saw an unprecedented immigration enforcement crisis in her city, she didn’t wait for a strategy meeting. She set up a fund on JustFund in 24 hours, rallied more than 70 donors, and moved money directly to frontline organizations, going from zero to $250,000 in a month.

That’s the kind of philanthropy 2025 demanded. JustFund was built to make it possible.

What the Data Tells Us

Although the average grant size on JustFund was down 28% in 2025, 16% more applicants received funding commitments than the year before. More organizations connected with funders, even if individual grants were smaller. In a constrained year, that’s a signal that the relationships being built now are the ones that will matter most when giving rebounds.

But here’s what truly concerns me: more than $326 billion is parked in donor-advised funds (DAFs). Meanwhile, organizations that lost federal or philanthropic funding last year are fighting to survive. They wait while those dollars sit idle. They need those resources moving now.

What I’ve Learned

When I started JustFund in 2017, I was trying to solve a duplicative and inequitable grantmaking process. The traditional system wasted nonprofits’ time and made it harder for funders to find the organizations who were closest to the solutions. The JustFund Common Application changed that.  It has now saved nonprofits more than 81 years in collective time. And, funders using our platform review grants faster, reach more organizations, and fund more equitably.

But 2025 made it clear that one solution is never enough, especially when your community tells you it needs more than a better application process. It needs rapid-response and long-term infrastructure. A way to pool resources quickly, move DAF dollars out the door, and support nonprofits beyond the grant.

We are responding to the need: JustFund’s Wallet makes it simple to get money out the door without the administrative burden. Amplify lets funders raise additional dollars from everyday donors and HNW individuals into pooled funds. And our Thrive program supports the 25,000 nonprofits on JustFund with training, workshops, and resources, because when we surveyed 555 nonprofit leaders, the most urgent need wasn’t just funding. It was the capacity to sustain their work long enough to use it.

Let’s be clear: saying we'll move money equitably isn't enough. Saying we'll fund historically excluded communities isn't enough. What matters is whether we're listening closely enough to build what people actually need, and whether we're willing to keep evolving when the answer changes.

An Invitation to Reimagine Philanthropy

JustFund exists because the system was failing the communities it claimed to serve. Since 2017, JustFunders have moved more than $450 million, and our community of 25,000 nonprofits know they have a new way to find funders and access resources beyond the grant. This is no longer an experiment. More than 1,100 funders trust JustFund with their giving. We have built proven infrastructure that moves philanthropy from intention to impact.

This moment requires funders who are willing to embrace innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to adapting to meet the moment. If that's you, I'd like to show you what's possible.

Read the 2025 Annual Report