Grantmaking in Uncertain Times 

$53 million moved in 2025. Here's who received it. 

Something shifted last year, and the numbers make it hard to look away.

Applications to JustFund nearly doubled in two years. More nonprofits are searching for alternative funding than ever before. And more than $326 billion is sitting idle in donor-advised funds while they wait. The need isn't abstract. It's showing up in your inboxes and in your conversations with colleagues who don't know what to tell applicants anymore.

And yet, last year the JustFund community moved grants directly to communities that needed it most. $29M to Black communities. $27M to Latino/Latina/Latinx communities. $20M to immigrants. $21M to women. $23M to youth. The Haven Fund was stood up in 24 hours. More than 70 donors rallied and moved more than $250,000 in a month.

That's not a success story to celebrate and move on from. It's a model. The gap between urgent need and available capital is one we’re all here to close. So the question worth sitting with this quarter is this: What does it take to move faster when it matters most?

Iara Peng

Founder & CEO, JustFund

FROM THE FIELD

ABC Fund: Straightforward Grantmaking in a High-Stakes Space

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, tens of millions of Americans had their access to abortion severely restricted or completely banned. The Abortion Bridge Collaborative (ABC) Fund was established to ensure abortion care and advance reproductive justice across the United States.

For ABC Fund Director Amanda Beatriz Williams, convening their grantmakers and preparing materials for monthly meetings is quite a lift:

Having navigated confusing grant portals herself as a grantee, she wanted the opposite for the organizations she serves: transparency, clarity, and timeliness.

The results reflect that commitment. In ABC Fund's 2025 grantee survey, 80% of respondents rated their application experience positive or very positive. Grantees also appreciate gaining visibility to 1,100+ other funders through JustFund's Common Application, a door to resources beyond what any single fund can offer.

"It seems to make it easy and straightforward for applicants, which is the biggest priority,” Amanda says.

Since its founding in 2022, ABC Fund has moved more than $13 million to over 100 grantees through JustFund.

Meet more funders on JustFund

WHAT WE’RE LEARNING

2025 tested us and the JustFund community showed up

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

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 funders 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 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 ApplicationTM 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 Full 2025 Annual Report

WHAT'S COMING

Free Webinar For Your Grantee Partners: Donor Engagement Strategies

This free webinar is part of JustFund’s new Thrive Program. Contact us to find out how you can offer your grantee partners self-guided courses and private coaching.

Invite your grantee partners to reserve a spot

RESOURCES

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project

Trust-based philanthropy was once radical. Today, it's widely embraced, and often misunderstood.

This spring, JustFund and the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project went back to basics: where this movement came from, what authentic practice looks like, and how funders are living these principles in real, messy work.

NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

2026 Food Justice for Kids Prize

Newman's Own Foundation, alongside Humanitix, The Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the Hunger to Health Collaboratory, has launched the 2026 Food Justice for Kids Prize – offering up to $1.4M in grants to U.S. organizations advancing food justice for children.

Up to 14 organizations will receive grants of up to $100K over two years in one of two focus areas: Indigenous Food Justice (food sovereignty and traditional foods for kids) or Nutrition Education & School Food (culturally relevant meals, school gardens, and improved access to school nutrition).

Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) nonprofits, federally recognized Tribes, public schools and school districts, and fiscally sponsored organizations from all U.S. geographies.

Application deadline: April 28, 2026 

Apply or share with organizations in your network