Messages About Federal Funding Delays
- When federal funding is delayed or rescinded, the effects ripple through every corner of our state.
- When this funding is delayed, conditions change abruptly, requirements become overly burdensome, or funding is otherwise thrown into uncertainty, it is a direct threat to nonprofits’ ability to carry out their work – and it is Montana communities that ultimately bear the cost.
- Sudden suspensions may force legitimate and eligible service providers to reduce services, lay off staff, or close entirely. This is especially devastating for communities in rural areas where alternative providers may not exist.
- We shouldn’t inject politics and partisanship into funding decisions for programs that are often popular, important to communities, and have been part of our community fabric for decades under many administrations.
- Nonprofits are critical partners to government, delivering essential services like food assistance, veterans’ services, housing and homelessness services, healthcare, childcare, economic development, support for seniors and people with disabilities, domestic violence services, animal rescue, and workforce training.
- Nonprofits, like all businesses, need to be able to trust contracts and funding processes, especially when many have already hired staff, signed leases, and built programs around them. This is about honoring the obligations and commitments our government has made.
- Our government should operate under the law, and funding should be subject to congressional approval rather than the preferences of politically appointed, unelected officials.
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Messages
- Fraud should be taken seriously, but punishing families who have done nothing wrong by cutting their basic needs is unacceptable. We can hold bad actors accountable and protect the people who depend on these programs.
- Most federal grant programs already have strong oversight, review, and reporting requirements to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. More red tape and casework duplication all waste taxpayer money.
- Nonprofits are already subject to significantly stronger transparency and accountability requirements, and providers operate under rigorous licensing, monitoring, and compliance requirements.
- Sweeping funding freezes, or cuts in the name of oversight, disrupt essential services for communities without actually improving accountability.
- Any reforms should focus on streamlining processes, improving technology, and reducing unnecessary administrative burdens, not on creating new barriers to effective service delivery.
- Protecting taxpayer dollars is important, but it should not come at the expense of vital programs that support children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities.
- We agree that state and federal funding needs to be spent appropriately. It’s important to note that these grants already come with extensive application processes, reviews, reporting requirements, and other documentation. Adding more wastes money, as organizations spend more on administrative burdens rather than on delivering services.
Value Of Nonprofits Messages
- Nonprofits fill critical gaps left by government and the private sector, ensuring Montanans have access to childcare, workforce training, and support for domestic violence victims.
- Montana’s nonprofits create jobs, support local businesses, and drive economic development.
- Nonprofits show up every day, doing the invisible work no one else does, especially in rural communities. They are there in tough times, providing disaster relief, crisis support, and safety.
- Nonprofits do all this through mostly very small, very well-managed organizations that make every dollar count. They have local leaders who understand local needs and work hard to improve their neighbors’ lives.
- They bring community-based, people-centered solutions and lighten the burdens of government, taxpayers, and society. Nonprofits embody local control, transparency, and accountability. They are led by your neighbors, not some bureaucrat from DC.
- Healthcare, after-school programs, college scholarships, senior housing, museums, food pantries, homeless shelters, animal rescues, art museums, child care, veterans organizations, affordable housing, and more are all made possible in Montana through the hard work of nonprofits.
Do’s And Don’ts
Do use people impacted by the work of nonprofits, clients, board members, business leaders, and community leaders as messengers.
Do use Montana-specific examples.
Do lead with a brief shared commitment to accountability and integrity. Acknowledge that fraud is bad and then move on.
Don’t lead with “the fraud claims are false” or “just an excuse to cut.”
Do pivot quickly to the harm that broad cuts inflict on people in Montana.
Don’t dismiss or label fraud concerns as misleading — it puts you on the defensive with persuadable voters.
Don’t defend the status quo without pairing it with a call for improvement (i.e., holding fraudsters accountable).
Do name who loses: children, parents, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, immigrants, and other eligible vulnerable populations.
Do say these are programs that provide “assistance” that people need — not ones they “rely on” or “benefit from.”
Do use “basic needs programs” when referring to multiple programs.
Don’t let the conversation stay on fraud—note that there are already processes in place to prevent fraud, then pivot to the impact of your program and the harm of cuts.
Don’t repeat lies or misinformation — the more we repeat them, even to fight them, the more they gain momentum. Instead, replace it.