We are propelled into the end of the year with the urgency that has beset us for the whole of 2025. No part of the nonprofit sector has been spared challenges coming from changes in policy, cuts in funding, and increased scrutiny. We have heard from both clients and partners in philanthropy, as well as our fellow intermediaries, that this has been one of the most difficult years they can remember. We expect that the coming year will be equally challenging.
But as we go through December, we want to offer all those our work touches with a message of hope.
We are strong in community, and we do not charge into the darkness alone.
We gain our strength from our team culture, our unified resolution around supporting our communities, and our alignment across the organization. Back in January, we shared three resolutions for how we would proceed in 2025. We also began a new journey with MCR Board President Robin Toewe, who discussed what she was most excited about in the coming year.
With these two things in mind, we want to take a moment to reflect on how we did on our resolutions, and share some words from our board on where MCR stands. We enter 2026 proud of where we are at, and are ready to support those working to anchor their communities in strength.
In 2025, we worked with our clients, stakeholders, and partners to maintain an open line of dialogue around what people were experiencing at all levels of the nonprofit world. We gathered in groups through our coffee hour workshops and met personally, connecting one on one to provide board trainings, consultations, and make sure we were able to deeply listen and provide the right kind of support. Our door at MCR has always been open.
We work hard to be ready to meet people where they are at. We know that when you work for your community, you inherently take that work home with you. Putting aside the discussion about health and work/life balance, at Michigan Community Resources, we have always made space for chance encounters to get real quickly. Over the past year, when we have met our community leaders at coffee shops, at events, or just getting groceries, we have made space to meet people where they are at, and for those conversations to turn into an opportunity to get support or connect them to resources.
We've institutionalized our open door with our hiring of an Intake Coordinator. We introduced our new Intake Coordinator, Zack Bissell, in an earlier blog post, but the decision to build capacity in that lane was informed by our value of Community Rootedness, and the idea that we need to make sure we can continue to be accessible.
"I am grateful. For the leadership team, for what they’ve accomplished during this challenging time, and just for coming together as an organization, to continue the great and important work for our community. So grateful." - Sonia Plata, Board Treasurer
As a team, Michigan Community Resources is directly informed by what we hear from those we serve. Our workshop topics are developed around the areas in which our clients have told us they need the most support, and our dialogues with funders are rooted in the data we gather from our Needs Assessments.
Our August workshop on Alternative Fundraising arose out of the fact that many of our clients were struggling with fundraising in light of federal funding changes. On its face, the lack of funding opportunities feels like an insurmountable challenge. But while we work at MCR with our funding partners to help guide what the future looks like, we also know that even when we don't immediately have the answer ourselves, our community does. The August Alternative Fundraising workshop featured the voices of clients who specific shone brightly in different aspects of fundraising outside the realm of foundation grants.
For every client that is struggling with a challenge, there is another for whom dealing with that challenge has been their greatest success story. As the year has gone on, there have been multiple opportunities for peer to peer learning, connecting organizations with one another to learn from each other.
Our nimbleness comes from our ability to find the right answers from the right person at the right time. It also comes from an understanding that no individual challenge exists in a vacuum. At Michigan Community Resources, this is reflected in the balance between our legal support, as well as our capacity building support. One cannot exist without the other, as no amount of legal support can overcome skill gaps, and no individual organization can be expected to be knowledgeable in every element of business law in addition to running their programming.
We have, and will in the coming year, leverage the unique skill sets we have internally and externally to respond to needs as they come up.
"I think this team kicked butt this year, in the most difficult year I can remember after 08 and 2020. This team crushed it, and we’re going to have a couple weeks to recenter, but I’m feeling chill going into 2026 about how we will be able to respond. " - Ned Staebler
Joy provides the balance we need to get through oppression and adversity. In 2025, we have helped organizations navigate dissolution, we've guided clients struggling with fundraising, and assisted nonprofits after losing access to physical space. These instances of struggle were difficult to experience alongside those we serve.
But they did not represent the entirety of the ecosystem. Through the hardships of 2025, we have seen organizations expand and grow, developing dynamic new programming that responds to the needs of their communities. We have seen organizations that support neighborhoods facing targeted adversity lean into their work with even greater passion. And we have seen new community leaders step up, with clarity of vision and mission, and find platforms and resources to support those in need.
In short, we have seen resilience. We have seen a strength born not out of the ability to weather hardship, but out of community and evolution.
These are the joys that help us go into the coming year with optimism. Resilience, a theme we will explore in an upcoming blog post, is evident across the sector and fuels our belief that there are things worth fighting for. We will hold these close and let them shepherd us in the months ahead.
"We know there are nonprofits that didn’t make it through 2025, given funding cuts and how worries about how they present themselves. All kinds of reasons. And I am very proud of where we’ve landed and how we’re positioned going into 2026. I am excited about " - Robin Toewe, Board President
We do not see a sector that is at the edge of collapse. We see a sector that is dynamic, changing, evolving, and continuing to succeed despite the challenges that face it. We count among some of the greatest successes this year the fact that we, ourselves, and our clients, are still here working hard.
We go into 2026 with determined optimism. Without hope and a vision of what could be, it is easy to succumb to despair. We hope you will join us on this journey, working to build, maintain, and grow strong communities, and organizations to serve them.
We wish you the best at the end of this year, and the best in the year to come.