A private invitation from Nonprofit Quarterly
The history they're rewriting
needs witnesses.
We are building a permanent public record of what nonprofits have meant to American democracy — and we are asking a small number of founding partners to put their names on it.
Nonprofits built this country.
Not enough people are saying so.
The sector that organized labor, protected voting rights, ran the food banks, built the libraries, sued for civil rights, staffed the emergency rooms, and taught the children — that sector is under pressure unlike anything it has faced in generations. And it does not yet have enough defenders.
Not just funders. Defenders. People who will stand up publicly, by name, and say: this is what nonprofits actually built in American democracy, and it is worth protecting.
"We are in a more perilous moment. And the public doesn't yet have the language to defend the sector that defends them."
— Sara Hudson, Ph.D., CEO & Editor-in-Chief, Nonprofit QuarterlyThe 250th anniversary of the United States is our opening. A moment when the country is already asking what democracy means, who built it, and whose story gets told. We intend to use it.
#WeTheCivic: America 250
Nonprofit Quarterly's national campaign anchored to the country's 250th birthday. Across editorial, events, and partnerships, we are documenting and amplifying the stories of people and organizations who built American democracy from the ground up.
At the center of the campaign is the Democracy 250 Public Record: a living, state-by-state collection of public testimonies — from thought leaders, public intellectuals, organizers, grantees, and everyday people — each one naming the specific, historical ways nonprofit workers and organizations have advanced democracy in this country.
the record
per state
grantee per state
These are not op-eds. They are testimonies. Short, first-person, historically grounded statements from the people who did the work, funded the work, or witnessed what it changed. Published on NPQ — reaching 2 million readers annually — amplified nationally, and preserved as a permanent public record.
We are not asking you for a grant.
We are asking you to co-own this.
You are seeing this page before it is public. That is intentional. We are building this record with a small number of founding partners whose names and networks will shape what it becomes — and the invitations we can extend.
Your name on the record
Named founding partner on the Democracy 250 Public Record and the #WeTheCivic: America 250 initiative. Your institution's identity alongside ours at launch.
Your voices in the record
You identify the Fellows, grantees, or book club authors from your network whose testimony belongs here. We handle all editorial work.
Contributors receive a $500 honorarium.
We are also raising funds to bring in non-sector public voices — historians, journalists, public intellectuals — who can speak to the sector's democratic impact from outside it.
Your platform on July 4th
We co-launch the record on America's 250th birthday. Your channels, our channels, a national moment — together.
Something that outlasts the day
The 250th is the hook. The record is permanent. These testimonies live on NPQ and become part of the public historical account of what democracy looked like in 2026.
This is a partnership ask, not a funding ask.
We need co-owners who believe this story matters. What we're asking for right now is your name, your network, and your willingness to say publicly: this is what democracy looks like. The conversation about resources can follow.
25 years. 2 million readers.
The sector's paper of record.
Nonprofit Quarterly has been the leading independent news and analysis outlet for the nonprofit sector for 25 years. We reach practitioners, funders, policymakers, and the public across editorial, events, and membership platforms. #WeTheCivic: America 250 is our largest initiative to date — timed to the most consequential civic moment in a generation.
Confirmed national partners: INN · The 19th · National Council of Nonprofits
We are building the table. We want you at it.
If this is a yes, all we need is your word and a warm hand-off.
Tell us who on your team should receive the contributor brief. We'll take it from there.
Reply to Sara