When a Nonprofit Closes Its Doors.
Lately, I’ve been receiving more and more notifications about organizations deciding to shut down after severe revenue losses from federal grants.
These closures are happening everywhere, organizations big and small, local and national. But here’s the thing: shutting down doesn’t have to mean failure.
Let me be clear, all of what we’re seeing from the federal cuts to human services, prevention and humanitarian aid is bad. Just hear me out:
Over my career, I’ve seen nonprofits close for many reasons — financial collapse, scandal, and in one rare instance, because they actually achieved their mission and worked themselves out of a job.
Whatever the cause, the same questions about their legacy always surface: Were they impactful? How much did their work matter?
Years ago, one of the organizations I deeply admired closed abruptly. Staff were laid off. Contracts cancelled. Grants terminated. It all happened in a matter of weeks. It was heartbreaking.
But in the years since, I’ve seen something remarkable. Former staff went on to start new organizations or lead existing ones. Young people they had mentored became movement leaders. Programs they innovated were replicated in other communities. Their values framework found its way into the playbooks of funders and advocates worldwide.
It became clear: the dreams they fought for, the imaginations they activated, could never be confined to office walls or an IRS letter of nonprofit status. Their legacy lives on — in the people they serve
d, the staff they hired, the funders they inspired, and the youth they trained and mobilized.
Of course, not every organization leaves such a lasting imprint. Reflecting on this, I had to ask: What made them different?
My answer: they operated like a community, not a corporation. They didn’t put their own survival above the people they served or those who served alongside them.
They were human-centered. Empathetic. Responsive to real needs. People invested their hopes and ideas into the organization, and the organization did its best to deliver a return on that trust.
They were far from perfect. But they were good enough at the right things to leave a mark that outlived them as an organization.
