Living in Two Realities: What Nonprofits Need to Know
Nonprofits are heading into a period of open hostility from political leaders. The threats aren’t hypothetical anymore, there’s talk of audits, attacks on tax-exempt status, even framing liberal nonprofits as enemies of the state. If you lead or support a mission-driven organization, you’re not imagining it: the sector is under siege.
And yet, you still have programs to run, donors to inspire, and futures to build. That’s the paradox. You have to prepare for the storm while still keeping people believing in the driveway at the end of it.
Survival Mode Meets Mission Mode
If you’ve ever driven through a storm, you know the strange experience of it. On one hand, your body is in full survival mode, wipers slapping, knuckles white, eyes locked on the road. On the other, your mind is already skipping ahead, picturing the relief of pulling safely into your driveway.
This is what psychologists call the dual state: the experience of holding two realities at once. The immediate threat of now, and the imagined safety of tomorrow.
And it is exactly where nonprofits find themselves today.
With renewed threats from the Trump administration, promises to “go after” liberal nonprofits, hints of weaponizing tax law, even invoking terrorism statutes, the sector is being asked to live in two realities. One is the harsh present: political hostility, legal uncertainty, reputational risk. The other is the imagined future nonprofits have always worked toward: communities strengthened, injustices reduced, lives improved.
The Psychology of Living in Two Realities
Psychologists have a long history of studying this tension. Leon Festinger described the discomfort of holding two contradictory ideas as cognitive dissonance. Trauma researchers call it hypervigilance. And Viktor Frankl, writing about the bleakest conditions imaginable—a WWII concentration camp—showed how survival often depended on keeping both the brutal present and the hopeful future in mind at once.
For nonprofit leaders, it isn’t an abstract exercise. Too much focus on the threat, and organizations risk paralysis. Too much focus on vision, and they may be blindsided by very real dangers. The trick (maybe the only trick), is to learn how to operate in both states at once.
What This Means for Nonprofits Under Threat
Threats from politicians aren’t new. What is different today is the brazenness. When the President of the United States says he wants to “go after” nonprofits, that isn’t just bluster. It reshapes the environment. It signals to regulators, funders, and the public that these organizations are fair game.
That is why leaders need to build two complementary capacities:
Crisis Mindset. This is the defensive posture. Compliance buttoned up. Counsel on speed dial. Scenario plans for audits, investigations, reputational attacks. The survival mode of the storm.
Hopeful Mindset. This is the narrative posture. Donors, staff, and volunteers cannot live in fear forever. They need to see the driveway at the end of the storm. That means stories of impact, of transformation, of what is still possible.
The future still matters, even in the middle of a squall.
Donor Psychology in Two Realities
Here’s the paradox: fear by itself doesn’t raise money. In fact, overuse of crisis messaging leads to fatigue and disengagement. What sustains giving is identity. Donors want to see themselves as the kind of people who step up when times are tough.
That is where the “two realities” framing is powerful. You can acknowledge the threat (donors aren’t naïve) without getting stuck there. The real work is shifting focus to agency: “This is happening, and you can ensure our mission not only survives but grows stronger.”
That’s “consistency bias” in action: once people commit to being supporters in hard times, they are even more likely to stay with you when the skies clear.
The Community Advantage
Research on resilience is clear: recovery does not come from rugged individuals. It comes from networks of trust. Communities bounce back faster than lone heroes.
That’s exactly what nonprofits can offer. Not just services, not just advocacy, but belonging. Every newsletter, town hall, or social media post is more than an update. It’s an anchor. It says: You are part of this community. We will endure this storm together.
For donors, that feeling of shared identity is worth as much as any tax deduction.
What Leaders Can Do Now
If you are steering an organization through this moment, three practices matter:
Tighten defenses. Audit compliance. Train staff. Game-plan scenarios. Assume the storm is real.
Tell the bigger story. Keep describing the driveway at the end, the vision of the future your work makes possible. People give to tomorrow, not just to patch today.
Affirm donor identity. Every touchpoint should leave supporters thinking: This is who I am. This is what I stand for.
The Path Forward
Living in two realities is exhausting. Anyone who has faced illness, disaster, or deep personal loss knows the toll. You’re caught between vigilance for the present and hope for the future. Nonprofits are now in that position.
But here’s the paradoxical gift: supporters want to live in those two realities with you. They don’t want to abandon the vision. They want to be part of writing the story where the nonprofit sector weathers the storm and emerges stronger.
Your job is to help them hold both states at once: eyes on the wipers, hands on the wheel, heart fixed on the driveway ahead.