More than 700 grant makers have signed Unite in Advance, a pledge to defend one another's freedom to give
The coalition was launched in April 2025 with the Council on Foundations. The heads of the MacArthur and Lumina foundations, who helped build it, discussed it in Indianapolis on Sept. 2, the day MacArthur said it would keep its payout at 6 percent through 2028.
Indianapolis. More than 700 foundations and other grant makers have signed the pledge at the center of Unite in Advance, a coalition whose members agree to defend one another's right to fund the causes they choose, including work at odds with the Trump administration. The statement's page, kept by the Council on Foundations, listed 739 signers on Sept. 29. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on Sept. 8 that the network has grown to nearly 800 members.
The coalition is not new. It was launched in April 2025, in partnership with the council, by three foundation presidents: Tonya Allen of the McKnight Foundation, Deepak Bhargava of the Freedom Together Foundation and John Palfrey of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Chronicle said the cancellation of federal grants and contracts for diversity, equity and inclusion work, and threats to revoke the tax exemption of foundations that fund it, were key factors.
What signers promise
The statement says its signers do not all share the same beliefs or priorities but are "united behind our First Amendment right to give as an expression of our own distinct values." In the essay that launched it, the three presidents asked foundations, when one or all of them are targeted, to speak up together, rally civic leaders and unlikely allies, share what they know about threats, and pledge not to undermine one another.
Mr. Palfrey told the Chronicle the pledge works like a mutual-defense treaty.
“It's a little like the NATO Article 5. If you attack Lumina, I'm standing with Lumina. That's the deal.”
Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, who helped build the network with Mr. Palfrey, told the Chronicle that the response when a member comes under legal scrutiny varies, from talks behind the scenes to public statements. He described the network mainly as a forum where chief executives share information; more than 100 have attended its in-person meetings, and a working group on protecting scientific research grew out of it.
Payouts and criticism
The two men discussed the coalition on Sept. 2 at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis. The same day, MacArthur said it would keep its charitable payout at 6 percent through 2028, about $190 million more over 2027 and 2028 than its baseline, after spending an estimated $647 million, or 7.1 percent, in 2025.
Shaady Salehi, senior fellow at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, told the Chronicle that the philanthropic response overall has "still felt very fragmented" and that nonprofits are more exposed than foundations to swings in policy and funding. Mr. Palfrey disputed the broader premise, saying he had never seen greater coordination in the foundation sector.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Sept. 29, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
Found an error? Write to [email protected] and we will correct it.
For the organizations in this story: put the badge on your website
Put it on your About page or wherever you list press mentions, rather than in a footer that repeats on every page. It links to this story.
Linking is welcome and never required. Nothing about the story changes either way.