With the US election just days away, a democracy-focused funder has signalled the alarm bell that more is needed to strengthen the increasingly fragile state of democracy in the country. 

‘Given the avalanche of disinformation leading up to November 5th [election day], we anticipate that organisations, communicators and campaigns will need additional resources after election day to make sure that all votes are counted fairly,’ says Beth Huang, Civic Engagement & Democracy Program Officer of the Tides Foundation – a non-partisan US based funder aiming to increase voter participation, especially from marginalised groups and communities. 

Beth Huang, Civic Engagement & Democracy Program Officer of the Tides Foundation

Speaking to Alliance magazine just over a week before the US presidential election, Huang warned that democracy is not just about one day in an electoral cycle and says more work is needed to combat voter marginalisation – both in the upcoming US election and beyond. 

Tides, registered as a non-profit public charity, has spent $184 million of its total $200 million commitment for 2024 to bolster voter education and mobilisation.

A subset of that $184 million is the Healthy Democracy Fund, $28 million of which is a Tides-led pooled fund. 

The foundation received a $10 million gift from progressive philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, known for her unrestricted funding model, in February this year. 

The Healthy Democracy Fund provides grants to community groups mobilising voters ‘that organise all year round’ and that can ‘get to a very significant scale,’ says Huang. 

‘They are not “fly by night” organisations. They are organisations that will be there on November 6th [the day after the presidential election] and will be there again next February. And were there three, five, and in some cases, 25 years ago,’ she adds. 

Ahead of a fractured presidential election and party donations mimicking political polarisation, Huang is under no illusion of the ‘365 days a year’ work needed to bolster trust in democracy. 

Following the devastation of Hurricane Helene and Milton in North Carolina and Florida, Tides ensured basic needs such as access to clean water were met.  

‘When people have agency, then they feel that they might bring their power and agency into other arenas such as casting a ballot’.  

‘Even though it’s not obvious why having access to clean water is connected to voting by November 5th, knowing that there is a community of care around people does help increase people’s sense of agency, even as disaster strikes,’ Huang says.  

‘When people have agency, then they feel that they might bring their power and agency into other arenas such as casting a ballot’.  

Funds have also gone towards educating community leaders to combat the ‘rational cynicism’ in communities of colour and working class communities festering beliefs that institutions, including government and public institutions, ‘haven’t worked for ordinary people. This kind of alienation allows disinformation to fester and spread,’ Huang told Alliance. 

Key figures in the civic society and philanthropy spaced have warned that the 2024 US election could have a major impact on both trust in democracy and the future of philanthropic involvement with civil society. 

‘A lot is at stake for Americans: changes to the tax code that will have broad implications for charitable giving, a closing space for civil society, and an erosion of institutional power that includes institutional philanthropy,’ Kathleen Enright, President and CEO of the Council on Foundations, told Alliance magazine in a wide-ranging interview.  

‘I think there is a narrative challenge that we have before as a sector to make sure that people in the US understand the role that nonprofits play in their lives and how important they are to their civic life. 

She warns that the state of US democracy has eroded to the extend that inviting external election monitors from other parts of the globe is not such a far-fetched idea. 

‘That is the world that we’re in,’ says Enright.  

Nonprofits have been warned of political upheaval that could inflict damage on funding, advocacy efforts and programmes for organisations working in human rights, civil liberties and social justice.

‘Regardless of the election outcome, whether these organisations are prepared to respond to the new political environment and administration will determine their ability to navigate the challenges ahead and continue fulfilling their mission,’ writes Kindred Motes, founder and managing director of KM Strategies Group, a social impact consulting firm, for Alliance.

Shafi Musaddique is news editor at Alliance magazine.