Mutual Aid is the Way Forward

Why nonprofits must evolve to meet the moment and how grassroots leadership is already showing the way

In times of crisis, it's not the institutions that save our communities. It's each of us- neighbors redistributing resources and responding faster and more directly than traditional systems. We saw it in 2020 when neighbors built food distribution networks overnight, grassroots organizers redistributed wealth with no red tape, and communities pooled resources to resist.

These weren't nonprofits. These were people. Many of whom are systematically excluded from traditional funding systems. But they moved fast, met urgent needs, and proved that collective care is powerful.

This is instructive for those of us in nonprofit leadership. It's solidarity in action, a long-term blueprint for building just, sustainable communities. So many of us are currently asking how to define the way forward, but the lesson is clear: if we want to remain relevant and radical, we must learn from and partner with mutual aid efforts.

What is Mutual Aid, and Why Should Nonprofits Care?

Mutual Aid is a Mirror.

It exposes the limitations of the nonprofit industrial complex:

• How we silo services instead of responding holistically.

• How we prioritize funder comfort over community urgency.

• We're often too slow, cautious, and bound by legacy structures to meet the moment.

That doesn't mean our work isn't important. It means we have to rethink how we do it.

Mutual aid is the voluntary, reciprocal exchange of resources and care for the collective good. It is decentralized and deeply rooted in trust and solidarity.

Mutual aid is about cooperating to serve community members. Mutual aid creates networks of care and generosity to meet the immediate needs of our neighbors. It also addresses the root causes of challenges we face and demands transformative change. - Victoria Méndez

Unlike traditional nonprofits, mutual aid groups don't position themselves as service providers. They're part of the community, not separate from it. They reject scarcity, gatekeeping, and saviorism. Instead, they organize for survival and liberation, addressing immediate needs and their root causes.

Many nonprofits, especially grassroots and community-based ones, share these values. The challenge is unlearning the institutional norms and bureaucracy that distract us from this vision.

So, How Can Nonprofits Support and Learn From Mutual Aid?

• Shift from charity to solidarity (and challenge traditional philanthropy). Are we doing it for people or with people? Are our programs responsive to community needs or funder requirements? Mutual aid asks us to close the gap between our mission statements and methods.

• Build flexible funding pipelines (or shrink so others can grow). Sometimes, the most radical thing a nonprofit can do is step back. Are there programs your organization runs that mutual aid groups are doing better? Can you funnel funding to them instead of duplicating efforts? Nonprofits can use their infrastructure to funnel resources to grassroots efforts with fewer strings attached. Advocate for general operating support. Push for multi-year commitments. Demand that risk be reframed: not as something to avoid, but something necessary for transformation.

• Redistribute knowledge and power to decenter institutions. Mutual aid doesn't require a 501(c)(3). It requires people and values. What would it look like for your organization to redistribute power by partnering with informal networks or shifting decision-making closer to the ground? Organizations with paid staff, communications platforms, and policy access can lift the work of mutual aid groups, without co-opting it. That includes sharing back-end tools, advocacy support, and storytelling power.

• Model horizontal accountability. Instead of top-down evaluations, mutual aid emphasizes feedback, transparency, and shared decision-making. Nonprofits can integrate these practices by building community governance into their operations.

• Root in place (and move at the speed of trust). Mutual aid runs on relationships, not rigid systems, and is hyperlocal. It starts with knowing your neighbors. National nonprofits can take cues from grassroots groups embedded in community life and fund them accordingly.

A Radical Invitation to Lead Differently

As nonprofit leaders, we're stewards of power and privilege. We can keep working within the same frameworks that produced the inequities we're trying to solve, or we can embrace a different path.

The reality is that the nonprofit sector was never meant to be a stand-in for justice, and mutual aid doesn't threaten our organizations. It's an invitation to rethink how we relate to power, funding, and each other, to let go of what's no longer working, and to make room for what is.