What Recent Funding Cuts Mean for Medical Nonprofits & the People Who Need It Most
Federal and philanthropic funding for medical nonprofits is contracting. And the timing could not be more consequential.
I’m writing this because the women we serve deserve honesty, and because the organizations built to support them deserve transparency about what we’re all navigating right now.
I want to be transparent: this is not a crisis communication.
Now is the time to take a clear-eyed look at a shifting landscape, what it means for organizations like ours, and why we are not stepping back or backing down. Funding may be tighter. The mission is not.
Healing does not happen in silence. And struggle should never happen alone.”
-Bess Hagans
What’s Changing in the Nonprofit Landscape
In plain terms: grants are tighter, philanthropic dollars are shifting toward broader causes and the number of organizations competing for those dollars keeps growing.
Less money makes this moment difficult, but what makes it worse is the loss of support predictability. This volatility, when helping vulnerable individuals, should be kept to a minimum.
Medical Nonprofits Are Uniquely Vulnerable
Patient needs are high, costs are rising and the realities of what people face during and after treatment are complex.
There is no simple, scalable fix.
According to the National Council of Nonprofits, restricted funding and grant volatility are among the top sustainability threats facing mission-driven organizations today.
The Harmful, Downstream Effects of These Cuts Are Being Felt
Funding may disappear from a spreadsheet, but the need does not disappear from someone’s life. For the women we serve (many navigating active treatment, financial strain and emotional exhaustion simultaneously), a reduction in available support is felt immediately.
When organizations are underfunded, the ripple effects are consistent & painful:
- Programs get reduced, paused or folded entirely
- Waitlists grow, & grow fast
- Staff burnout accelerates, often quietly
- Partnerships shrink as organizations pull inward
- Patients hear “we don’t have capacity” — one of the worst things to hear after a diagnosis, when guidance feels like a lifeline
Why Smaller Organizations Matter — & Why They’re Hit the Hardest
Smaller nonprofits are built differently. Lower overhead often means more dollars flowing directly to patients. Less bureaucracy means faster response. And the communities we serve (young women, caregivers, people navigating survivorship and mental health) are often the ones larger systems overlook.
Small Teams Move Fast & Provide Deeper, More Profoundly Personal Support
We are flexible where larger organizations may not be. We can build emergency support structures, offer tailored resources and respond without layers of institutional approval. That agility matters most precisely when things are hardest.
We’re not trying to be the biggest. We’re trying to be as effective as possible.
“Neutrality does not serve women. Silence does not protect us.”
-Bess Hagans
A Pivotal Moment: What This Means for Thriving Beyond Breast Cancer
Building Sustainability with Community-Powered Support
At TBBC, we are pivoting with purpose. And instead of steering away from our mission, we’re leaning deeper into it. We are finding new, innovative ways to meet more patients everywhere, wherever they may be.
We are doubling down on community-powered support because that is exactly what this moment calls for: showing up with more intention, more directness and more tangible care.
The Thriving Shop
Every purchase in the Thriving Shop directly funds the programs and support our community depends on. If you were going to buy a meaningful gift, a care item or something that aligns with your values anyway, you can make it matter even more!
We are a nonprofit. That means every dollar made goes straight back to the women we serve. No overcharging. No margin that disappears into overhead.
Small Dollar Donations
We’ll let you in on a not-so-big nonprofit secret: steady support beats one-time spikes. A $5 for Thrive monthly commitment gives us something we can actually plan around. It becomes predictable help that lets us say yes more often. Giving at any level is an act of shared strength.
More Chemo Kits to Patients
Our chemo kits represent something beyond the items inside them: comfort, dignity and the message that someone thought of you this week. Every dollar donated can be used 1:1 to get kits into the hands of women who need them during some of the hardest weeks of their lives.
The Launch of the “Ta Ta for Now” Podcast
This is one of the most significant steps we’ve taken as an organization, and it’s a direct extension of our mission. The “Ta Ta for Now” podcast is built around education, honest truth-telling and connection.
No pinkwashing. No patronizing. Just real answers to real questions that women navigating breast cancer are actually asking, along with the things they wish they could ask out loud.
You Can Listen To The 1st Episode Today
Our first episode digs into the realities facing young women who have been diagnosed, along with the unnerving expectation to return to reality when treatment ends.
The Words We Use Matter, & Validation is Part of Care
The podcast is a mission tool: a space for women’s health information, survivorship reality and the systemic gaps that too often go unnamed.
If you’re a clinician, a survivor or a thriver with a story or expertise to share, we want to hear from you. This is a community platform and it only gets stronger with more voices.
“It’s not always about having all the answers. It’s about asking better questions.”
-Bess Hagans
Focusing On Our Core Mission
As survivors and thrivers, we have endured tough times before. We know what it means to keep moving when the path is unclear. That lived experience is foundational to what we do.
We get it.
Thriving Beyond Breast Cancer exists because patients still need support.
The day of their diagnosis. During the harsher chemo moments. And well after treatment ends.
Because a clear scan does not mean life returns to what it was.
Because “we don’t have capacity” or “we don’t know how to help” are never acceptable answers when someone is looking for their next chapter.
We are here for that next chapter.
We are here with shared strength, tangible resources and a community that refuses to leave anyone behind.
“If you’ve survived something that changed you … This space is for you.”
About the Author
Bess Hagans is a Stage 3 breast cancer survivor, CEO of Thriving Beyond Breast Cancer and a women’s health activist whose work centers on supporting young women through financial relief, mental health support and community-led care.
Her approach is shaped by both clinical advocacy and personal experience; she is also a mom navigating survivorship in real time, which means she understands, deeply, that healing is not linear and support cannot be one-size-fits-all.
