Leading the Fight: Legal Advocacy as a Frontline Tool

As we reach the midpoint of 2025, the political and legal environment is sending a clear signal to funders, nonprofits, and corporate social impact leaders: legal advocacy is no longer a side strategy—it’s central to protecting and advancing mission-critical work. 

When we first explored legal advocacy in our 2017 series, “Stepping into the Fight: Philanthropy’s Role in Legal Advocacy”, the climate was already shifting. Nonprofits were looking beyond traditional policy advocacy, recognizing that the courts could be critical to protecting communities and advancing equity. Funders were cautiously beginning to increase support of litigation strategies, seeing them as powerful, though often expensive and slow, tools for change. 

Fast forward to 2025, and legal advocacy is no longer a strategic “add-on”—it’s a frontline defense. From voting rights and immigration to environmental rules and reproductive health, new laws and regulations now shape whether equity and justice reach communities at all. Millions risk losing health coverage, forcing nonprofits to fill gaps and protect funding for mental health, maternal care, and more. At the same time, courts have raised hurdles for class actions and social justice cases, making wins harder. Nonprofits are increasingly forced to divert time, energy, and financial resources into legal fights, just to maintain the ability to serve their communities and uphold their missions while funders are pressed to offer long-term, flexible support for legal battles that safeguard basic rights. 

Then vs. Now: What’s Changed?

Nonprofits

“We’re seeing our foundation clients’ grantees spend significant resources taking their fights to court. Litigation has become a necessary investment to keep communities from slipping through the cracks.”-Richard Mittenthal, TCC Group

Then: Focus on direct services, with advocacy as an occasional strategy and legal advocacy seen as something outside their purview.

Now: Litigation as a critical tool to protect core programs as federal government and states cut safety nets and dismantle protections. Investing time and resources into lawsuits to fill gaps and keep communities afloat.

Funders

“Legal advocacy is expensive. A single federal lawsuit can require years of staff time, expert witnesses, and appellate litigation. When public funding is reduced or tied to ideological compliance, private fundraising becomes essential.” —Michelle Mbekeani, Forbes, May 31, 2025 Raising Capital, Raising Defenses: Turning Endowments Into Legal Lifelines 

Then: Testing the legal advocacy waters, which is seen as slow, risky, and expensive. 

Now: Facing urgent calls to provide sustained, flexible support for legal action, while recognizing that protecting missions means funding litigation as part of a multi-pronged strategy. 

Advocacy Organizations

“Local strategies allow cities to defend their residents, signal their values, and help set up organizing moments in a bigger national fight for true equality and freedom.”- Chad Marlow, ACLU Senior Policy Counsel 

Then: Using courts strategically, often when other avenues stalled. 

Now: Pairing legal fights with grassroots organizing and communications to shift narratives, promoting enforcement of existing laws, and building long-term power through strategic national-state networks.