‘A responsibility to act’: One nonprofit’s response to drastic federal budget cuts

In January 2025, President Donald Trump took office for his second term and signed an executive order that turned foreign aid on its head.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation had to pause 80% of its operations overnight.

Clinics had to close. Employees weresent home. That meant children would die without the treatment they needed.

For a while, confusion reigned inside the organization. Should they hope for a reprieve? Stay quiet to avoid the administration’s ire?

Madeleine Morris, communications officer at EGPAF, told attendees at the PR Daily Conference what happened next.

“We ultimately decided that we had a responsibility to react,” Morris said.

Their strategy had multiple prongs to gain the attention of lawmakers and the public alike:

“In times of crisis, you have to lean into your values,” Morris said. “A lot of the fluff, the extra stuff, the cool hashtags — which we all know are dead, right? — kind of go away, and you have to be real. We were able to move forward because we were focused on our mission and our values.”