The most radical cut, widely contested by leading NGOs, was the 92% reduction in contributions to USAID, implemented in early 2025 by the Trump administration. The immediate halt to funding marked the end of the US development agency, which alone managed 42% of global humanitarian aid. Although not with the same strength, many other governments are reducing their commitment to cooperation and development programs, profoundly changing the daily lives of associations and organizations.

To ensure continuity in their activities, it is becoming increasingly necessary for these organizations to reorient their interventions, focusing on groups and issues closer to home.

The same applies to the search for funding: no longer able to rely (or only to a limited extent) on public support, associations and NGOs must develop and open up new channels of funding. The generosity of citizens and philanthropic organizations has not waned, but it is necessary to know how to navigate a terrain that for many has been little, if not entirely, explored until now.

We discuss this with:

Anna Jaquinta, researcher at the SUPSI Center of Competence in Cooperation and Development, head of the CAS in Cooperation and Development;

Federica Giudici, director of the Cooperativa Baobab;

Giampiero Giacomel, SUPSI lecturer in SAS in fundraising.