A few months back, I co-facilitated a webinar hosted by Common Good Vermont. The program was titled Vermont Nonprofits and Immigration Enforcement: How Your Organization Can Respond.

The webinar included a panel of four nonprofit professionals – one based in Minnesota, the others here in Vermont – describing their strategies, challenges, and evolving thinking about how to protect their clients, consumers, employees, volunteers, partners, and workplaces. What follows is a summary of our conversation.

To be explicit: none of this constitutes legal advice. As appropriate, consult with your organization’s legal counsel.

Policies and protocols

Throughout our conversation, one consistent theme was the necessity of creating strong policies and protocols.

Public vs. private spaces. Federal agents can enter public areas, but nonprofits can deny access to private areas. Organizations can place simple “Private,” “Staff Only,” or “Authorized Personnel Only” signs on doors.

Who is authorized to speak with agents? Establish clear guidelines for who to call and what to say if agents show up at your door. This includes sharing information via phone trees. Practice in advance!

Political engagement by employees. Create explicit policies delineating what staff can do at work versus their free time. For example, staff should avoid wearing organizational logos and branded merchandise during their own political activities.

Data security. Protect client data and internal communications, including Signal chats.

General legal compliance and audits. Ensure that your organization is registered with your state’s attorney general, your tax returns are up to date, you follow document retention policies and secure your financials. This helps to protect your group from government audits designed to disrupt operations.

Real stories, real lessons

Based on their own experiences, panelists shared the following stories and operational responses.

• One organization worked closely with community partners and co-tenants in their building to establish shared, unified policies. Their key takeaway was the importance of keeping rules simple so staff can easily remember them during an emergency.

• Another group spent $200,000 on security upgrades. They put “Private” signs on every door, reviewed their website to protect client images, established scripts for staff interacting with immigration agents, and actively practiced potential responses.

• An organization with less public foot traffic has focused on addressing staff anxiety. They implemented simple operational changes, such as locking the front door and installing wireless doorbells, and prioritized communicating to staff that leadership has a clear response plan.

One common thread: staff leaders are walking a difficult line between the “heart” (staff wanting to fiercely resist compliance) and the “head” (boards worried about legal risks and defunding). The correct balance isn’t easy to discern and can often change.

Things to think about

During the conversation and audience Q&A, several themes emerged.

Avoid “saviorism” and center the community: A major talking point was the harm caused by acting with “urgency” (a tenet of white supremacy culture) without consulting marginalized communities. For example, the use of whistles to alert people has both supporters and detractors. The fundamental rule is to include the community in conversations about how they want to be supported.

Engage your board appropriately. Nonprofit boards can be helpful by stepping up as thought partners, rather than solely relying on exhausted executive directors. Boards can review bylaws, assist with succession planning, and hold peer board members accountable. Your goal is to prevent nonspecific offers of board help that create more work for staff.

Continuing with your work is a form of resistance. An attorney noted that the threat of being labeled “domestic terrorists” or facing audits is a deliberate strategy designed to paralyze nonprofits. By simply showing up and continuing to deliver services – doing the work, day by day – nonprofits are actively resisting these tactics.

Prioritize self-care and redundancy. Leadership burnout is rampant. One speaker emphasized that executive directors must take care of themselves by utilizing paid time off and, when possible, taking sabbaticals. Organizations must build redundancies so that institutional knowledge is shared, which ensures the organization can survive if a leader needs to step away or is detained.

The bottom line

This is a difficult, complex moment for U.S. nonprofits. Leaders must give themselves grace and accept that they don’t have the perfect answer for every hypothetical.

Utilize your knowledge, wisdom, resources, and relationships. When needed, ask for help. Do the best you can with what you have – then take a break.