What to Do if the Government Comes Knocking: A Preparedness Guide for Nonprofits in the NSPM-7 Enforcement Environment

Last week, federal agents executed a search warrant at the offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a voter registration organization. Agents also contacted employees at their homes, seeking information and electronic devices and, in some instances, serving subpoenas. Also last week, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attempted to gain access to the offices of Washington, D.C.-area nonprofits that provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children. These actions follow the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) April indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center and are among the latest examples of aggressive and coordinated federal investigative activity involving nonprofit organizations working in areas such as civil rights, voter engagement, and immigration.

These events are not unexpected. As we have previously discussed, the administration announced its efforts to refocus powerful, post-9/11 counterterrorism tools onto domestic policy targets when it issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7). And the Attorney General’s implementing memorandum directs a whole-of-government approach to investigating organizations that the government characterizes as connected to political violence, domestic terrorism, or “Antifa.”

The administration has paired that focus with a broader enforcement emphasis on issues related to elections. Indeed, in March, the administration issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections. That order, which states that the federal government has an “unavoidable duty” to enforce federal election laws and prevent violations of federal criminal law, signaled increased federal attention to election administration, voter-registration practices, and mail-voting procedures. That focus is consistent with the administration’s ongoing lawsuits seeking sensitive voter data from 30 states and recent developments involving the seizure of ballots in Fulton County, Georgia; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Wayne County, Michigan.

For nonprofit leaders, these events are a clear warning: tax-exempt organizations must prepare now for the possibility that they will be the subject of investigations by federal law enforcement.

It does not matter if the organization considers itself to be — and even is — squeaky clean. Nor will organizations necessarily have a clue that an investigation is afoot. Investigations often unfold out of public view, and organizations may have little or no indication that they are under scrutiny until federal agents appear at an office or residence with a search warrant or a subpoena, or visit employees at home requesting a few minutes of their time.

That practical reality raises a straightforward question, especially for smaller organizations that do not maintain in-house legal departments: What should we do if the government comes knocking?

The answer begins with preparation.

Make a Response Plan Before You Need One

Every organization should develop a written incident-response plan, tailored to the particular risks it faces. The plan need not be lengthy, but it should identify key decision-makers, establish communication and escalation procedures, and prepare all employees and volunteers with the information they need if there is a knock on the door from federal or other law enforcement agents; if those agents have a search warrant, a subpoena, or a summons; or if they simply request a few minutes to ask questions. When developing the plan, organizations should consider consulting with outside counsel who have experience in federal investigations.

The response plan should answer several practical questions:

• Who should be notified first if agents arrive or law enforcement otherwise makes contact?
• Which outside attorneys should be contacted immediately, and who will make that call?
• How will the organization communicate with employees, volunteers, board members, donors, and other stakeholders?
• Who is authorized to speak on behalf of the organization, and what should that person say?
• What steps should the organization take to preserve records and suspend routine document-destruction practices?
• Who will coordinate public communications and handle media inquiries?

Organizations should also consider conducting periodic tabletop exercises with leadership and counsel. Even a brief, scenario-based exercise can help identify gaps in existing procedures and ensure that employees and leadership understand their respective roles before an enforcement event occurs.

The goal is to have the organization and its personnel respond deliberately rather than reactively during what may be a stressful and fast-moving situation.

What to Do if Federal Agents Arrive

If federal agents arrive at an organization’s office, or at the home or workplace of an officer, employee, or volunteer, the organization should treat the encounter as a significant law-enforcement event — not as an ordinary regulatory inquiry. Organizations should identify in advance who is authorized to interact with law enforcement, receive legal process, and communicate with leadership and counsel.

Several basic principles can help protect both the organization and its personnel.

1. Remain calm and follow your response plan. Remember three protocols, in particular.
   • Leadership, employees, and volunteers are not required to agree to an interview or answer questions. They may politely decline to speak with law enforcement until they are accompanied by counsel.
   • Do not obstruct agents, interfere with their activities, or attempt to argue about the merits of the investigation on the spot.
   • If agents do not have a warrant, employees need not admit them to the premises and should consult with counsel before doing so.
2. Verify the identities of the agents or officers. Ask to see their credentials and obtain their names and contact information.
3. Contact counsel immediately. Organizations should identify in advance who will contact in-house and/or outside counsel if law enforcement appears unexpectedly. Early legal advice can guide the organization’s response, ensure accuracy and completeness, and help preserve attorney-client privilege over subsequent internal communications and fact-gathering.

If Agents Present a Search Warrant

Search warrants require special attention.

If agents present a warrant, no one should interfere with its execution. Request a copy of the warrant and review its scope if possible. Notify counsel immediately and ask them to come to the location.

The agents may request the opportunity to search additional areas or to take materials beyond the scope of the warrant. Employees should consult with counsel before consenting.

The organization should also designate a representative to observe the search, document what areas are searched, and keep track of materials that the agents seize. The representative should pay particular attention to the seizure of electronic devices (such as computers, phones, and tablets — whether they are personal or are owned and issued by the organization), cloud-based records, voter and volunteer data, donor databases, and financial records.

Employees should avoid substantive discussions with agents about the organization’s activities, finances, or filings unless advised otherwise by counsel.

What Boards and Leadership Should Do Now

Boards and executive leadership should not assume that responsibility for responding to an investigation rests entirely with counsel. Effective preparation is a governance issue.

Leadership should ensure that the organization has a clear response plan, that employees understand its policies and protocols, and that everyone knows whom to contact if law enforcement appears unexpectedly. Leadership may wish to work with counsel to develop a response plan that is tailored to their size, structure, activities, and risk profile.

How Funders Can Help Grantees Prepare

Many voter-registration, civic-engagement, and community-based organizations operate with limited administrative capacity and may not have regular access to experienced counsel. As a result, a government investigation can quickly become an operational crisis.

Funders may wish to support efforts to prepare. Depending on the circumstances, such support could include:

• Funding compliance, governance, and risk-management training
• Identifying or recommending counsel before an investigative event occurs, so that grantees are not scrambling for legal representation during a crisis
• Encouraging incident-response planning and tabletop exercises, and the participation of counsel who can help develop response protocols in advance
• Suggesting or requiring that grantees adopt relevant legal policies, such as document retention and legal-hold procedures
• Assisting grantees in identifying emergency points of contact for legal and communications support
• Ensuring that organizational leadership understands the distinction between a routine regulatory inquiry and a criminal investigative event
• Reviewing grant agreements and due diligence procedures to ensure that funders and grantees have a shared understanding of how grant funds may be used, what records must be maintained, and what information may be needed if government investigators later seek information regarding funding flows or programmatic activities

Funders should not direct a grantee’s response to a specific investigation. But they can help ensure that grantees have the institutional capacity, governance structures, and access to counsel necessary to respond appropriately.

Looking Ahead

Federal investigation and enforcement activity involving nonprofit organizations may continue to expand in light of NSPM-7 and the DOJ’s related directives. Regardless of the ultimate scope of those initiatives, nonprofit organizations should assume that federal investigators may increasingly rely on coordinated enforcement tools and interagency investigations.

Organizations cannot anticipate every possible investigative scenario. But they should ensure that leadership, staff, and counsel are prepared to respond in a disciplined and legally informed manner if law enforcement agents unexpectedly arrive at the door.

In the enforcement context, the earliest hours of an investigation often matter the most.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2026 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.