Charities to help the people Trump will hurt

November 8, 2024 1:26 PM

For those able to do so, donating or fundraising for charities seems like a good idea, especially with the holidays coming up. For USAmericans, this has the dual function of denying your tax $$ to the incoming government and helping the people that government wishes to harm. I thought it might be nice to crowdsource a thread of charities which do useful work for the communities under threat. Below are a few to start us off:

RAICES - Texas-based group helping immigrants and refugees
United We Dream - working for immigrant youth
Trans Lifeline - phone hotline, microgrants and legal help for trans folk
The Trevor Project - helping LGBTQ+ youth
NAACP legal defense fund - among other things, very useful for arrested racial justice protesters
Southern Poverty Law Center - social, racial and economic justice
National Network of Abortion Funds

A couple of election integrity charities, since that will be crucial in the near future:
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law - civil rights, election integrity, voting rights
VoteRiders - Election integrity, voting rights

But that's just a few! Please post the orgs you know of doing good and useful work.

posted by Pallas Athena to MetaFilter-Related at 1:26 PM (15 comments total)

Reproductive Rights:
Atlanta's Feminist Women's Health Center
Sister Song
The Afiya Center
posted by hydropsyche at 5:37 PM on November 8 [2 favorites]

You may want to cross-post this to Ask to get more eyes on it.

One very short-term, high-impact thing you can do is help to cure ballots for uncalled House races. The final House margin will be extremely tight, and there are still a number of seats where the outcome is too close to call. Many voters (especially in California) may have had their votes rejected for minor technical issues that can still be fixed, but they need to be alerted and helped walked through the process. If Democrats can secure enough of the remaining seats to win a narrow majority, that means a Speaker Jeffries holding the line against the most harmful Republican legislation for two years, rather than Mike Johnson acting in concert with the Republican Senate and Trump administration.

There are both in-person and virtual events scheduled for key states over the next few weeks -- if you're appalled by the outcome and worry you didn't do enough, there's still time to help influence the final balance of power!
posted by Rhaomi at 5:42 PM on November 8 [7 favorites]

Than you so much, Pallas Athena, for posting this. Donating to local mutual aid efforts would be good, too. We have many non-profits here in Buffalo that are doing great work in our community and always need more funding.
posted by Scout405 at 6:51 PM on November 8 [4 favorites]

Scout405, please feel free to link those! I was hoping people would link to their favourite orgs, big or small, local or national. MAGA-targeted communities will (sadly) very much include the disabled, the poor and the unhoused.

While I'm here-- the helplines at the Trevor Project and the Trans Lifeline are overwhelmed right now. They could really use some donations, and it's worth checking to see if they need volunteers.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:03 PM on November 9 [2 favorites]

Black Love Resists in the Rust

Showing Up for Racial Justice

People United for Sustainable Housing

Journey's End Refugee Services

Massachusetts Avenue Project "has provided employment and direct training to hundreds of low income youth in Buffalo in the areas of sustainable urban agriculture, social enterprise development, organizing and advocacy, and food systems development."

"Stitch Buffalo is a textile art center committed to empowering refugee and immigrant women through the sale of their handcrafted goods, inspiring creativity and inclusion through community education, and stewarding the environment through the re-use of textile supplies."
posted by Scout405 at 7:57 PM on November 9 [1 favorite]

From one of my favorite non profits, a statement put out by a group of organizations supporting LGBTQIA2S+ freedom. Includes many different organizations from across the country.

https://www.nclrights.org/about-us/press-release/a-message-from-organizations-committed-to-advancing-lgbtqia2s-freedom-beyond-the-2024-elections/
posted by oneear at 1:36 PM on November 10 [2 favorites]

Advocates for Trans Equality
posted by Kybard at 8:25 PM on November 10 [2 favorites]

Give money to or otherwise get involved with your local mask bloc, which should also be knowledgeable of (and may even work with) direct mutual aid efforts in your area. Mask blocs won't be registered as charities; neither will most grassroots mutual aid orgs, but this is a very good way to provide direct support and care to people in your local community.
posted by twelve cent archie at 8:04 AM on November 11 [2 favorites]

I volunteer with AARP's TaxAide program. You help seniors and people with low incomes file their taxes for free. You're not allowed to talk politics, and of course the clients do, but you change the subject. There are multiple models including virtual and in person help. We can also use people who don't want to do taxes but can handle some administrative tasks or just check people in. Sign up at volunteer.aarp.org where they have some other programs as listed well.

There are other groups doing this kind of work through the VITA and TCE programs. You can find those on the IRS website and/or your state's tax collecting agency.
posted by soelo at 12:20 PM on November 11 [1 favorite]

Community Justice Exchange

Community Justice Exchange develops, shares and experiments with tactical interventions, strategic organizing practices, and innovative organizing tools to end all forms of criminalization, incarceration, surveillance, supervision, and detention. We provide support to community-based organizations across the country that are experimenting with bottom-up interventions that contest the current operation and function of the criminal legal and immigration detention systems. CJE produces tools and resources for organizers to creatively tackle multiple drivers of criminalization and incarceration— including, but not limited to, money bail, court fees and fines, probation and parole, pretrial detention & supervision, and immigration detention & supervision.
posted by CPAnarchist at 6:13 PM on November 11 [3 favorites]

For the S.F. Bay Area - the Family Giving Tree provides holiday gift donations this time of year (and school supplies & backpacks during the fall). The secular charity interviews individuals in need (residents in foster care, transitional housing, shelters, care facilities, etc) and uses specific, small gifts to match the request. Very data-driven and targeted support to those who need help above and beyond the government.
posted by JDC8 at 8:43 PM on November 11 [2 favorites]

Palestine Youth Movement
Palestine Legal
Jewish Voice for Peace
posted by ftrtts at 9:20 PM on November 11 [3 favorites]

Also call your reps and tell them to not support the bill to strip 501(c)3's of their status if they donate to terrorists. (https://forward.com/fast-forward/674047/house-set-to-vote-on-bill-targeting-nonprofits-accused-of-supporting-terrorism/)
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 10:52 AM on November 12 [4 favorites]

Black and Pink is a prison abolition organization focused on helping LGBTQ+ people in prison. Right now they are doing a holiday card campaign on their penpal website. If you have access to a printer, envelopes, and stamps, you can get the addresses of 5/10/15 people who are incarcerated and send them some love for the holidays.
posted by extramachine at 3:14 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

Lawyers for Good Government has been doing excellent work since 2016, on immigration, climate, and justice more generally. Link goes to their statement on the 2024 election.
posted by nat at 6:59 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]