Where you can donate to support George Floyd protestors

[Stasia t'Andrei]

I have been doing some research on where people can donate to support George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protestors in Minneapolis and around the United States. I know many people are unable to go to protests themselves, for various reasons. Donating, if you're able, is a way you can show your support and help people on the front lines. A lot of these organizations are active outside of active protest times, too.

Please feel free to share where you've donated or provide any other suggestions you may have. So far I've donated $25 to The Bail Project.

(Thanks to this Esquire article for many of the suggested organizations: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a32713953/george-floyd-minneapolis-how-to-donate-help/)

Edit from SoAC: Stasia, thank you for this. This thread will be updated and maintained. If anyone knows of any resources for helping or opening the discussion for change, please post here and we will add it to the list.

1. George Floyd Memorial Fund
Donations via GoFundMe will go towards taking care of George's children, as well as "funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings." Donate here.

2. Minnesota-area justice organizations
There are a variety of grassroots campaigns in the Minneapolis area focusing on helping the community and protestors as well as fighting for reform in the state.

• Minnesota Freedom Fund (Note- due to an unprecedented amount of donations received, they are requesting you donate to other charities including some of the others in this list. However I've included them for completion sake.)
• North Star Health Collective
• Reclaim the Block
• Black Visions Collective

3. Help protestors and others who've been arrested make bail
The Bail Project helps combat mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system. They support communities all over the US where bail is needed for protestors, but during non-protest times they also work in high-need jurisdictions with the goal of paying bail for low-income Americans while proving that money bail is not necessary to ensure people return to court. Donate here.

You can also find local bail funds for your area. If anyone wants to provide vetted ones I can list them here.
Seattle area: https://www.nwcombailfund.org/

4. Organizations fighting police brutality
The national Black Lives Matter organization has existed since the death of Trayvon Martin in 2013 and is one of the most prominent national organizations taking a stand against police brutality. You can donate to the umbrella national organization, or you can find your local chapter.

Other organizations fighting police brutality include Communities Against Police Brutality and the National Police Accountability Project.

Equal Justice Initiative Working for justice reforms

5. Legal defense organizations

• NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

6. Support journalists covering protests

• Committee to Protect Journalists
• National Association of Black Journalists

7. Miscellaneous

• A continually updated resource on what white people can do to support racial justice- includes monetary and non-monetary suggestions. Thanks Eluial for the link!
  
• Donate just by watching a Youtube video! Details in Bruce's post here. Direct link to video here.
• If you shop on Amazon, update your chosen Amazon Smile charity to one of those listed above.
• Lists of Black owned bookstores (there will probably be overlaps)
  https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php
  https://blog.libro.fm/black-owned-bookstores-to-support-right-now-and-always/
• • 100 Black Men – Advances educational and health equity of African American males through mentoring and economic development opportunities
  • Center for Policing Equity – Drives social, cultural and policy change through research and application of data analytics
  • Embrace Race – Creates forums and tools for children, families, teachers, experts and communities to engage, provide support and address racial issues they face
  • Equal Justice Initiative – Addresses racial injustice by engaging communities through development and dissemination of reports, films, educational materials; focused more recently on improving access to mental health and health equity in the prison system
  • Innocence Project – A national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice
  • NAACP Foundation – Prioritizes health equity through its Health Department that delivers community outreach programs, symposiums, tools and publications focused on addressing non-communicable diseases and HIV/AIDS in minority communities
  • NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund – Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans
  • National Urban League – Delivers social programs throughout communities, conducts public policy research and advocates for policies and services that close the equality gap
  • PolicyLink – Promotes racial equity by developing and advocating for policies and practices that address the social and economic factors impacting community health, particularly in communities of color
  • Race Forward – Delivers solutions to complex race issues through community mobilization, skill-building, leadership development and multi-sectoral collaboration
  • YMCA – Strengthens communities through programs for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility; focused on underserved communities
  • YWCA – Focuses on institutional change in racial justice and civil rights, empowerment, health equity, and economic advancement of women and girls

 

[Erin al'Denael]

Sticking this, as I think it's important and relevant.

 

[Elia LePhant]

Thank you for putting this together, Stasia. I've donated to the Bail Project.

 

[Bruce al'Kay]

Thank you for the resource. I donated a little to CPJ & NABJ.

 

[Zashara Sho'am]

Thank you for this!

 

[Arella Mathara]

Thank you for this! I had been meaning to look into it.

 

[Alyria Ess]

Thank you Stasia

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

Thanks, Stasia, and thank you Erin for the sticky.

I gave to the MN Freedom Fund before they redirected donations.

 

[Eluial Aldaran]

A continually updated resource:
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234

another bail fund:
https://www.nwcombailfund.org/
They are local, so I understand if folks prefer to donate to broader reaching things. totally reasonable! Just posting it because I know them, and they are vetted.

 

[Arevori]

Thanks for putting this together Stasia Sedai. Your note about the Minnesota Freedom Fund was very helpful.

 

[Idine Espanyas]

Thank you for putting this together, Stasia.

 

[Bruce al'Kay]

One thing that has been on my mind: how to help for those who A) can't go to protests for whatever reason and B) don't have as much disposable income (or have already donated as much as they feel comfortable but still want to do more). I saw one on social media and thought of another to add here.

YouTube Fundraising
So, full disclosure: This is an indirect way to donate funds, so of course there's an element (namely: YouTube) in between your action and groups getting support. From what little I know of YouTube monetization, I think it should work? Even if it doesn't work, though, it costs nothing to try:

I'm including an external link to the video rather than embedding it because I don't know whether that makes a difference. As I was advised: remember to pause any adblockers you're running and let all ads play fully, since that's part of the point. The video does have 2.5M views at this point. As a note: Some of the poetry and lyrics do reference the ongoing violence and there's some profanity (though the worst of it is censored).

Side note: there are other video projects similar to this, but I haven't reviewed those.

smile.amazon.com
So, I don't necessarily recommend people go out and sign up for this one unless you're already shopping online as it is because there are environmental concerns. However, if you already buy online and have things shipped - particularly if you already buy from amazon - go to smile.amazon.com , select an approved charity, and make any amazon purchases you would already be making through that portal (rather than the regular amazon.com portal). I was able to switch my selected charity to the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund. It's a very small amount of money that gets donated for each transaction, but it is something that cost me two minutes of effort.

 

[Stasia t'Andrei]

Excellent suggestions, Elu and Bruce! Thank you so much! I have Amazon Smile set up but didn't even think about changing the charity. I edited the first post to include your suggestions.

 

[Erin al'Denael]

Seen on Facebook, posted by @Cataia Sylvianya: https://www.insider.com/how-to-turn-sephora-rewards-points-into-donations-2020-6

From the article:

Sephora is helping its shoppers support the black community through its Beauty Insider rewards program.

On Monday, Twitter users began posting about a new feature they discovered on the retailer's website: a section of the Beauty Insider Rewards Bazaar that allows you to turn your earned points into donations towards the National Black Justice Coalition.

Five-hundred points equals a $10 donation, 1,000 points equals a $20 donation, and 1,500 points equals a $30 donation.

Just another way to show support!

 

[Polegnyn Nemeara]

This may be a silly question, but I want to update my CharityMiles charity accordingly. Is there a particular charity in this list that aligns more closely with the purpose of this thread?

Most of the charities listed are mainly health based so I was hoping to find one that focuses more on issues more prevalent in minority demographics. I realize minorities in general may utilize the services of any of these charities more than white people anyway. Hence the probability of this being a silly question.

Eta: Seems Diabetes is most prevalent so going to select American Diabetes Association unless anyone suggests a much more relevant charity.

 

[Alora Sionn]

March of Dimes does a lot of funding for minority moms and babies since statistically they have a higher chance for maternal death, not sure if that helps Nem but is an option

 

[Stasia t'Andrei]

Good question Nem!

The only charity on the list that I've had personal experience with is Habitat for Humanity. They do a lot of work in my community. Here's a statement from one of their chapters about combating racial disparities in home ownership.

Feeding America might also be a good choice, since POC are more likely to live in food deserts or have otherwise limited options to get healthy food, especially now that so many people have lost their jobs due to COVID-19 (here's an article about COVID-19's impact on minorities, for anyone interested).

 

[Alenya Al'Roran]

For diabetes, I'd suggest a charity that's more focused on access to care. Like Stasia pointed out, since many minorities live in food deserts, they're more likely to develop diabetes, but then don't have access to medical care to take care of it or they can't afford the insulin and try to stretch it any way they can, which puts their health in jeopardy even more.

 

[Polegnyn Nemeara]

Switched to Feeding America with hope access to nutritional food in food deserts will eliminate the need for Diabetes care. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Leo Kian]

Thank you for this, really helpful!