Where you can donate to support George Floyd protestors

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

 

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

 

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

 

Thank you for this!

 

Thank you Stasia

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

From the article:

Just another way to show support!

 

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

 

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).

 

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.