The idea behind #GivingTuesday is a great one: leverage the buzz of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to spark interest on social media and encourage people to donate. It makes a lot of sense to complement the traditional end-of-the-year fundraising with a timely event when people are in the holiday spirit but haven’t yet blown their budget on Christmas gifts.
So here’s a short list of seven organizations that I’ll be supporting this year. Your mileage may vary, of course; there are many many other non-profit organizations doing outstanding work. But as you’re thinking about your giving, on #GivingTuesday and throughout the rest of the year, please keep these groups in mind!
The Center for Media Justice is a nationally recognized organizing hub representing the media policy interests and building the cultural leadership of hundreds of social justice groups across the United States — and one of the most important civil liberties organizations in the country. During this time of rising hate, online and off, it’s especially important to fuel the fight for the digital rights of those most vulnerable across the country. Donate here. Or, if you prefer to donate via Facebook, my friend Shahid Buttar (who’s on their board) has a Facebook fundraiser here.
The Gender Justice League fights gender and sexuality oppression in Washingon State and creates community where trans people live lives safely, true to themselves, and free from discrimination. As well as Trans Pride Seattle, they engage in 1-1 and community advocacy, building, growing, training, and mobilizing the Trans* and Gender Non-Conforming communities to address the systemic oppression the communities face. Gender Justice League founder Danni Askini is currently seeking asylum in Sweden after threats from white supremacists and persecution from the US State Department, so it’s a critical time to support them. Donate here.
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project keeps families together, protects people from violence, and takes injustice to court. As well as high-impact litigation, including fighting racial profiling by border patrol officials in the Olympic Peninsula and securing the right to an attorney for mentally ill immigrants facing deportation, provide free legal services work, they support survivors of domestic violence, and do a huge amount of community education. Donate here.
Four Directions had a huge impact this fall with their work helping provide IDs to Native Americans in North Dakota this fall — leading to turnout increase of over 100% in some areas, and an upset victory over the state legislator who had authored the voter suppression law. They also did key work in several other states, focusing on full enfranchisement as a crucial way to navigate a stronger future for Native communities .Donate here.
Hollaback is a global movement to end harassment, and builds safe, inclusive public spaces by transforming the culture that perpetuates discrimination and violence. Projects include the Heartmob platform for dealing with online harassment, bystander intervention trainings, a leadership program, that trains young people to launch their own Hollaback! chapters locally,and The People’s Supper. Donate here.
SWOP Seattle is the local chapter of the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP-USA), a national social justice network of organizations dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. This has been a brutal year for sex workers; as expected, the passage of the FOSTA/SESTA bill earlier this year has devastated many sex workers’ income and forced them into much more hazardous situations. Donate here.
Black Mamas Matter Alliance is a Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance that centers Black mamas to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice. Grounded in the human rights, reproductive justice, and birth justice frameworks, BMMA provides technical assistance, trainings, and capacity building for grassroots organizations, maternity care service providers, academia, and the public health industry. The first ever Black Maternal Awareness week they sponsored in April highlighted the shameful tragedy of preventable maternal deaths of women during childbirth – a burden disproportionally experienced by Black women. Donate here.