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So as things calm down a bit here in the Twin Cities (we are not actually on fire, a bunch of political things are in motion, some things are being repaired, etc.), I wanted to talk about the donating and giving that I personally do and/or have seen others do. As a rule, giving and donating in the U.S. is feast or famine for organizations and movements and some of them weather it much better than others, the main problem being that the organizations in the best position to survive in the first place are also most likely to survive public attention turning elsewhere. The basic rule is that if it hits the mainstream news, donations pour in...as long as that organization or issue is still in the news. What I'm going to about here is building things, as opposed to reacting to the news cycle. Caveat: I have worked for nonprofits and social service agencies in the past, but do not at present.
The main sources of funding (and just file this away for later if it doesn't pertain to you now) for nonprofits or small organizations that are not in the nonprofit system in the U.S. tend to be the following:
So. Fundraisers. These run the gamut from star-studded galas to kids selling candy bars and lemonade. The big ones bring in a lot of money (and also cost money to pull off). The small ones may work better as a way to get attention focused on the organization or issue than as money makers. I have, for example, bought tickets to online performances by a bunch of small arts organizations in the last few months, so I've gotten to see concerts, plays, readings and other fun things from home. These are fun and entertaining, but generally speaking, will not replace an evening's worth of ticketed admissions or equivalent. Should you do them anyway, if you can? Definitely. These are generally for keeping the lights on, paying performers and staff and so forth. Check around where you live - a lot of local arts organizations are doing these. Or check out the Hook & Ladder Theater in Minneapolis and donate for their online live shows; their building is located next to the Third Precinct, which you have no doubt seen burning down, and they were already hurting a bunch from the shutdown. For Go Fund Me campaigns and related online campaigns, I suggest checking out first: are they official (the recipient approved them)? Does the person running the fundraiser have a connection to the organization? How is money getting to the organization(s)? If those check out for you, then these can be super helpful.
Donations. These overlap with fundraisers, but are often not connected to a specific event or timeframe. Again, very useful for keeping the doors open, etc. I have things that I donate to on a regular basis, like Give OUT Day (6/30/20, this year) and Give to the Max Day. The advantage to giving during big scheduled events for multiple organizations is that people plan their giving around them, there are often matching funds and there may be additional prizes for organizations that meet certain criteria. The downside is that nonprofits with a healthy budget and full time staff tend to do much better because someone is updating on social media. In addition, organizations with a specific focus on a minority group, like queer people of Asian descent, or transpeople of African heritage with disabilities, who are already likely to not have resources are also served by groups that don't have resources. My suggestion: maintain a checklist or a spreadsheet of what give to which organizations and when. Make sure that you include smaller groups that do things you believe in and that probably don't have access to more funding.
My scheduled donations look something like this:
January/February (based on my old's job's United Way schedule) - Project for Pride in Living (Twin Cities organization fighting homelessness with transitional and permanent housing, providing job training, etc.); Feline Rescue (because our kitties came from there) and the Bridge for Youth, which is the local youth shelter.
March/April - I generally do a personal birthday fundraiser for SAGE, which works with and advocates for LGBTQ elders.
May/June - generally all LGBTQ, all the time. I participate in an annual fundraiser for Rainbow Railroad (a nonprofit that works internationally with LGBTQ refugees), contribute during Give Out Day and prioritize local LGBTQ organizations like Quatrefoil Library and Outfront MN, etc.
Summer - carbon offsets for travel and environmental programs (Tree Trust, The Nature Conservancy and Friends of the Mississippi are amongst my favs, local news outlets dependent on donations, abortion and prochoice funds, etc.)
November - GIve Out Day is the biggest day for nonprofit giving here in Minnesota. I generally give to the Headwaters Fund (run by and focused on BIPOC community groups), the Women's Foundation of MN, PFund (queer funding, prioirity given to BIPOC queer and trans folks) and several local arts groups that we do a lot of work with.
December - donations as gifts - KFAI Radio (local multicultural radio station), Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, the Bisexual Organizing Project, etc.
Pledges and Memberships:
These are the funding sources that keep things afloat during the lean times. I carry memberships to several museums, including the Women's History Museum in D.C., the Edward Gorey House Museum in MA and the MIA here in Minneapolis; political organizations like the NAACP and LPAC (funds queer women candidates and allies who support queer people); arts organizations like KFAI Radio, the MN Center for Book Arts and miscellaneous library-related and bookish things; and environmental groups that focus on environmental racism and social equity, like Green America. My monthly pledges include Patreon (various writers and artists), Outfront MN (LGBTQ+ organization with lobbying, community organization, etc.), Astraea Foundation (international funding organization that supports LGBTQIA+ groups around the world as well as the U.S.), Third Wave Foundation (young queer activists, sex workers, BIPOC queer groups a major priority) and PFund (local, gives scholarships and funding for regional queer activists). I also have a few bucks per check taken out to support a local consortium of nonprofit groups that serve various communities and I am a dues-paying member of my union. And I try to participate in crowd-funding campaigns when I can.
How do I prioritize what I give to? Well, I like to go for the most bang for the buck because there aren't that many bucks to go around. So If I support a local foundation that redistributes my pledge or donation to other efforts and does it well, that's a win. I also try to make things do double duty by having my cell phone plan with CREDO, credit cards through credit unions and B Corporation banks, buying at our local co-op and designating donations to local organizations, etc. I have a mental checklist of things I care about deeply and I try to focus on those. I'm a big fan of "we all do better when we all do better" so that's certainly a driver. I prioiritize LGBTQ+ groups because a. I am and b. because I remember what it was like when there was no organizational support and we do not want to see those days again. I try and evaluate where my money is going on a regular basis - does the organization have a good reputation for handling funds and staffing? Am I regularly pledging and donating to groups run by/prioritizing POC? Is this an issue I continue to care about deeply? Am I doing an amount of giving that is causing me real or imagined financial stress (fairly easy to do when there's a big crisis)? Is there a greater immediate need, like a friend's health emergency? I regard everything except my scheduled pledges are flexible, which helps keep it more manageable.
Looking at donating right now? Consider pledging, if you can. Look at local organizations that are already on the ground, doing the work. We've had at least 2 groups working on police brutality and accountability issues for years now, for instance. How are people getting housed, fed, clothed? Is there an organization that works with communities of color around chemical dumping or setting up community gardens that you want to support? Does a nonprofit help people get out of danger or poverty, for example, by doing job training and/or funding education and training? Do they reinvest in their communities? Who's in charge and on the board?
If you want a list of Twin Cities things, I'm happy to provide them. Charity Navigator is a reasonable source for big things, your local nonprofits are a good source for info about small organizations (if they never work with anyone else, they're either very new, kind of unusual or don't play well with others). Ask your friends too, while you're at it. Questions or comments, ask away.
The main sources of funding (and just file this away for later if it doesn't pertain to you now) for nonprofits or small organizations that are not in the nonprofit system in the U.S. tend to be the following:
- Fundraisers
- Donations
- Pledges and memberships
- Grants
So. Fundraisers. These run the gamut from star-studded galas to kids selling candy bars and lemonade. The big ones bring in a lot of money (and also cost money to pull off). The small ones may work better as a way to get attention focused on the organization or issue than as money makers. I have, for example, bought tickets to online performances by a bunch of small arts organizations in the last few months, so I've gotten to see concerts, plays, readings and other fun things from home. These are fun and entertaining, but generally speaking, will not replace an evening's worth of ticketed admissions or equivalent. Should you do them anyway, if you can? Definitely. These are generally for keeping the lights on, paying performers and staff and so forth. Check around where you live - a lot of local arts organizations are doing these. Or check out the Hook & Ladder Theater in Minneapolis and donate for their online live shows; their building is located next to the Third Precinct, which you have no doubt seen burning down, and they were already hurting a bunch from the shutdown. For Go Fund Me campaigns and related online campaigns, I suggest checking out first: are they official (the recipient approved them)? Does the person running the fundraiser have a connection to the organization? How is money getting to the organization(s)? If those check out for you, then these can be super helpful.
Donations. These overlap with fundraisers, but are often not connected to a specific event or timeframe. Again, very useful for keeping the doors open, etc. I have things that I donate to on a regular basis, like Give OUT Day (6/30/20, this year) and Give to the Max Day. The advantage to giving during big scheduled events for multiple organizations is that people plan their giving around them, there are often matching funds and there may be additional prizes for organizations that meet certain criteria. The downside is that nonprofits with a healthy budget and full time staff tend to do much better because someone is updating on social media. In addition, organizations with a specific focus on a minority group, like queer people of Asian descent, or transpeople of African heritage with disabilities, who are already likely to not have resources are also served by groups that don't have resources. My suggestion: maintain a checklist or a spreadsheet of what give to which organizations and when. Make sure that you include smaller groups that do things you believe in and that probably don't have access to more funding.
My scheduled donations look something like this:
January/February (based on my old's job's United Way schedule) - Project for Pride in Living (Twin Cities organization fighting homelessness with transitional and permanent housing, providing job training, etc.); Feline Rescue (because our kitties came from there) and the Bridge for Youth, which is the local youth shelter.
March/April - I generally do a personal birthday fundraiser for SAGE, which works with and advocates for LGBTQ elders.
May/June - generally all LGBTQ, all the time. I participate in an annual fundraiser for Rainbow Railroad (a nonprofit that works internationally with LGBTQ refugees), contribute during Give Out Day and prioritize local LGBTQ organizations like Quatrefoil Library and Outfront MN, etc.
Summer - carbon offsets for travel and environmental programs (Tree Trust, The Nature Conservancy and Friends of the Mississippi are amongst my favs, local news outlets dependent on donations, abortion and prochoice funds, etc.)
November - GIve Out Day is the biggest day for nonprofit giving here in Minnesota. I generally give to the Headwaters Fund (run by and focused on BIPOC community groups), the Women's Foundation of MN, PFund (queer funding, prioirity given to BIPOC queer and trans folks) and several local arts groups that we do a lot of work with.
December - donations as gifts - KFAI Radio (local multicultural radio station), Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, the Bisexual Organizing Project, etc.
Pledges and Memberships:
These are the funding sources that keep things afloat during the lean times. I carry memberships to several museums, including the Women's History Museum in D.C., the Edward Gorey House Museum in MA and the MIA here in Minneapolis; political organizations like the NAACP and LPAC (funds queer women candidates and allies who support queer people); arts organizations like KFAI Radio, the MN Center for Book Arts and miscellaneous library-related and bookish things; and environmental groups that focus on environmental racism and social equity, like Green America. My monthly pledges include Patreon (various writers and artists), Outfront MN (LGBTQ+ organization with lobbying, community organization, etc.), Astraea Foundation (international funding organization that supports LGBTQIA+ groups around the world as well as the U.S.), Third Wave Foundation (young queer activists, sex workers, BIPOC queer groups a major priority) and PFund (local, gives scholarships and funding for regional queer activists). I also have a few bucks per check taken out to support a local consortium of nonprofit groups that serve various communities and I am a dues-paying member of my union. And I try to participate in crowd-funding campaigns when I can.
How do I prioritize what I give to? Well, I like to go for the most bang for the buck because there aren't that many bucks to go around. So If I support a local foundation that redistributes my pledge or donation to other efforts and does it well, that's a win. I also try to make things do double duty by having my cell phone plan with CREDO, credit cards through credit unions and B Corporation banks, buying at our local co-op and designating donations to local organizations, etc. I have a mental checklist of things I care about deeply and I try to focus on those. I'm a big fan of "we all do better when we all do better" so that's certainly a driver. I prioiritize LGBTQ+ groups because a. I am and b. because I remember what it was like when there was no organizational support and we do not want to see those days again. I try and evaluate where my money is going on a regular basis - does the organization have a good reputation for handling funds and staffing? Am I regularly pledging and donating to groups run by/prioritizing POC? Is this an issue I continue to care about deeply? Am I doing an amount of giving that is causing me real or imagined financial stress (fairly easy to do when there's a big crisis)? Is there a greater immediate need, like a friend's health emergency? I regard everything except my scheduled pledges are flexible, which helps keep it more manageable.
Looking at donating right now? Consider pledging, if you can. Look at local organizations that are already on the ground, doing the work. We've had at least 2 groups working on police brutality and accountability issues for years now, for instance. How are people getting housed, fed, clothed? Is there an organization that works with communities of color around chemical dumping or setting up community gardens that you want to support? Does a nonprofit help people get out of danger or poverty, for example, by doing job training and/or funding education and training? Do they reinvest in their communities? Who's in charge and on the board?
If you want a list of Twin Cities things, I'm happy to provide them. Charity Navigator is a reasonable source for big things, your local nonprofits are a good source for info about small organizations (if they never work with anyone else, they're either very new, kind of unusual or don't play well with others). Ask your friends too, while you're at it. Questions or comments, ask away.
