16 BLM Charities (and Organizations) to Donate to Right Now
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023Help the Black Lives Matter movement by supporting one of the charities or organizations that are helping people with bail funds, to rebuild after protests, and fight for change in their community.
Looking for a way to help the racial justice movement? There are many worthy places to send your Black Lives matter donations. The Black Lives Matter movement originated in 2013 with three Black women activists: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. It began with a hashtag after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot an unarmed 17-year-old named Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012. Since then, Black Lives Matter has grown to become an international movement and an important part of the Movement for Black Lives, which seeks to represent the interests of Black communities across the United States and draw attention to and abolish structural inequality. While there have been many protests over the years, as police brutality and wrongful killings of Black people continue to occur in America, the Black Lives Matter movement grew substantially in 2020 with the tragic deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. More people than ever before were galvanized to protest in the streets, spread awareness on social media, educate themselves, take action to stop racism, have tough conversations with family and friends, and donate to charities and organizations that need help in their support of this important movement.
If you are in a position to give a Black Lives Matter donation, the charities below will help continue the fight against racism, support the individuals and families of those who lost their lives, and work to educate more people, which will hopefully bring us closer to a solution. Don’t forget to read up on what anti-racism means and what it means to be anti-racist.
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 after the murder of Trayvon Martin. Their ongoing mission is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.” They’re working to abolish systematic racism and to create space for Black innovation and joy.
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. is our country’s best legal organization fighting for racial justice. Their mission statement says, “Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.” When you donate you’re able to choose where your money is directed. The options include police reform and the death penalty, voting rights, Thurgood Marshall Institute, education, economic equity, affirmative action, scholarship program, alumni fund, or you can select to have your donation go wherever it’s needed most. Keep educating yourself and take a listen to these podcasts about race you need to hear.
The Loveland Foundation
The Loveland Foundation is an amazing non-profit that helps communities of color, especially women and girls, in need of mental health support. Their website states, “Black women and girls deserve access to healing, and that healing will impact generations.” Therapy sessions in the United States typically cost up to $250 per session, and even with insurance, the stigma and lack of providers (especially providers of color) makes it difficult for Black women and girls to have access to necessary therapy. Their program has already raised over $250,000 to provide 4-8 free therapy sessions to Black women and girls, and the mission is on-going which makes them a great place for your Black Lives Matter donation.
Du Nord Foundation
Du Nord Craft Spirits is a Black-owned distillery in the city of Minneapolis. Unfortunately, when the riots broke out, their building was destroyed. They set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to rebuild and ended up receiving “a tidal wave of love and support from across the nation.” Du Nord received so much financial support that they were able to set up a non-profit organization, the Du Nord Foundation, to support under-resourced communities in Minneapolis. To date they have distributed nearly $500,000 in funds. The Foundation is accepting Black Lives Matter donations to continue their mission.
The ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) works to ensure that our country lives up to the promises of the United States Constitution by pushing for structural reform. One part of that is fighting for the restructure of our current, flawed systems of policing and law enforcement. Your Black Lives Matter donation will help to make these reforms.
National Police Accountability Project
The NPAP is a non-profit arm of the National Lawyers Guild, the first racially integrated national bar association. Their mission is to protect human and civil rights in police-civilian encounters and to promote accountability of law enforcement offices that have violated the law or Constitution. Their website states that your Black Lives Matter donation will go toward the following mission: “Educate and inform the public about issues relating to police misconduct, provide information resources for non-profit and community groups who work with victims of police abuse, support legislative reform efforts aimed at raising the level of police accountability, [and] create a forum for legal professionals and community organizations to come together and creatively work to end police misconduct.”
Minnesota Youth Collective
The Minnesota Youth Collective works to empower young people—currently the largest age group in Minnesota—to become leaders and gives them the tools they need to be their own advocate. Young minds can help fight the biggest challenges in today’s society including racism, student loan debt, sexism, climate chaos, and many more. Contribute a Black Lives Matter donation to help the youth make the communities they’re a part of a better place for everyone to live.
EmbraceRace
Founded in 2016 by two parents with both Afro-Caribbean and White heritage, EmbraceRace is a charity whose aim is to create a community and gather the resources necessary to educate and support young children with racial learning. A Black Lives Matter donation will help EmbraceRace achieve its aims: To help kids develop a positive racial identity, recognize and resist stereotyping, and gain the tools to speak out against prejudice through resources such as picture books, webinars, and community engagement.
Community Bail Funds
When you send your Black Lives Matter donation to this community bail fund, your contribution will be evenly split among 70+ community bail funds, mutual aid funds, and racial justice organizers. The donation form lets you allocate your funds differently between the different groups if you so choose. Also, if you want to get a local bail fund in your area added to the page there is a contact listed on the page for you to do it.
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Campaign Zero
Working to combat police brutality is one of the most important uses for Black Lives Matter donations. Campaign Zero is working to end police brutality by calling on local, state, and federal lawmakers to take action and change to use data-driven policy solutions to hold police accountable. Some of these solutions include fair police union contracts, body cams, limiting the use of force, and changes to the way police are trained.
Color of Change
Color of Change is the largest online racial justice organization in the country. Their website states, “We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.”
Black Voters Matter
Based in Georgia but advocating for Black voting rights across the American South, Black Voters Matter advocate for policies to, “expand voting rights/access, including expanded early voting, resisting voter ID, re-entry restoration of rights and strengthening the Voting Rights Act. We also advocate for policies that intersect with race, gender, economic and other aspects of equity.” Given the current bills pushing to restrict voters’ rights in Georgia and Texas, this work is incredibly important right now and is a worthy consideration for a Black Lives Matter donation.
The Equal Justice Initiative
Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, The Equal Justice Initiative “is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.” They work to provide legal representation to those who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails or prisons. They also help to provide re-entry assistance to people that have been previously imprisoned.
Know Your Rights Camp
Colin Kaepernick founded Know Your Rights Camp to educate the Black and brown youth of America through seminars. Their website states, “Our mission is to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.” Currently, they are teaming up with defense lawyers in Minneapolis, so your Black Lives Matter donation will help those in need right now.
Black Mamas Matter Alliance
Maternal mortality rates in America have worsened over the past 25 years, making it one of the only developed countries where this is the case. However, CDC statistics show that Black women are three to four times more likely than White women to experience a pregnancy-related death. Most tragically, according to the CDC three out of five of these pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Not only are Black mothers more likely to die, but Black children are, too, being statistically twice as likely as White infants to die before their first birthday. The disparity can largely be attributed to structural and medical racism which finds Black women less likely to be believed by medical professionals when they describe pain or symptoms. The disparity cuts across class lines, as the CDC finds that middle-class, college-educated Black mothers are still more likely to lose their babies than working-class White mothers without high school diplomas.
The Black-women-led BMMA is on a mission to change that. Their website states, “We envision a world where Black mamas have the rights, respect, and resources to thrive before, during, and after pregnancy.” Donations help care for Black mamas to ensure that they and their children can survive and thrive.
