Giving surges for some US causes following Trump election
Howard Lake | 16 November 2016 | News
Many Americans have made donations to charitable and non-profit causes as a direct response to the election win of President-elect Donald Trump.
Citizens alarmed at the prospect of a Trump presidency in terms of respect for the law, reproductive rights, environmental damage, discrimination against Muslims and many other groups have chosen to donate to groups that will challenge the new administration on those issues.
1. $7.2m for ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union has announced that it has received more than $7.2 million from 120,000 individual donations in under a week, a record amount for the nonprofit.
In addition
“In just five days, our Facebook followers have increased by 25 percent to nearly one million people; 400,000 people viewed our open letter to President-elect Trump on our website; and 150,000 new people have joined our e-mail list.”
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Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s executive director, told The Huffington Post:
“This is the greatest outpouring of support for the ACLU in our nearly 100-year history, greater than the days after 9/11.”
Should President-elect Donald Trump attempt to implement his unconstitutional campaign promises, we'll see him in court.
— ACLU (@ACLU) November 9, 2016
The ACLU was one of several nonprofits recommended as relevant to those who opposed Mr Trump and his statements and behaviour.
2. Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood has experienced “a surge” in donations made in the name of Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s Vice President-elect.
The first ‘Mike Pence’ donations were made back in 2011 after the Indiana congressman introduced a number of anti-abortion measures. The number of donations jumped in the past several days after his and Trump’s election win.
The donations are made in his name, with the result that the acknowledgement and gift certificate will be sent to him.
The Indianapolis Star reports that there were 160,000 in the first week after the election, 12.5% of which were made in the name of Mike Pence.
https://twitter.com/Gaby_Moss/status/797306877617012736
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMt97NoDk2C/?taken-by=amberrosetamblyn&hl=en
The nonprofit responded:
Thank you so much! We've been blown away by the support we've received. Many people are donating in Clinton or Pence's name. #WeWontGoBack
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) November 12, 2016
3. RageDonate
Many people have listed and recommended appropriate nonprofits to benefit from a donation, and others have made the process more engaging.
We've built something that we feel will truly help and it's live now: https://t.co/n1RAxE4fbj @ragedonate 🙌🏽
— Earl Carlson (@theearlcarlson) November 14, 2016
RageDonate has been created by a group of volunteers. It presents visitors with an alarming or offensive quote from Donald Trump and presents it alongside a donate now button linked to a relevant nonprofit.
It does not take a fee from donations.
First you read the offensive words of Donald Trump, President-elect…
… then you get the chance to donate to a relevant nonprofit.
New term coined due to Trump presidency: @ragedonate = give to nonprofits that channel your anger & frustration https://t.co/Fr0Xfo7LGf pic.twitter.com/teuMmoQlHi
— Sacha Pfeiffer (@SachaPfeiffer) November 16, 2016
4. #DonateNotHate
There have been many other initiatives, channeling fear and disgust into positive action through donations, and not all of them are US-based. UK fundraisers Laura Croudace and Lizzi Hollis launched their #DonateNotHate campaign on JustGiving last week. They said:
“We cannot change the outcome of this election, but we can change the future outcomes for those who will suffer as a result. We have chosen 5 charities to support and every penny you give to #DonateNotHate will be donated to them equally.”
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.