Social Justice Funds and Organizations to Support

Giving Compass’ Take:

• Chloe Cockburn provides a list of organizations and funds that funders can donate to in order to bolster the efforts of Black movement leaders driving social justice across the country. 

• Which of these organizations best fit your philanthropic goals? Are you ready to commit to long-term support for the movements represented here? 

• Learn more about becoming a social justice funder. 

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National organizing and narrative:

• The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 100 groups with a national leadership team of experienced organizers and leaders.
• Color of Change, a nationwide digital organizing group centering the needs and interests of black people.
• Showing Up for Racial Justice, a group focused on educating and organizing white people, especially working class white people, to do effective racial justice work.
• The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls organizes and trains women around the country to take leadership in their communities and eliminate excessive criminal justice system interventions.
• The Highlander Center is a catalyst for grassroots organizing in the South.
• The Fund for Black Newspapers is raising and distributing money to historic black newspapers that are often the only trusted source of news for black readers.

Prosecutor Accountability (prosecutors have a lot of power to rein in police – see Addendum below)

• Real Justice PAC runs smart political campaigns to elect good DAs (aka prosecutors)
• Citizen Action of New York is a grassroots group leading on the Albany DA race in June
• Michigan Liberation is a grassroots organizing group leading on the Detroit DA race in August
• Dream Defenders is a grassroots organizing group leading on two key Florida DA races

State and local organizing groups with infrastructure to fight for rebalanced budget priorities, policy change, cutting prison and jail populations, and stronger oversight of law enforcement:

• JusticeLA is a coalition of groups in Los Angeles that has scored huge wins in the past year around canceling a multi-billion dollar jail contract.
• The Bread and Roses Fund partners with an array of effective groups in Philadelphia who are running a strong campaign to reduce the bloated police budget and other reform efforts.
• Voice of the Experienced, representing Louisiana with leadership that is formerly incarcerated, is rapidly building a powerful base of directly impacted people to restructure how justice works in the deep south.
• The Texas Organizing Project is anchoring organizing and budget fights in multiple major Texas cities. They have led on district attorney accountability and pushing for humane budgets.

Smaller local groups providing key leadership:

• Black Visions Collective is a brilliant group in Minneapolis. See also the Transformation Fund.
• Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (Chicago). Also see EAT and the Crossroads Fund.
• Black Lives Matter locals that I hear great things about:
  • Louisville; Chicago; Los Angeles.

Restorative justice (to build what is next)

• Life Comes From It is a fund that makes small grants (under $25,000) to restorative justice, transformative justice, and peacemaking programs, while also resourcing collaborations across these fields.
• The Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations project is run by a core team of seasoned, high caliber organizers from around the country who are collaborating on organizing a truth and reconciliation movement.  Donate to the Watershed Center and put the org name in the comment section.

Read the full letter about giving in the wake of Minneapolis by Chloe Cockburn of the Open Philanthropy Project.