Great organizations to donate to

Jonathan

05 Sep 2025 — 2 min read

These is a list in formation of organizations that I think are worth contributing to to protect and restore our democracy.

For the rationale behind this list, please see
"Why donating to campaigns is a poor use of your limited resources"

Election related:
These groups in key states are not working to elect candidates but to engage people from marginalized communities in the electoral process. Some also do other work in those communities. This is more effective than electoral get-out-the-vote work. These are in key states:
NC: Carolina Federation
MI: Michigan United
PA: Make the Road PA
NM: Semilla Action
GA: Fair Fight
FL: Florida Rising
U.S.: Center for Common Ground

Press and Press Freedom: The press is under incredible attack.
See this report:
Chokehold: Donald Trump’s War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance
And then contribute to these groups trying to protect the press
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Reporters Committee to Protect Journalists

I would be remiss not to mention the organization I help run
The Media and Democracy Project (donate here)
We have a Local News Directory to find outlets "worth reading and supporting"
And there is an excellent network of state newsrooms with the creative name of States Newsrooms.
I hope you will follow the one in your state (and perhaps support it)

Other information infrastructure:
Wikipedia
Internet Archive / Wayback Machine

Corruption is also a huge problem. Here are two of the all-to-few orgs fighting it
Project on Government Oversight (POGO)
Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

The Brennan Center for Justice does excellent work in a variety of issues to protect democracy

These next few are scrappy, local NYC and state organizations that I know and respect. They are not directly fighting authoritarianism but a sense of community empowerment is essential to do so and they are excellent in that regard.

Environment:
WE ACT for environmental justice
Justice and carceral reform
Alliance of Families for Justice
Open government
NY Coalition for Open Government
Reinvent Albany

"Why donating to campaigns is a poor use of your limited resources"

This is addressed to people, like myself, who care deeply about the outcome of our coming elections. I hope to convince you that, despite that fact, your donations are much better spent elsewhere. Where? I cover that in this post. I do recognize, of course, that candidates need money, but

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"Why donating to campaigns is a poor use of your limited resources"

ACT TODAY to protect voting systems and your privacy.

This is a Constitutional crisis

Happy Winter