Support Transgender Equality This #GivingTuesday
by Jami Westerhold
Created by the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in reaction to post-Thanksgiving shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday gives people around the United States and around the world a collective opportunity to contribute to the causes that are important to them.
This year, consider contributing to the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Why support NCTE?
Like many other marginalized groups in the U.S., transgender people have been attacked by the federal government since the beginning of this year. The Department of Education withdrew guidance that ensured that transgender children have equal opportunity in schools, the President declared a purge of transgender service members from the military, and health care access for everyone — especially trans people — is under threat. These attacks are in addition to ones we’ve been seeing on the state and local level, like the infamous “bathroom ban” legislation that state lawmakers around the nation have introduced year after year.
NCTE has been fighting back. We’ve beaten all but one of the 100+ “bathroom ban” bills that have been introduced around the country over the last several years, and we’re proud to have participated in efforts to stop Congress from repealing the Affordable Care Act this year.
We’re going to keep fighting — we have to. After all, we didn’t come this far to only come this far. But to be as effective as we can, we need contributions from people who understand and appreciate our work.
That’s where you come in.
Please consider donating to NCTE this year. Make a one-time gift or sign up for a monthly donation in order to sustain NCTE’s work for the long haul. There’s no better time — if you make your first gift to NCTE today or donate again at an increased rate, your gift will be matched. Donations, up to $80,000, will be doubled. Double the impact.
(We know that many of our supporters don’t have a lot of money to give! Please know that any amount you’re able to commit to NCTE does make a difference. In particular, because NCTE is a relatively small organization of about 20 staff, your dollars go further with NCTE than they would at a much larger organization.)
Some other ways to contribute
We understand that not everyone is able to contribute money to the causes they support. Here are other ways you can participate in #GivingTuesday.
Facebook fundraisers
Even if you’re not able to give, your friends may be able to! With the same amount of effort as posting a status or a selfie, Facebook’s Fundraiser function allows you to tell your friends why transgender equality is important to you, and to encourage them to donate to NCTE. And on #GivingTuesday, Facebook and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are matching donations made through the Facebook donation button on non-profits’ pages.
Here’s an example of a post you can make. Feel free to personalize it with why NCTE is important to you!
This #GivingTuesday, I’m supporting the @National Center for Transgender Equality’s critical work. As a [trans person/loved one of a trans person], it’s important to me that this organization gets as much help as it can. Will you join me?
Volunteer
Another way to contribute to transgender equality is to volunteer your time or resources to your local trans communities. Do some online sleuthing — is there a clothing drive coming up? Does your local trans community group need someone to help with social media? Is there a local political campaign for transgender equality that might need help with data entry? There might not be trans-specific groups in your area, but it never hurts to look.
No matter how you do it, thank you for supporting NCTE. It’s people like you who keep us going.
Jami Westerhold is Director of Development at NCTE.
Sign up to receive NCTE’s emails, and follow NCTE on Twitter, Facebook, and Medium for the latest news on issues affecting the transgender community. Visit transequality.org for in-depth resources and information on what you can do to support the transgender people in your life.
