Vital Organizations That Need Your Help After the 2016 Election
We can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch as our country sways in a direction few of us desire. As an entrepreneur and a woman who runs a consultancy focusing on social good and corporate responsibility, I personally know that we can all make a difference. And no, you don’t need to be wealthy to support those causes near and dear. Even small donations can make a HUGE difference to NGOs and advocacy groups. And if you cannot part with funds at this time, you can volunteer your time, sign petitions, share on your various social channels and certainly pick up the phone and contact your legislative leaders.
Here are some vital organizations that could use a boost given the new political era we are entering. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but ones to spark ideas and get your creativity flowing.
1. Help stop hate speech and actions via The Southern Poverty Law Center.
2. Become an abortion clinic escort. Having had to cross a picket line 27 years ago when I terminated a pregnancy, I know how painful the experience is.
3. Keep access to women’s healthcare and reproductive choice legal and affordable via Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America
4. Provide counseling and support to youth LBGT via the Trevor Project.
5. Fight the good fight against gun violence and the NRA which in no doubt will have greater power now via EveryTown and the Brady Campaign
6. Rise up to stop street harassment via Hollaback.
7. Don’t allow the media lose its vital role by supporting the Committee to Protect Journalists.
8. Join Campaign Zero to end police violence.
9. And let’s not forget about our planet. These worthy organizations are doing their part to fight climate change, save our reefs and oceans and provide important environmental education: Sierra Club, NRDC, EarthJustice and Conservation.org
10. We’ve always needed as many pro-choice women running for office as possible, but that urgency is much more vital today. Emily’s List is my go to.
11. Help find your voice, learn how to articulate it and be heard by engaging with The OpEd Project
12. Finally, While this election exposed just how large the nasty underbelly of our country’s racism, sexism, and xenophobia are, against popular belief, Donald Trump won this election for the main reason that his team members simply showed-up at the polls and voted. Hillary’s did not. So given that scenario, here are organizations that I recommend you consider supporting in order to prevent such a predicament in the future:
- ACLU
- FairVote
- Rock the Vote
- League of Women Voters
- The Brennan Center for Justice
- Fair Elections Legal Network
- Voto Latino
- All in Together
If funding is just not feasible, all things organizations will welcome your amplifying their good work, sharing their positive stories of impact and recommending others volunteer and support them. We’re in this mess together and we must work in tandem to prevent it from escalating.
The article above previously ran on the weekly platform, @TueNight.
Susan McPherson is a serial connector who believes business can be a force for good. She’s founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a social-good communications consultancy in New York City. She can be found often on Twitter at @susanmcp1.