USA TODAY International Edition
‘Rage giving’ fuels border crisis fundraising
Ease of donation has changed charitable gifts
SAN FRANCISCO – Dahlia Adler Fisch says she has donated hundreds of dollars in the past week to organizations all over the country helping children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
These small acts of armchair resistance are a release valve for pent-up feelings of helplessness, despair and fury with the Trump administration, Fisch says. Tapping a button to donate to a nonprofit on the front lines makes her feel, at least for a moment, more involved and more in control.
“I find sadness debilitating. It doesn’t help anyone. But giving really does. It takes away that powerlessness,” says Fisch, a 34-year-old author from New York.
This “rage giving” is fueling a viral Facebook campaign which as of Sunday morning topped $20 million in donations for immigrant families swept up in the border crisis.
This new form of political protest took off in the tense aftermath of President Trump’s election. Progressives began throwing money at causes such as women’s rights, climate change and immigration advocacy to express their bottled-up frustration with the administration’s policies. Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy that triggered an international outcry is the latest iteration of rage giving, says Elizabeth Dale, assistant professor of nonprofit leadership at Seattle University.
“Donating is more than just being outraged on social media, or among friends and family. It is tangible, it’s something that people can do, often without much personal cost to themselves,” Dale said. “There is a psychological effect to charitable giving – the idea that I can do something, even if it’s contributing a $50 or $100 gift – that can alleviate feelings of guilt, or demonstrate a person’s morals and values.”
The surge in donations has contributed to record charitable giving, with a sharp rise in individual donors, particularly Democrats, expressing their frustration not at the polls, protest marches or by calling representatives, but by reaching for their wallets.
“Ever since Trump’s election, we’ve seen a wave of activism that consistently breaks records of activists engaged and money raised,” says Brian Young, executive director of Action Network, which provides digital tools to nonprofits. “But what has happened over the last few days has been more than anything we’ve seen.”
A Silicon Valley couple have raised millions to reunite immigrant parents with their children.
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to keep migrant families together at the border. By then, more than 220,000 people pushed the total over $12 million, surpassing expectations for Charlotte and Dave Willner’s fundraiser.
Their efforts led to a viral movement on Facebook to fund a nonprofit in Texas. In 13 hours, people gave $4 million from all over the world.