Donation FAQs

How will my donation be used?  Donations to CCJ are used to cover our ongoing expenses, pay for legal support, and to provide direct assistance to community members who are directly impacted by state violence. If you would like your donation to be used for a specific project or need, contact a member of the leadership team to discuss your ideas.

What are your ongoing expenses?: As a grassroots organization, we incur very few expenses — we don’t rent an office, we don’t have a huge staff, and we don’t create a lot of overhead. But we do have some monthly expenses. CCJ is lucky to have a permanent office and meeting space in Eastdale Village Community Methodist Church, and in return we pay a monthly donation to the congregation. We also regularly buy supplies for our member meetings, Communiversity, and other events.

What kind of legal support do you pay for?: CCJ believes in direct action and a diversity of tactics in the struggle for liberation, and sometimes that struggle leads to an arrest or other legal bind. When this happens, we rely on our legal support fund to pay for a lawyer who shares our values. However, we do not pay the legal fees of agitators who act in a dangerous or unprincipled way during CCJ marches or actions.

What do you mean by Direct Assistance?  Being cash poor gets damn expensive. CCJ occasionally gives direct financial assistance to members to help keep their rent paid, lights on, and cupboards full, so that they don’t have to resort to taking out a predatory payday loan or another high-risk option.

Is my donation tax deductible? Concerned Citizens for Justice is not a registered non-profit, so your donation cannot be deducted from your taxes. But if you’re only donating so you can get a tax break… we don’t want your money.

Why aren’t you a 501c(3) non-profit organization? Concerned Citizens for Justice definitely doesn’t make any profits, but we are not a 501c(3) organization. As a leftist organization that is fundamentally anti-capitalist, we believe that registering with the government as a 501c(3) would be an unprincipled compromise. When non-profits register with the government and begin accepting funds from corporate donors and state or federal grants, several things happen:

  • The government is able to more closely monitor the activities of the organization
  • The organization is forced to take direction from their donors
  • The organization tacitly endorses the activities of their donors by accepting their funds, and inevitably censors the speech and actions of members who criticize the donors
  • The organization is seen as a potential career path, not a liberatory movement open to the masses
  • Corporations and governments are able to hide their motives through “philanthropic” work

To learn more about these issues, check out Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex.

CCJ members and servant-leaders do this work because we believe that it is right, and we are passionate about liberation. We have never, and will never, do it for our own personal financial gain.

I can’t give any money right now. How else can I support your work?  CCJ always welcomes new members and volunteers. Check out our Calendar of events and get in where you fit in! If you are interested in making in-kind donations, contact us.