Worthy Cause

The following serves as a blueprint for those who want to exchange their labor or creations for donations to charitable organizations. A qualifying organization must satisfy the following terms:

• It must engage in actual helping.
  1. The organization/cause must be non-profit, with at least 75% of its funding going towards its stated purpose. If you’d like to support an organization you don’t know as much about, read this Consumer Reports article on how to judge the efficacy of a charity.
  2. It must encourage, adopt, or otherwise enable credible and effective measures for addressing its stated goals or relevant issues. (Example: improving sanitary conditions is a credible and effective measure for preventing disease—prayer is not.)
• It must help people who need help. The organization/cause must:
  1. benefit (1) a specific vulnerable group that is listed as a federally protected class or (2) the LGBTQ community, which is not yet federally protected but should be
  2. and/or be working on behalf of the following causes: education, environmental protection, reproductive choice/health, social justice, or physical health.
• No haters. The organization/cause may not disparage any of the vulnerable groups mentioned above, or fund, encourage, engage in, or otherwise promote violence or discrimination against them. That includes, but is not limited to, any organization the SPLC has designated a hate group. Keep in mind that there are organizations that, while they are not officially listed as hate groups, still engage in activities that violate the goals and spirit of this project.
• No violence. The organization must not condone/engage in violence or tactics of intimidation to publicize or otherwise advance its goals.
• No shills or lobbyists. Organizations may not be operating on behalf of, or otherwise advancing the agenda of, any corporate entity or industry.
• The company you keep, etc. The organization may not be affiliated with any other organization, cause, or movement that violates any these terms. If you would like to support a cause/organization that is affiliated with a specific church or religious organization, make sure that that church’s teachings, goals, political endorsements, or activities do not violate these terms. (We mention churches specifically because some religious institutions—not all—occupy the conflicted position of assisting some vulnerable groups and making life very difficult for others.) Cruelty-free morality is entirely possible, and we expect nothing less.

About these guidelines

The intention of these guidelines is to serve as a blueprint for those who want to devote their efforts to supporting worthy causes. They reflect my ideas of what a worthy cause is and how it operates.

I may, from time to time, modify these according to my own values. If you have suggestions, contact me (or, if you're especially nerdy, submit a pull request on GitHub).

Usage

If you'd like to use these as they are, please include a link to worthycau.se.

version: beta - revised 20170131