In response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest, people are rushing to donate to organizations and individuals fighting racism. For making those donations, the common advice applies: Research charitable organizations online and verify their legitimacy using tools like Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. However, those conventional guidelines are not enough in a world of grassroots social media campaigns that rely on Venmo, Cash App, GoFundMe, and other crowdfunding or peer-to-peer (P2P) payment platforms. 

Watch Out for Scams

Falling for scams is common because setting them up is easy. Requesting money is as simple as putting a P2P account name in a social media profile and then posting a call for donations in front of as many eyes as possible. If you send money through P2P or crowdfunding platforms, you may never know how the recipient uses it. Depending on the site, you may have no way to get your money back, even if you were duped.  One solution is to send financial support only to organizations vetted by third parties. But you’re not going to find all community fundraisers on Charity Navigator. Mutual aid funds may not have BBB ratings. That doesn’t mean they’re not worthy recipients, but it does mean it’s easy for scammers to pose as similarly structured causes.

Commit to Research, Trust, and Risk

If you find a person or group you want to send money to but it isn’t a registered nonprofit, take the vetting upon yourself. Look for an established online presence and history of organized work that supports anti-racist efforts. Seek out clear statements for how they will use the money. Beyond that, know that you are acting on trust and accepting some risk—just like you do with many financial decisions.

Buy Anti-Racist Works

Giving your business to anti-racist activists and educators is another way to give financial support to leaders, as well as work on your personal contributions to effecting change. Here are a few places to start:

Ibram X. Kendi, professor and director of the Anti-racist Research & Policy Center at American University, wrote “An Antiracist Reading List” published in The New York Times in 2019 and is the author of several books, including “How to Be an Antiracist.”  Rachel Cargle, an educator and writer, offers several courses in her series “The Great Unlearn,” and it is supported by a paid membership structure. Rachel Ricketts, an educator and lawyer, also leads paid online courses on committing to anti-racism.

There are dozens of highly rated anti-racist and civil rights organizations to which you can donate, and you can find such ratings on sites like Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau, and CharityWatch. You can also search for organizations that can accept tax-exempt donations using a tool on the IRS website. Don’t forget to ask your employer if it matches charitable donations, which organizations it donates to, and how to add recipients to its donation list. 

Know Your Fraud Protections

Regardless of where you make a purchase or send money, electronic transactions always come with security risks. Your credit or debit card number could get stolen, someone could use a wealth of online information to hack into one of your P2P accounts, and a data breach could expose your bank account number. All transaction platforms have different terms of use and fraud policies, but when it comes to consumer protections on payment methods, credit cards limit your liability most.  All that is to say it’s smart to make donations and purchases with a credit card when you can, but always keep an eye on your accounts for fraudulent charges regardless of what you use and where you give money. Also keep in mind that some payment processors charge fees for using credit cards but not for using debit cards.