It’s the season of giving, and some advocacy groups have been experiencing an outpouring of generosity unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.
Donations to these organizations saw an uptick after the Nov. 8 election, and it seems that many of these contributions are a partisan response to the election and policies of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Gov. Mike Pence.
Since the election, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, has received more donations than it received in the past fiscal year, according to Ali Slocum, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health services.
“Typically, in a fiscal year we receive about $8,000 – a little over $8,000 in the fiscal year 2016,” she said. “Since Nov. 8, we’ve received over $9,000, so we’ve superseded the entire amount of the gifts that were given in fiscal year 2016.”
The organization’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
More than $5,000 of the contributions since the election have been made in honor of Pence. The tongue-in-cheek donations, a response to the governor’s stance against abortion, started pouring in right after the election. The idea was first posted on an Instagram account (not affiliated with Planned Parenthood) and quickly spread on social media.
As of Dec. 12, nationally the organization has received over $82,000 in donations made in Pence’s name.
“People are responding in ways we’ve never seen before,” Slocum said.
The election of Trump and Pence ushered in an era of uncertainty, she said. Trump has never held public office and hasn’t been clear about his stance on reproductive health, she said, however, Pence’s track record as Indiana’s governor has some people worried about the future of Planned Parenthood with Pence holding the second highest office in the land.
“People are reaching out because they are angry and disappointed or disheartened about the election results,” Slocum said.
“At the end of the day, our supporters are coming out of the woodwork to fight for us. They recognize when patients take control of their destiny by taking control of their health care and making their own health care choices that that really does change lives.
They recognize that Planned Parenthood, especially Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, is going to stand up to any and all who try to erect barriers to essential services and interfere with anyone’s ability to make their own medical decisions.”
Freedom Indiana, a statewide grassroots campaign working to update Indiana’s civil rights law to protect gay and transgender Hoosiers from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, is another group that has seen a surge in donations after the election, according to Chris Paulsen, the group’s campaign manager.
The group was founded in 2012 in response to Indiana House Joint Resolution 3, a proposed amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in Indiana. After a period of inactivity, its members rallied once again; this time prompted by Indiana Senate Bill 101, titled the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which Pence signed into law in 2015. The bill highlighted the need to update existing laws against discrimination to include gay and transgender people, according to Freedom Indiana’s website.
“We educate both everyday Hoosiers and legislators on LGBT issues,” Paulsen said. “We’re pushing for full, non-discrimination rights for LGBT Hoosiers.”
Freedom Indiana receives funding from national advocacy partners, local businesses and individual donors. More than half of funding comes from businesses, Paulsen said.
An increase in giving around the holidays isn’t unusual, she said, but the group saw an increase in donations earlier than normal.
“Normally we see it more during December, but we definitely saw an uptick in donations directly following the Nov. 8 election,” she said. “I think that was a direct reaction to the election results.”
Donors were likely motivated by a desire to have their voices heard, Paulsen said.
“As we’ve seen in polling, about 58.5 percent of Hoosiers think there should be full LGBT protection statewide, and I think people just wanted to put their money where their beliefs are,” she said. “They know that it might be a little tougher to get those protections, and they’re willing to step up and help us fund that work.”