Where to Give Now in Minnesota?
A short-ish list of crisis response and ongoing change organizations for those of us outside the region.
It can be hard to know where to send financial support in a crisis area when we are not connected directly to leaders and organizations there. None of the following organizations are ChangeMatters clients and we aren’t in or from the community, but I did some light desk research to create this curated list of organizations doing response and/or continued and steady change work in Minnesota right now. Even though the list is not short, it’s not exhaustive. If you have been wanting to contribute, but have been stuck about where, I am hoping that the work of at least one of the following organizations will resonate.
DIRECT NEIGHBORHOOD SUPPORT AND MUTUAL AID
Local organizers have created a curated hub listing organizations doing on-the-ground direct service, jail support, and legal defense with people harmed by the current ICE presence as Stand With Minnesota. Note that the individual GoFundMes listed, are not vetted,on principle. This link was featured and recommended about a week ago by Nonoko Sato, Executive Director of Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and has been lifted up by a number of others..
Many, probably most of these and perhaps additional opportunities to support and invest are linked in this Linktree.
If you would like to contribute to an established nonprofit organization collecting and disbursing rent relief, consider Foodhold Twin Cities, which is recommended by a Minneapolis-based client of a friend.
LEGAL SERVICES AND ADVOCACY
The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota provides free immigration legal representation to low-income immigrants and refugees in Minnesota and North Dakota. ILCM also works to educate the community about immigration matters and advocates for public policies which respect the universal human rights of immigrants. Stand with Minnesota (see above) affirms that they are providing assistance to hundreds of people with families detained by ICE. Donate here.
ACLU of Minnesota posted three days ago on Facebook that, We filed an emergency declaration in our case, Tincher v. Noem, to submit a first-hand account of federal agents shooting Alex Pretti. ICE's violent and lawless attacks on our communities must be stopped. Donate here.
FRONT LINE CIVIL RIGHTS MOBILIZING
CAIR-MN, a chapter of the national Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been organizing, supporting, educating, and working in interfaith and multicultural coalitions in Minnesota for more than a decade. You can see the work of a small staff leading intensive and very public organizing and media action on Their Facebook and their Insta. Donate here.
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING WITH WORKING FAMILIES
Unidos MN Education Fund builds power with Minnesota's working families to advance social, racial and economic justice. Stand With Minnesota (see above) describes it as an immigrant-run organization getting things done on the ground. Here is a link to learn more about the work of Unidos MN.
RAPID RESPONSE FAMILY & MEDICAL SUPPORT
The founder and former Executive Director of Sahan Journal (see below), Mukhtar M. Ibrahim, reports on LinkedIn that leaders of immigrant-led organizations in Minnesota have been working under extreme and intensified pressure, without sufficient resources. He says, “when we invest in these nonprofits [like these], we invest in the resilience and dignity of entire communities.” And I agree. Here are two examples that he cites:
CAIRO Minnesota (Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organizations) He says, Their rapid response team provides critical support for families facing ICE detention, deportation, and legal coordination, serving as a lifeline during some of the most frightening moments of people's lives. Donate here.
Inspire Change Clinic He says, Their rapid response team has been working around the clock for months now, helping pregnant women in labor, patients with chronic conditions, and countless families in crisis. This is a few-months-old nonprofit that doesn't have the financial runway to sustain this level of emergency response without immediate support. Donate here.
INDEPENDENT NEWS IN MINNESOTA
Sahan Journal is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota. Founded in August 2019, they cover education, environment, health, immigration, politics, and public safety. At a glance, the coverage is journalistic (facts and meaning), information about their coverage transparent, and the tone clear and fair. You can see their funders here. Free to read. Donate here.
RAPID RESPONSE FUNDS
Instead of choosing specific efforts to support, you may contribute to a fund that philanthropy and association professionals are managing and disbursing, such as
Immigrant Rapid Response Fund Created by a coalition of local funders, such as Minnesota Latine Fund and The Minneapolis Foundation, it is operated under The Women's Foundation of Minnesota with the purpose of moving resources quickly, responsibly, and with community accountability to trusted organizations responding to immigration-related emergencies (Urgent Basic Needs, Urgent Legal Services, and Mobilizing & Organizing) în the Twin Cities metro area and Greater Minnesota. They started making $15,000 grants January 23, 2026 and plan to continue weekly. Future grant rounds will be between $25,000 to $500,000.
Rapid Response Fund is one of five funds of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice a community foundation that invests in grassroots organizing across Minnesota that has been in operation since 1984. They have made grants for strategic organizing to local organizations in 3 rounds since September and are scheduled to do 5 more rounds before June. Donate here. This press release dated 1/28/26 describes their recent round of $10,000 grants to the following 12 organizations:
Open for Tomorrow Fund (for main street small businesses in Minnesota) This week, former client Main Street Alliance launched Open for Tomorrow Fund, a rapid-response relief fund that will provide direct micro-grants to Minnesota small businesses in crisis. They are building the grassroots fund now with applications and rolling disbursement beginning in March.
NOTE: When you’re making an online donation, watch out for the processor’s fees, which should be a reasonable and standard amount 2-5%, roughly in line with a typical credit card processing fee (paraphrase of CNN reporting). However, some platforms nudge you into giving them a much higher pre-populated *default* fee or “tip” at 15-25%, which is outrageous and a grift on the part of the tech platforms. It is perfectly ok to move this to zero or to put in a standard-sized fee.