What is Mutual Aid? Benefits and Fundraising Tips
Mutual aid has been around for decades, but it has had a somewhat recent resurgence. Read on to learn what mutual aid is and how you can fundraise for it.
Brittan Stockert
Mutual aid has been around for decades, but it has had a somewhat recent resurgence. Read on to learn what mutual aid is and how you can fundraise for it.
It was the height of COVID-19, and everything felt uncertain. Supply chains were iffy, you couldn’t find staples like toilet paper and diapers on the shelves anywhere, and government agencies and nonprofits were still trying to figure out how to best respond.
In the meantime, my neighbors didn’t wait for systems to catch up. They quickly jumped in and formed networks using whatever they had. They coordinated masks, hand sanitizer, rides to testing sites, groceries, meds, and even emotional door-to-door check-ins.
What I didn’t know at the time was that this was mutual aid – people refusing to wait for permission to take care of one another.
The support was fast, flexible, and deeply personal. One week you were getting help, on the receiving end; the next, you were the one dropping off a care package to an elderly neighbor.
As someone who has worked within a formal philanthropic structure for the last 20 years at nonprofits, NGOs, and social enterprises, this experience changed the way I think about giving. It’s not just something that we belong to or have to depend on, but something we actively build together within our communities.
In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at mutual aid – how it works, how it started, and how to fundraise for it.
Mutual aid is community care in action. It’s when neighbors, friends, and even strangers come together to pool resources, show up for one another, and fill in when governments and nonprofits can’t or won’t.
When a mutual aid group or society forms, it’s built on the following principles:
These principles of “solidarity, not charity” lead to significant benefits for everyone involved, from better access to much-needed resources to emotional and social support.
And while it might feel like a recent movement, it’s actually been around for a long time!
The term “mutual aid” was coined by Peter Kropotkin in the late 19th century. But the idea of communities coming together to help each other has been around as long as humans have – and it’s still flourishing today.
We’ve seen mutual aid throughout history, from early labor unions pooling membership dues to help their injured workers to communities building informal safety nets when societies and governments weren’t able to serve them.
With the resurgence of mutual aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re still seeing new mutual aid groups come up to help with everything from refugee resettlement to disaster relief – right alongside our traditional nonprofit partners.
From Hurricane Helene to the Los Angeles Wildfires to aid for wars around the world, people have jumped into action. In addition to supporting big-name organizations doing essential work on the ground, people are also stepping up in real time to directly help their neighbors.
Here’s a breakdown of perceived differences between mutual aid and charity:
| Qualities | Mutual Aid | Charity |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Community care, collective support, and shared responsibility | One way giving from donor to recipient |
| Power | Recipient and community-led, egalitarian, horizontal decision making | Hierarchical, often donor driven |
| Action | Active by all, accessible to everyone to give and receive | Often perceived as passive, where help is received |
| Impact | Builds long-term trust, solidarity, and resilience | Addresses immediate and long-term needs, but may not always address root causes |
It’s important to note that this table is built on perceptions. Often people have the idea that one approach is superior to the other – but when we think about how communities come together to support each other, we must understand what both mutual aid and charity bring to the table.
I see a real opportunity to blend the best of both approaches, creating a more collaborative and efficient way to respond to urgent needs while also addressing systemic, long-term challenges.
For nonprofits, we can rethink how we engage with our communities. We can become more flexible and relational, less transactional in our approach. Perhaps we can break down the barriers we sometimes put up in formal giving settings, making sure our supporters (not just our donors) feel included and empowered to give.
For mutual aid groups, finding a way to streamline processes and improve documentation without formalizing a power structure could better sustain long-term impact. All while keeping the spirit of community trust and participation intact.
Both of these approaches can work together to be even stronger, more impactful, and mutually beneficial.
If you’re trying to make a difference in your community with a mutual aid society, fundraising is often the first step. With funds raised from the community, you can buy supplies or share the money directly with others in need.
Here are 4 fundraising strategies for you to try.
This fundraising strategy is the name of the game when it comes to mutual aid fundraising. Crowdfunding involves collecting donations from many people to fund one goal. This makes it ideal for connecting with your community to provide mutual support.
For example, New Hampshire Mutual Aid Relief Fund is a grassroots effort that believes in meeting the needs of the community through direct action and solidarity. Their main project is their Free Stores, which are similar to food pantries but offer a larger selection of items.
We love how they point out how important monthly donations are to their cause right on their donation form. This encourages donors to set up recurring donations for regular, sustaining support.
Donorbox’s crowdfunding tool allows you to tell your story using images, videos, and text. Plus, showcase your goal on a goal meter, build social proof with a donor wall, and share regular updates on your crowdfunding page. Anyone who signs up for your updates will receive them via email automatically.
Launch Your Crowdfunding Campaign
If crowdfunding is the key to mutual aid fundraising, social media is the key to crowdfunding.
Once you have your crowdfunding campaign set up, connect with like-minded changemakers online through social media. Encourage them to mobilize and share your crowdfunding campaign to bring in more support for your community.
Remember to always focus on needs – keep your campaign’s purpose at the center of everything you do.
Pro tip: Stick with the platforms your supporters use. While you may get a few random donations from LinkedIn, your community may be more responsive on Instagram. Save yourself the stress and focus on the platforms where you can have the most impact.
Sometimes, the best way to raise funds for your mutual aid group is out in public with your community.
A donation kiosk or on-the-go payment solution is a great way to collect in-person donations in today’s near-cashless world. Make it easy for supporters to give what they can with just a tap of a card, smartphone, or smartwatch.
How to get started: Download the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app onto your tablet (with connected card reader) or NFC-enabled Android smartphone. Then head over to your Donorbox account to customize your In-Person Campaign with your logo, color, calls to action, and other settings. With 17 languages supported, more people who wish to give will feel welcome to do so.
Learn more about setting up your donation kiosk here.
If someone is giving to your mutual aid campaign, they want confirmation that their support is going to the right place.
Just as charities build donor and public trust by specifically tying contributions to impact, mutual aid groups should do the same, but in a way that deeply aligns with community values.
Also, instead of relying on formal financial reports like 990s to build public trust, mutual aid groups should use more informal and relational tools, like social media, to share impact.
Be sure to include these key elements in your mutual aid updates to the community:
These updates you provide should create a personal connection with your audience, while hopefully inspiring more people to get involved and donate.
Mutual aid is built on the foundation of community, trust, and the power of people stepping up to support each other. But to keep that momentum going, you need tools that truly support this type of giving. That’s where Donorbox comes in.
Many of the tools that mutual aid groups currently use, like some crowdfunding platforms, don’t support long-term giving or recurring donations. And without visibility into who’s giving frequently, it can be hard to build strong relationships with your most loyal supporters.
Donorbox is designed to help you do just that. Our platform makes it simple to set up crowdfunding campaigns, encourage monthly donations, and keep track of your donors’ activity, so you can nurture ongoing, meaningful relationships.
More than 100,000 organizations have used Donorbox to raise a collective $3 billion and counting. If you’re ready to ramp up your mutual aid fundraising efforts and create a lasting impact in your community, sign up today and start fundraising in minutes.
For more fundraising tips, check out the rest of our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a curated selection of blog articles in your inbox every month.
Brittan Stockert serves as a Fundraiser Coach at Donorbox. With over 20 years of experience in the public sector, she’s passionate about helping nonprofits, NGOs and social enterprises create effective, sustainable fundraising strategies. Brittan focuses on building stronger donor relationships, refining CRM systems, and simplifying the entire fundraising process to make it easier for organizations to thrive.
She also co-hosts a podcast where she shares practical, no-nonsense tips to help nonprofit leaders feel more confident and less overwhelmed in their fundraising efforts. Outside of work, Brittan serves on the board of an immigrant- and refugee-led nonprofit, volunteers with mutual aid groups, and is an active member of her local PTA.
She’s a proud mom to two kids (one neurodivergent) and a dog mom who loves mountaineering and outdoor adventures. Based in Seattle, Brittan loves connecting with nonprofit professionals and sharing her knowledge to help them succeed.
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