Civil liberties group ACLU seeks help using anti-Trump donations
1 February 2017
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is turning to Silicon Valley after receiving a surge in funds from opponents of US President Donald Trump. The non-profit organisation received $24m (PS19m) last weekend after a controversial immigration order was issued on Friday. ACLU is teaming up with Y Combinator - which usually works with start-ups - over how to best utilise the donations. Businesses and actors are among those who've contributed. The donations made online at the weekend were six times the yearly average the organisation receives, with ACLU executive director Anthony Romero saying there had been an "unprecedented" public reaction to the new administration. The California-based firm is described as an accelerator, or incubator. It helps its clients - usually start-ups - with funding as well as mentorship and networking. It typically deals with young companies looking to grow, but has dealt with mature organisations in the past. Executives from firms including Airbnb, Dropbox and Reddit have graduated through its three-month programme in Silicon Valley. As well as enrolling the ACLU in its winter programme, Y Combinator said it was contributing an undisclosed sum of money and would send some of its staff to the ACLU's New York offices. Y Combinator's founder Sam Altman, an outspoken critic of Mr Trump's, said: "We've been talking to them (ACLU) for some time. We were generally planning to get started more slowly, but things are so urgent now." In a series of tweets responding to criticism about getting involved he added: "I'm hopeful we can help in limited places where we have relevant expertise and otherwise stay out of their way. "Even non-tech companies need some tech eg for accepting donations." One of Y Combinator's partners is billionaire investor and Paypal founder Peter Thiel, who also serves as an adviser to Mr Trump. Mr Trump's executive order bans immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the country for 90 days. The US refugee program has also been suspended for 120 days. The ACLU, which has been around for about a century,  was among the first to react to the order. It filed a lawsuit which led a federal judge to halt deportations of people detained in US airports. Along with the Urban Justice Center and the state of New York, it has also launched a lawsuit against the order. US ride-sharing company Lyft is among the big donors, and has pledged $1m over the next four years. Actress Kerry Washington asked fans to help celebrate her birthday by donating to the ACLU while popstar Sia tweeted that she would match donations of up to $100,000. The intense backlash against the new policies has led to increased donations to multiple organisations whose causes run counter to his administration. Pro-choice group Planned Parenthood, for example, logged 80,000 donations just days after the election. GQ magazine has called the trend "rise of the rage donation".
The California-based firm is described as an accelerator, or incubator. It helps its clients - usually start-ups - with funding as well as mentorship and networking. It typically deals with young companies looking to grow, but has dealt with mature organisations in the past. Executives from firms including Airbnb, Dropbox and Reddit have graduated through its three-month programme in Silicon Valley. As well as enrolling the ACLU in its winter programme, Y Combinator said it was contributing an undisclosed sum of money and would send some of its staff to the ACLU's New York offices. Y Combinator's founder Sam Altman, an outspoken critic of Mr Trump's, said: "We've been talking to them (ACLU) for some time. We were generally planning to get started more slowly, but things are so urgent now." In a series of tweets responding to criticism about getting involved he added: "I'm hopeful we can help in limited places where we have relevant expertise and otherwise stay out of their way. "Even non-tech companies need some tech eg for accepting donations." One of Y Combinator's partners is billionaire investor and Paypal founder Peter Thiel, who also serves as an adviser to Mr Trump.
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How could Y Combinator help ACLU?
Mr Trump's executive order bans immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the country for 90 days. The US refugee program has also been suspended for 120 days. The ACLU, which has been around for about a century,  was among the first to react to the order. It filed a lawsuit which led a federal judge to halt deportations of people detained in US airports. Along with the Urban Justice Center and the state of New York, it has also launched a lawsuit against the order. US ride-sharing company Lyft is among the big donors, and has pledged $1m over the next four years. Actress Kerry Washington asked fans to help celebrate her birthday by donating to the ACLU while popstar Sia tweeted that she would match donations of up to $100,000.
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What spurred the ACLU support?
The intense backlash against the new policies has led to increased donations to multiple organisations whose causes run counter to his administration. Pro-choice group Planned Parenthood, for example, logged 80,000 donations just days after the election. GQ magazine has called the trend "rise of the rage donation".
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Are the ACLU the only Trump opponents getting cash?