In one of our board meetings a couple weeks ago we decided to develop a campaign focusing on our monthly donors. Obviously then, we had to check our current situation to know what is the groundwork for this campaign and how to approach it. Currently, we have 12 monthly donors. Not outside what we already knew, but the shocking factor was that apart from one of them, who has a private connection to one of our board members, all other 11 donors are Trans people.
Such numbers show us that in terms of continuous support we are Trans people working to redirect the money of Trans people towards other Trans people who are in emergency situations. There is a beautiful feeling of us-for-us in this state of affairs but we are an oppressed community and we need our cis allies to do better. The very Trans people supporting us and ourselves still go through many of the discriminatory oppressive circumstances of this society as much as the Trans people we support. Having the capacity to donate our work or money does not make us any less Trans and for that reason we ask: where are our cis allies? We understand that not all cis people have financial means to donate high amounts monthly, but we are sure that all of you could spare a coffee out in town every 30 days to support a cause many of you declare to be important for you.
Regardless of financial capacity, continuity and quantity are very important for us as we try to establish a monthly system for our donations as well. From February on, we open applications from the 1st to the 3rd of every month and get back to all applicants by the 5th. We then set up all the necessary documents to follow through with the donations within the next few weeks. However, for that system to work we need a steady income to keep up with the rising number of applicants. With 100 donors at a medium donation value of 50 Swiss Francs, we would be able to secure 5’000,- Swiss Francs in donations monthly and that would very much be a game changer for us.
Whether you donate 5 or 500 every month, the important thing is that we can only achieve those goals through a collective effort. Tell your family members, friends and co-workers to join in as well. Help us support Trans lives in emergency situations by creating a culture of support and a community built on allyship, which is by definition “a lifelong process of building and nurturing supportive relationships with underrepresented, marginalized, or discriminated individuals or groups with the aim of advancing inclusion” (P. Luthra, 2022).