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Ralph Nader > In the Public Interest > Your Generous Support of Working Civic Groups Matters

Your Generous Support of Working Civic Groups Matters

By Ralph Nader
December 19, 2025

People of generous intent often ask us about giving to nonprofit civic organizations making this a better world. They want to be sure any deductible contributions they make are put to good use and not used to pay for high executive salaries or bureaucratic overload.

The list of groups compiled for you below are very worthy, effective, honest groups – all 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations – that I have contributed to over the years. You can see for yourselves by visiting their websites.

I’ve added two unique organizations started by alumni classes of Princeton (Princeton Alumni Corps, formerly Princeton Project 55) and Harvard Law School (Appleseed Foundation), which you may want to learn about in case your alumni class (starting with its 25th reunion) wants to launch a civic advocacy group with a full-time staff. My alumni classes at these universities pioneered this model decades ago, and you can see what they are accomplishing by going to their respective websites, noted below.

If you wish to tell me what you’ve done with your alumni class, email [email protected]. There are few citizen endeavors more important than starting new civic institutions to strengthen our dwindling democracy.