Donations
Help Build a World Where Communities and Nature Have Rights.
Your gift powers expanded action grassroots support + training, legal strategies, and bold action to shift power from corporations to people and the broader natural world.
EFT “Bank Account” donations below $150 MAY require micro-deposits that REQUIRE YOUR verifiCATION in order to proceed. cONTACT YOUR BANK WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.
CELDF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law. EIN: 25-1760934
Interested in giving through a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) instead?
Get started now, or visit here to learn more.
CELDF Declares Disruption – 2026 Mid-Year Campaign!
CELDF declares disruption! Our frontline community support is about disrupting corporate power. Our education and training programs are about disrupting false narratives and ineffective organizing. Our movement lawyering is about disrupting unjust law and opening up new legal frontiers for people and ecosystems.
Our 30+ years of truth telling through organizing support, education, and legal services has been about disrupting systemic inequality in order to usher in right-relationship.
Celebrate and support CELDF’s Declaring Disruption Campaign by reading our mid-year impact report and donating to CELDF to help us meet our 50/20 goals! – Raising $50,000 and welcoming 20 new donors.
What Your Support Makes Possible
300+
communities served across the U.S.
30 years
of frontline legal and organizing support
$20M+
in pro bono and low-cost services
500
community inquiries and 150 consultations in 2025 alone
From passing local rights ordinances to challenging corporate control of waterways, CELDF works where the stakes are highest and where communities most need backup.
“CELDF helped our community do something we didn’t think was possible. They didn’t just give us legal advice. They helped us understand our own power.” — Community organizer, Midwest
CELDF’s work has been covered by Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Common Dreams, and Native News Online, and featured in documentary films including Invisible Hand (produced by Mark Ruffalo, 2021), Hellbent (2023), and What We Do To Nature, We Do To Ourselves (2024).
WAYS TO GIVE
One Time Gift
Support CELDF today. Make a one-time contribution to support communities defending their rights, protecting their land, and advancing democratic self-governance.
Monthly Giving
Sustain this work year-round. Become a monthly donor and provide steady support for long-term community defense and legal advocacy.
By Mail
Make checks payable to CELDF and mail to:
CELDF, PO Box 360, Mercersburg, PA 17236.
Please include your full name and address.
Stocks & Investments
Give appreciated assets. Donate stock or other investments to support CELDF’s mission while potentially receiving tax benefits. Gifts of securities are a powerful way to give without using cash.
Give Through Your IRA
If you are 70 ½ or older, make a tax-free charitable gift directly from your IRA to CELDF — known as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), which can satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) while reducing your taxable income.
Contact your IRA administrator and ask to transfer funds to CELDF. Include your name and mailing address, and note that it is a QCD.
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)
Recommend a grant to CELDF through Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, Amalgamated Charitable, or another sponsoring organization. Provide your fund sponsor with the following: Legal Name: Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
Tax ID/EIN: 25-1760934
Address: PO Box 360, Mercersburg, PA 17236
Leave a Lasting Legacy
Some supporters choose to include CELDF in their will or name us as a beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy. Legacy gifts are flexible, cost nothing today, and can be updated at any time.
Resistance without resilience is burnout. A legacy gift is resilience.
Major Gifts
Considering a gift of $10,000 or more? We would welcome a conversation about matching your priorities to our work.
Contact Stacey Schmader, CFO, at stacey@celdf.org, or click the button to use our general contact form.
