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.
CELDF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law. EIN: 25-1760934
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.
Qualified Charitable Deductions (QCDs)
Give through your IRA. If you are 70 ½ or older, you may be able to make a tax-free gift directly from your IRA to CELDF, helping meet required minimum distributions while supporting this work.
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)
Give through your donor-advised fund. 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
Planned Gifts
Extend your impact beyond today Include CELDF in your will or name us as a beneficiary to help ensure this work continues for generations. Legacy gifts are flexible and cost nothing today.
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.
If you are 70 ½ or older, you may be able to make a tax-free charitable gift directly from your IRA to CELDF — known as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). A QCD can satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) while reducing your taxable income, up to $105,000 per year.
To make a QCD, contact your IRA administrator and ask them to transfer funds directly to CELDF. Please ask them to include your name and mailing address, and to note that the transfer is a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, Tax ID/EIN: 25-1760934, PO Box 360, Mercersburg, PA 17236
Questions? Contact Stacey Schmader, CFO, at stacey@celdf.org.
If you would like to give anonymously, please email stacey@celdf.org with “Anonymous Donation” in the subject line.
