Photo Credit: CatLane
Earlier this year, we addressed the business case for preventing sexual violence and protecting survivors amid a series of federal actions that cut budgets and impeded sexual violence prevention work. Since then, the landscape for rape crisis centers and other victim services organizations has further devolved for so many of these centers due to more proposed cuts and shutdowns at federal and state levels.
In a climate that seems increasingly unsupportive to victim services and survivors by the day, it’s important for communities to step up. This week, we’re diving into the importance of leveraging the giving season to donate to and uplift rape crisis centers.
The national landscape for anti-sexual violence organization funding has been dire for quite some time. According to National Alliance to End Sexual Violence’s 2025 Rape Crisis Center Annual Survey, 40% of centers saw a decrease in funding while 60% saw an increase in demand for services. These findings, collected in 2024, have undoubtedly further deteriorated this year due to federal policy changes. This impacts rape crisis centers’ capacity to provide the following services:
-Therapy and Counseling
-Relocation, Transportation, and Safe Housing (Particularly for Human Trafficking Survivors)
-Prevention Education
-Legal Assistance
-Mental Health and Emergency Hotlines
While organizations struggle to provide these services and, as a consequence of the strain, experience staff burnout, survivors themselves are left on waitlists, longer hotline response times, or are outright turned away due to limited capacity.
Unfortunately, the urgency of the need does not align with national giving patterns. In No More’s 2025 report, “A Fragile Lifeline: How Funding Threats are Endangering Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention & Response”, they note that, “less than 2% of charitable giving in the US goes toward causes that support women and girls, and just 0.31% of that is directed towards addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG).” When philanthropic giving doesn’t even account for 10% of nonprofit revenue, with the remaining portion of their budget covered by federal and state grants that are rapidly dwindling, this lack of support is felt even stronger.
The lack of charitable support for rape crisis centers can be due to a variety of factors, including:
-Stigma surrounding survivors of sexual and gender-based violence
-Discomfort and taboo surrounding the topic of sexual violence
-Desire for donations that lead to immediate solutions rather than investing in a long-term mission
However, we believe that these factors can all be combatted by reorienting our understanding of the giving season.
What if we transformed it from a moment of giving to building a foundation of allyship and support?
What if we saw the giving season as not just a momentary demonstration of compassion, but as a mission statement to commit to safety, equity, and wellness for all?
What if we saw survivors as vital members of our community, regarded sexual violence prevention as a matter of public health, and treated giving as a reaffirmation of our values — as workplaces, neighbors, and allies?
This December, we encourage workplaces to support their local rape crisis centers and women’s shelters. These organizations can be found using RALIANCE’s Rape Crisis Directory. Whether it’s through matched donations, hosted drives or fundraisers, or social media amplification, employers can make a tangible difference by donating the following:
Funds
The greatest support that can be provided on an organizational and individual level is a monetary contribution. These donations allow for the center to allocate money to the areas in their operational budget that have the greatest need.
Clothing
Survivors, particularly survivors who had to leave an unsafe household, have a serious need for clothing. Gift cards for socks and undergarments, as well as new and gently used clothing, are amongst the most important gifts survivors can receive.
Bathroom and Sanitary Products
For housing insecure survivors (and their children), items such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, conditioner, pads, tampons, diapers, and breastfeeding supplies are essential. Contact your local center to see what products they will and will not accept, and of which they are in the greatest need.
Toys
Sexual violence causes immense and long-term financial burdens on survivors, and because of this they may not be in the best position to provide their children with gifts this holiday season. Toys bring joy and relief in what is often an incredibly emotionally distressing and draining period in their lives.
Giving Tuesday and the whole month of December is a chance for every workplace and community member to demonstrate their compassion and longstanding commitment to survivors in their community. We hope to see workplaces across the nation channel their energy, this month and every month, to supporting rape crisis centers so that they can continue to operate and provide for everyone who needs them.
Use our Rape Crisis Center Directory to find a center near you and reach out today.
RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.