Forest Justice Defense Fund

The mission of this fund is to "provide and promote education of the public on subjects relevant to racial justice and environmental sustainability." If your request falls under this mission, it may be eligible for reimbursement.

In the past few years, fundraisers for racial and environmental justice campaigns have been shut down by antagonistic crowdfunding platforms. Other fundraisers have seen resources disappear due to theft or negligence. To avoid these pitfalls, money raised through the Forest Defense Fund is held by an established non-profit, and made publicly accessible through the Open Collective platform. While this structure should help to secure funds from such dangers, it also entails certain restrictions on how money may be spent. This structure also requires that expenses be properly formatted for documentation, as outlined below.

Requests for reimbursement are submitted to a committee who determine eligibility for reimbursement based on consensus. To avoid the risk of having expensive purchases denied, please click the "CONTACT" button to request pre-approval for expenses over $200.

RECEIPTS

To be reimbursable, an expense must be documented. This usually means providing a receipt which shows:

    - The date of purchase
    - The items (or service) purchased
    - The money paid

The expense request must also include the payment information and name of the person being reimbursed. This information is not shared publicly.

EXPENSE DESCRIPTIONS

Items submitted to Open Collective must include a brief description outlining what expense is being reimbursed, and illustrating generally how it falls within the mission of the fund.

We cannot reimburse expenses with unclear descriptions, or descriptions which suggest they could be for an individual's benefit or related to illegal activity.

Examples of purposes clearly falling under our mission:
      - Holding a public protest to call attention to the plan to deforest South Atlanta and build Cop City
      - On-the-ground monitoring and reporting on deforestation activity
      - Hosting free recreational outdoor activities like climbing, orienteering, etc. to promote appreciation of forest environments
      - Operating an office or welcome center for the campaign
      - Procuring equipment and supplies which will assist volunteers in such purposes

Example expenses which don't qualify:
      - Paying the medical bills of an individual
      - Paying for living expenses such as food, phone, etc.
      - Buying a personal car

PRIVACY
Be aware that the description of Open Collective expenses are publicly viewable, as is the user name of the person who submitted it. But the receipts, comments, payment info, etc is only viewable by administrators of the fund.

Expenses are reimbursed via Paypal. If you cannot receive money through PayPal, consider having someone else who can receive Paypal handle the expense.