Anti-Trafficking Nonprofit Rejects $25,000 Donation from Craigslist

Yesterday might have been the answer to all the financial woes of one small, Minnesota-based nonprofit organization — they got an unexpected, unsolicited check for $25,000 in the mail. While the cash could have covered the 30% drop in donations due to the recession, the charity felt compelled to return the money. Why? The cash came from the Craigslist Charitable Foundation, and the nonprofit, Advocates for Human Rights, has documented human trafficking cases on Craigslist.

Craigslist's name is less mud than it is a massive, rapidly eroding landslide these days, thanks to a lot of recent heat for their prolific commercial sex advertising. Groups working to investigate and fight human trafficking around the country have identified child and adult human trafficking victims for sale on Craigslist. And those ads mean millions of dollars for Craigslist, and an easy way for pimps to sell trafficked people. Rachel Lloyd, the Director of the anti-trafficking organization GEMS, even wrote an open letter to Craigslist CEO about the rampant abuse. But Craigslist refuses to change.

For Advocates from Human Rights, that means that cash from Craigslist, no matter how needed, is tainted and unwelcome. In a statement about the decision to return the money, the organization pointed out, "It is the exploitative behavior resulting from these ads that makes our efforts necessary."

I've worked for small nonprofit organizations with the kind of budget where paper clips are tightly rationed and a company splurge is glossy card stock, so I can appreciate the enormity of their choice to give back that money. Sure $25,000 could have done a lot of good. But right now, an anti-trafficking organization taking cash from Craigslist is like a cancer home taking cash from a tobacco company. Sure, it will help people. But it legitimizes the reason those people are suffering in the first place. And the cancer of human trafficking is facilitated by Craigslist.

Craigslist, why don't you use that $25,000 to buy and install better filtering software, train more people to screen ads, or work more closely with law enforcement to identify human trafficking cases? Then, maybe, people will be willing to accept your money.

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