Editing American Civil Liberties Union (section)

==Funding==
[[File:2012- ACLU ACLUF donations.png|thumb | right | 300px | Amounts reported to IRS as "Contributions, Gifts, Grants and Other Similar Amounts" by ACLU and ACLU Foundation.<ref>IRS Forms 990, part VIII, Line 1 – "Contributions, Gifts, Grants and Other Similar Amounts"
<br>{{nbsp|3}} — for ACLU for periods ending March 31 of [https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024623/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/aclu_fy12_990_public_disclosure_copy_for_website.pdf 2012],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024611/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU%20FY13%20IRS%20990%20(public%20version).pdf 2013],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024601/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU%20Form%20990%20Public%20Disclosure%20Copy.pdf 2014],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024549/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU%20Form%20990%20FY15%20public%20disclosure.pdf 2015], [https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024539/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU_Form_990_FY16_public_disclosure.pdf 2016]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024528/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU_Form_990_FY17_Public_Disclosure.pdf 2017],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20181205185929/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/American_Civil_Liberties_Union_Inc_3-31-2018_Tax_Return.pdf 2018], 
[https://web.archive.org/web/20220202231648/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/fy2019_990_aclu_public_disclosure.pdf 2019],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20201202044826/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/2019_aclu_form_990_public_disclosure_copy.pdf 2020],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20220224223625/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/2020_aclu_form_990_public_disclosure_copy.pdf 2021],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20230213045925/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/aclu_form_990_signed_public_disclosure_copy_1.pdf 2022],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20240621045644/https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/06/990-ACLU-FY23-3.31.23.pdf 2023],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20241212214605/https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/12/990-ACLU-FY24-3.31.24.pdf 2024]
<br>{{nbsp|3}} — for ACLU ''Foundation'' for periods ending March 31 of
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024726/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/acluf_fy12_990_public_disclosure_copy_for_website.pdf 2012],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024716/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLUF%20FY13%20IRS%20990%20(public%20version).pdf 2013],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024705/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLUF%20Form%20990%20Public%20Disclosure%20Copy.pdf 2014],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024654/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU%20Foundation%20Form%20990%20FY15%20public%20disclosure.pdf 2015],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024644/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLU_Foundation_Form_990_FY16_public_disclosure.PDF 2016],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180824024633/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/ACLUF_Form_990_FY17_Public_Disclosure.pdf 2017],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20181205190404/https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/American_Civil_Liberties_Union_Foundation_Inc_3-31-2018_Tax_Return.pdf 2018], 
[https://web.archive.org/web/20220202231650/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/fy2019_990_aclu_foundation_public_disclosure.pdf 2019],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20201202044854/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/2019_acluf_form_990_public_disclosure_copy.pdf 2020],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20220224223619/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/2020_acluf_form_990_public_disclosure_copy.pdf 2021],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20230213050034/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/acluf_signed_form_990_public_disclosure_copy.pdf 2022],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20240621045821/https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/06/990-ACLUF-FY23-3.31.23.pdf 2023],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20241212214536/https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/12/990-ACLUF-FY24-3.31.24.pdf 2024]
<br>{{nbsp|3}}—(text labels in graph rounded to nearest million).</ref> Graph reflects an increase in donations following U.S. President Trump's January 2017 executive order barring millions of refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.<ref name=NYTimes20170130>{{cite news |last1=Stack |first1=Liam |title=Donations to A.C.L.U. and Other Organizations Surge After Trump's Order |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/aclu-fund-raising-trump-travel-ban.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131085621/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/aclu-fund-raising-trump-travel-ban.html |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=September 18, 2018  }}</ref>]]

The ACLU solicits donations to its charitable foundation. The local affiliates solicit their own funding; however, some also receive funds from the national ACLU, with the distribution and amount of such assistance varying from state to state. At its discretion, the national organization provides subsidies to smaller affiliates that lack sufficient resources to be self-sustaining; for example, the Wyoming ACLU chapter received such subsidies until April 2015, when, as part of a round of layoffs at the national ACLU, the Wyoming office was closed.<ref>Nickerson, Gregory (April 1, 2015). [http://www.wyofile.com/blog/national-office-closes-wyoming-aclu-chapter/ National office closes Wyoming ACLU chapter]. ''Wyofile: People, Places & Policy'' [Wyoming news service]. See paragraph 5. Nickerson mentions the Puerto Rico office, and a single office for North and South Dakota, as other examples of smaller offices receiving subsidies. Retrieved May 10, 2015.</ref><ref>''[https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/about/American%20Civil%20Liberties%202014%20FINAL.pdf American Civil Liberties Union ... Consolidated Financial Report, March 31, 2014]'', p. 10, Note 1. Organization: "Although the ACLU plays no direct role in the governance of ... the affiliates, the organizations jointly fund-raise and work together on certain programs and the ACLU, through either the Union or Foundation, as appropriate, at its sole discretion provides targeted financial and other support to the affiliates."</ref>

In October 2004, the ACLU rejected $1.5&nbsp;million from both the [[Ford Foundation]] and [[Rockefeller Foundation]] because the foundations had adopted language from the USA PATRIOT Act in their donation agreements, including a clause stipulating that none of the money would go to "underwriting terrorism or other unacceptable activities". The ACLU views this clause, both in federal law and in the donors' agreements, as a threat to civil liberties, saying it is overly broad and ambiguous.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=A.C.L.U. Rejects Foundation Grants Over Terror Language|author=Stephanie Strom|date=October 19, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/national/19aclu.html}}</ref><ref>See Kaminer, pp. 68–70, for a discussion of an internal scandal in which Romero was accused of attempting to accept the funds without disclosing the terms to the ACLU board.</ref>

Due to the nature of its legal work, the ACLU is often involved in litigation against governmental bodies, which are generally protected from adverse monetary judgments; a town, state, or federal agency may be required to change its laws or behave differently, but not to pay monetary damages except by an explicit statutory waiver. In some cases, the law permits plaintiffs who successfully sue government agencies to collect money damages or other monetary relief. In particular, the [[Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976]] leaves the government liable in some civil rights cases. Fee awards under this civil rights statute are considered "equitable relief" rather than damages, and government entities are not immune from equitable relief.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1988-|title=Title 42, Chapter 21, Subchapter I, § 1988. Proceedings in vindication of civil rights}}</ref> Under laws such as this, the ACLU and its state affiliates sometimes share in monetary judgments against government agencies. In 2006, the [[Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006|Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act]] sought to prevent monetary judgments in the particular case of violations of church-state separation.<ref>Report No. 109-657, H.R. 2679, available at [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h2679rh.txt.pdf GPO].</ref>

The ACLU has received court-awarded fees from opponents; for example, the Georgia affiliate was awarded $150,000 in fees after suing a county demanding the removal of a [[Ten Commandments]] display from its courthouse;<ref>ACLU Georgia Press Release, [http://www.acluga.org/press.releases/0507/barrow.county.html "Barrow County to Remove 10 Commandments Display"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051222050743/http://www.acluga.org/press.releases/0507/barrow.county.html |date=December 22, 2005 }}, July 19, 2007 (last visited January 6, 2008).</ref> a second Ten Commandments case in the state, in a different county, led to a $74,462 judgment.<ref>ACLU Georgia, [http://www.acluga.org/docket.html "2007 Litigation & Advocacy Docket"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226043221/http://www.acluga.org/docket.html |date=December 26, 2005 }} (last visited January 6, 2008).</ref> The [[State of Tennessee]] was required to pay $50,000, the State of Alabama $175,000, and the State of Kentucky $121,500, in similar Ten Commandments cases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/07/09/loc_kytencommandments09.html|title=State pays ACLU $121,500 in Ten Commandments fight}}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, [http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10cb.htm The Ten Commandments: Developments: Year 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060102152946/http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10cb.htm |date=January 2, 2006 }}, ReligiousTolerance.org</ref>

In 2024, the ACLU received $268M in grants and donations from supporters.<ref name="bud2024"/>{{rp|22–3}}