In honor of #GivingTuesday, we’re waiving our submission fees on Tuesday, December 3, so you can donate your money or time to your favorite organizations. If you’re looking for recommendations, here are some of our favorite orgs we recommend donating your dollars to or getting involved with as a volunteer.
Carla (Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles)
We’ve never felt a stronger need to support independent journalism than at the present moment. One of our favorite arts publications is Carla (Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles), a quarterly LA-based magazine, arts journal, and podcast. Carla not only provides in-depth coverage of the vibrant LA art scene but also uplifts both artists and writers through its thoughtful content. They host incredible issue launch parties at venues like the ICALA and more, creating a true community for the arts. You can support Carla by subscribing, attending their events, or donating to help them continue their vital work.
Cave Canem
Cave Canem is an organization dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black poets. With programs ranging from fellowships to regional workshops, readings, and awards, Cave Canem has nurtured over 500 poets, many of whom have gone on to win prestigious accolades like the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, and MacArthur Fellowship. Join us in supporting Cave Canem and other literary initiatives that foster a richer, more inclusive literary landscape. Whether through a donation, participation in a program, or simply spreading the word, your support can help ensure that Black poets continue to write, share their truths, and inspire future generations.
Get Lit – Words Ignite
Get Lit – Words Ignite was founded by Diane Luby Lane in 2006 to increase literacy and energize communities through the power of spoken word poetry. Inspired by her experiences touring with poet and advocate Jimmy Santiago Baca, Diane developed a groundbreaking curriculum to help young people find their voices and use poetry as a tool for self-expression and empowerment. By supporting Get Lit, you’re not just backing a program, you’re fueling a movement that inspires young minds and transforms communities through the passion for poetry.
Hyperallergic
For 15 years, Hyperallergic has been a trusted voice, uncovering the stories and ideas shaping the art world. Their independent journalism shines a light on artists, issues, and movements that often go overlooked, offering fresh perspectives and sparking meaningful conversations. By becoming a member or donating, you’re not just supporting their work—you’re investing in the future of art and culture coverage that’s bold, accessible, and uncompromising. Hyperallergic is a fiscally-sponsored project of Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. Every contribution makes a difference. Donate today!
PlayGround
A longtime friend of Expo, PlayGround is a playwright incubator and theater community hub in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago that’s served as home to not only several of our past Stage & Screen contributors—including Matt DeNoto, Lena Ford, Ruben Grijalva, Arthur Keng, Jonathan Kuhn, Garret Jon Groenveld, Uma Incrocci, and Vincent Terrell Durham—but some of our editors as well. Each month from October through March, PlayGround’s pool of writers has four days to write on a topic, ranging from “In Disguise” and “Give and Take” to “Child’s Play: Adapted Nursery Rhymes” and “Not So ‘Silent Night’: Plays Inspired by Holiday Songs.” Out of that pool, six plays are selected to be performed the following weekend. It’s a brilliant model: the truncated timeline encourages playwrights, directors, and actors out of their comfort zones and explores new work. During the pandemic, these performances moved online. In the new “normal,” they are live-online hybrids with free admission. With auxiliary programs for full-length plays and directing apprenticeships, PlayGround has facilitated hundreds of plays and is a priceless resource for the theater community. Donate to Expo’s local L.A. chapter here.
The Rumpus
The Rumpus, an online magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds, was hit hard by Hurricane Helene. The publisher and several staffers are located in Asheville, North Carolina, and their area has suffered devastating effects of the storm, including some financial losses that leave the magazine in need of emergency support. It’s going to be a long recovery—drinking water has only recently been restored after 53 days. Donate here help The Rumpus reach its $25,000 funding gap goal by December 31.
Sims Library of Poetry
Sims Library of Poetry is California’s first Black-owned library dedicated entirely to poetry. With over 3,000 books of poetry and counting, it offers Los Angeles a space for poetry lovers to read, learn, connect, and participate in a historied literary community. In addition to providing the same services as public libraries, Sims Library of Poetry hosts workshops, open mics, and other literary events led by local poets and writers.
As a pillar of poetry and community, supporting Sims Library of Poetry means supporting the poets, writers, and literary artists it has fostered and continues to nurture. Donate to keep poetry alive in Los Angeles!
Women Who Submit
For more than a decade, Women Who Submit has supported and encouraged women and nonbinary writers to submit their work to literary journals by clarifying the submission and publication process. What began has a six-woman submission party around a kitchen table has grown into a network of monthly gatherings around the country and the world, as well as free quarterly online workshops, summer workshops for members, and print anthologies. You can donate to Women Who Submit, now a 501(c)3 nonprofit, here.
WriteGirl
For years, Expo has been hosting publishing workshops inviting Los Angeles high school students and alumni from WriteGirl, so this recommendation should be no surprise! WriteGirl is a Los Angeles-based creative writing and mentoring organization that promotes creativity, critical thinking, and leadership skills to empower teen girls and gender-expansive youth.The organization pairs teens with professional women writers for one-on-one mentoring and puts on monthly writing workshops, as well as helps 100% of its seniors get into college. Meanwhile, WriteGirl publishes its very own lit journal called Lines & Breaks and a creative writing journal! Donate here, or buy a Care Kit to be shipped directly to a WriteGirl teen!
Bookshop
While it’s not a nonprofit, Bookshop.org is the indie lit community’s response to Amazon’s predatory practices and a fantastic way to support your local bookstore. Since 2020, Bookshop has provided over $34 million to independent bookstores and literary organizations. Unlike Amazon or other e-commerce stores that either remove indie bookstores completely, Bookshop offers the same wide selection and similar pricing, but a percentage of those profits go directly to local bookstores. You can choose for your percentage to go towards the pool of all indie lit orgs, or directly to a bookstore if they are signed up as an associate. You’ll find many of the recommended organizations on Bookshop (including Expo!).
Exposition Review
Want to support the work of our editors and contributors Why not donate to Exposition Review? We’re a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, which means your donations are tax deductible and go directly into our programming—including our workshops for adult and teen writers, paying authors for our annual issue, and more!