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Texas | Culture

Mutual Aid Vs. Charity: What’s The Difference?

Mayahuel Crane Student Contributor, University of Texas - Austin
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
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Mutual Aid

Mutual aid involves individuals and communities coming together to support each other based on shared needs and solidarity. It is a grassroots and reciprocal approach where people contribute their resources, skills, and time to help each other without expecting anything in return.

Principles: Mutual aid is based on principles of collective responsibility, cooperation, and horizontal organizing. It focuses on addressing systemic issues and building long-term community resilience.

Examples: Mutual aid can take various forms, such as community-run food banks, housing cooperatives, skill-sharing networks, and disaster relief efforts organized by local communities.

Charity

Charity involves individuals or organizations providing assistance, resources, or services to those in need. It is often a top-down approach where donors or institutions give to recipients who are seen as beneficiaries of their generosity.

Principles: Charity is typically based on principles of philanthropy, compassion, and helping those less fortunate. It often involves one-way giving where the focus is on alleviating immediate needs rather than addressing underlying structural issues.

Examples: Examples of charity include donations to nonprofit organizations, fundraising for specific causes, and humanitarian aid provided by governments or international organizations.

Mutual aid initiatives can contribute to building community resilience and addressing root causes of problems, whereas charity may provide temporary relief without necessarily addressing systemic inequalities.

Key Differences:

  • Mutual aid aims to empower communities and address systemic issues
  • Charity focuses on providing immediate assistance to individuals or groups in need
  • Mutual aid emphasizes solidarity, cooperation, and collective action
  • Charity often involves one-way giving and hierarchical relationships between donors and recipients
  • Mutual aid aims to empower communities and address systemic issues

Mutual aid initiatives can contribute to building community resilience and addressing the root causes of problems, whereas charity may provide temporary relief without necessarily addressing systemic inequalities.

Local mutual aid initiatives to support:

ATX Free Fridge Project

Street Forum

Texas Harm Reduction Alliance

Mayahuel Crane

Texas '26

Mayahuel Crane is a writer and the President, previously the Editor-in-Chief and Marketing and Public Relations Director, at the Her Campus at Texas chapter. She is responsible for overseeing all chapter writers, editors, as well as the executive and working boards. She works with with brands to create exciting professional opportunities for members to develop skills in marketing and connections with major brands. She also created “Pinch of Politics,” a Her Campus news segment dedicated to making knowledge about current events accessible.

Outside of Her Campus, Maya is an active member of her community and currently works for the Chicana por mi Raza Digital Memory Collective and Latino Research Institute, two organizations dedicated increasing access to knowledge about systems that harm Latino communities. She teaches elementary school students about mental health through Project Yellow and is pre-law. Maya has won “Best Feature for Current Events and News” twice for her “Pinch of Politics” articles and has successfully sustained her segment for over two years. She is a fourth-year Government and Mexican American Latino Studies double major as well as a Sociology and African/African-Diaspora Studies double minor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mayahuel is a huge political buff and loves to research and write in her free time. She also loves concerts, being with friends, and anything pink.