Crowdfunding initiatives in Philadelphia offer an alternative to the cash bail process that disproportionately affects African Americans in problematic ways. “Community bail fund activists” raised almost $60,000 for Black Mama’s Bail-Out Day. Now, they are scaling the effort into a Philly Community Bail Fund to help not just Black mothers, but any of the poor, who are detained and kept away from their families and jobs while they await trial. Other crowdsourcing initiatives are springing up in the city, and all are needed to address the problem.

Organizations that supply funds to provide bail for people arrested for misdemeanors not only saves money for taxpayers, but reduces the number of guilty pleas, and could possibly save lives. Those who cannot pay for bail must either await trial in jail or plead guilty, leading to permanent criminal records. Organizations like the Bronx Freedom Fund supply $2,000 or less to help these individuals keep jobs, housing, and reduce the risk of suicide in jail without requiring them to plead guilty.

For many low-income people who are arrested, coming up with even a small amount of bail money is nearly impossible, leaving them to languish for months before their cases are ever adjudicated. That means lost jobs and housing and sometimes custody of their kids. In Philadelphia, a number of groups have banded together and raised funds to bail out inmates, following examples in other cities, as a temporary measure until policymakers can enact long-term bail reform.

Islamic organizations focused on prison reform are asking the observant to make their zakat—a charitable donation made during Ramadan—go towards helping to pay the bail of an incarcerated Muslims. Through this push, these organizations are also raising awareness about the impact of cash bail and inequities in the prison system.

Thousands of New Yorkers are stuck behind bars for weeks, even months, because they can’t make bail. A non-profit fund that posts bail for clients has been changing that in the Bronx.

Bail reform is a difficult process largely out of the hands of municipalities. Charitable bail funds allow individuals who can't afford bail to be free until their trial, in the hopes of changing the bail system from the inside.

When paying bail isn't a realistic ask of a defendant, many times the person will plead guilty to avoid jail time even if it means having a record. To solve the problem of the poor being unfairly punished by small crimes through the setting of a bail amount they can't make, The Bronx Freedom Fund offers charitable bail funds to those with a bail under $2,000.