About Us

We the people protecting everyone's rights to liberty, justice, and equality in the Granite State.
 
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire (ACLU-NH) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to preserving the individual rights and liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.  ACLU-NH, founded in 1968 by a small group of devoted civil libertarians, is one of 53 affiliates of the ACLU Nationwide. Today the National ACLU is comprised of more than 1,500,000 members.
 
ACLU-NH engages with the community in four principal ways:
  • Litigation, representing those whose rights have been violated;
  • Legislative advocacy, challenging laws that infringe on individual freedom and supporting laws which protect or expand our civil liberties;
  • Education campaigns to ensure residents know their rights; and
  • Grassroots organizing, mobilizing people to be advocates for themselves and others.
ACLU-NH’s mission stems from our core commitment to equality and reflects our decades-long work to fight discrimination on behalf of all people including those of all faiths; immigrant communities; people of color; women; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and non-binary people.
 
“So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy” — ACLU Founder Roger Baldwin
 
We carry out this work statewide, including from our headquarter office in Concord, with a full-time staff assisted by interns, volunteers, cooperating attorneys, and an active Board of Directors.
 
One Mission, Two Entities: ACLU-NH and ACLU Foundation of NH
To protect the enduring values of freedom and equality, ACLU-NH uses a three-pronged approach: litigation, public education, and lobbying. In order to support all three advocacy tools and to comply with federal tax law, it is necessary to have two organizational entities: ACLU-NH and the ACLU Foundation of New Hampshire. Both are nonprofit organizations but with different IRS classifications.
 
ACLU-NH is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization
  • ACLU-NH is a membership organization principally supporting our legislative lobbying work in Concord.
  • Gifts to the ACLU-NH are not tax deductible, according to federal law.
ACLU Foundation of NH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
  • Gifts to the Foundation are tax deductible.
  • Donations support our litigation and public education efforts.
Full funding of both organizations is vital to protecting civil liberties in New Hampshire.
 
Many donors choose to make their larger tax-deductible gifts to the ACLU Foundation of NH, and continue to make smaller gifts to the ACLU-NH in order to maintain their “card-carrying” membership status and to support our important lobbying efforts.