Mutual aid groups emphasize an egalitarian way of providing help with no strings attached. Community-based nonprofits may participate in and collaborate with mutual aid networks, but the groups themselves are typically volunteer led and unincorporated often because they prefer it that way.
Under the stress of a pandemic and other crises, people had the experience of building decision-making structures with neighbors they’d never met before. “These mutual-aid groups basically are leading experts in how to get something done effectively amidst a network of broken systems.