Category Archives: Updates

Lifeline in the Desert: New Resource for Migrants

September 7, 2026 Fundraising Coordinator

Written by Operator 17

This new brochure made by the Missing Migrant Hotline Team is a practical guide for people crossing the borderlands desert. A landscape where a wrong turn or a dead phone battery can become life-threatening. It opens with preparation before the journey even begins, then walks through the hard decisions that arise once someone is on the move. One of the most urgent pieces of advice: conserve your cellular device’s battery so you can reach 911 or allied groups like No More Deaths. If someone in your group gets left behind, the instruction is clear: call for help as soon as you can, and when you do, give every detail you can. If you provide coordinates, you or the person left behind must not move from that location. Staying put is what allows rescuers to find you.

The brochure also addresses the disorienting reality of getting lost in open desert. It covers cardinal directions and how to navigate by the North Star, giving someone a way to reorient when landmarks fail. And it doesn’t sugarcoat the hardest scenario: if no one can save you, you must save yourself. That means staying aware of your surroundings, climbing to a high peak to bring attention to yourself, and if you’re out of water, conserve your energy before you look for food. It’s blunt, but the bluntness comes from care. Every page is written for someone who may have no one else to rely on, and every instruction is aimed at getting them through another hour, another night, another day.

No one should have to cross the desert without information that could save their life.

Un salvavidas en el desierto: un nuevo recurso para migrantes

Este nuevo folleto elaborado por el equipo de la Línea Directa para Migrantes Desaparecidos es una guía práctica para quienes cruzan el desierto fronterizo. Un paisaje en el que un giro equivocado o una batería de celular agotada pueden poner en peligro la vida. Comienza con los preparativos antes de que el viaje siquiera comience y luego repasa las difíciles decisiones que surgen una vez que alguien está en camino. Uno de los consejos más urgentes: ahorra la batería de tu celular para poder comunicarte con el 911 o con grupos aliados como No More Deaths. Si alguien de tu grupo se queda atrás, la instrucción es clara: pide ayuda tan pronto como puedas y, cuando lo hagas, da todos los detalles que puedas. Si proporcionas coordenadas, ni tú ni la persona que se quedó atrás deben moverse de ese lugar. Quedarse en el mismo sitio es lo que permite a los rescatistas encontrarlos.

El folleto también aborda la desorientadora realidad de perderse en el desierto abierto. Abarca los puntos cardinales y cómo orientarse con la Estrella Polar, lo que brinda una forma de reorientarse cuando los puntos de referencia fallan. Y no edulcora el escenario más difícil: si nadie puede salvarte, debes salvarte tú mismo. Eso significa estar atento a tu entorno, subir a una cima alta para llamar la atención y, si te quedas sin agua, conservar tu energía antes de buscar comida. Es directo, pero esa franqueza surge del cuidado. Cada página está escrita para alguien que tal vez no tenga a nadie más en quien confiar, y cada instrucción tiene como objetivo ayudarle a sobrevivir otra hora, otra noche, otro día.

Nadie debería tener que cruzar el desierto sin la información que podría salvarle la vida.

featured, Updates

We are Hiring! Bookkeeper

October 14, 2025 No More Deaths

Application Deadline: Sunday May 24, 11:59pm AZ time

Location: Tucson, AZ—Remote position requiring local availability for in-person
meetings and events

Term of Service: July 6, 2026-July 6, 2027
One year contract with ongoing yearly renewal opportunity

JOB DESCRIPTION:
No More Deaths is a volunteer-led, direct-service organization that provides food, water, and other needed services to migrants in the southwest borderlands. We have a rotating staff of around 15 employees and many dozens of regular volunteers. We are looking for a bookkeeper who can track a high volume of financial details across multiple working groups, be available for weekly meetings, interface with staff and a large rotating volunteer base unfamiliar with GAAP standards, and provide guidance to promote organizational financial health and literacy. No More Deaths operates under a fiscal sponsor, Good Works Matters, and the bookkeeper will work closely with them to track and manage billing, payments, and account reconciliations.

Apply here: https://form.jotform.com/261185364480156

Full job description and duties here

Updates

Desert Aid Trainings: Capacity Building Through Knowledge and Skill Shares

July 2, 2025 Paige Corich-Kleim

By a desert aid volunteer

No More Deaths began as a fully volunteer-run

organization, but over the years it has evolved and grown.

Thanks to the support of our donors we now provide

stipends for some volunteers and have staff positions.

However, most of the day-to-day work in the desert remains

unpaid.

People come from all over the world to support our work,

we have a base of aid workers in Southern Arizona and over

the past 21 years over 1000 people have joined us to

provide humanitarian aid in the borderlands.

For out-of-town volunteers, we offer housing, travel, and

food stipends, as well as access to our gear-lending library.

BIPOC volunteers are eligible for additional financial

support. Volunteers participate in initial in-town training

and field training before beginning their time with us. After

volunteers have spent time with us in the field, they can

become desert aid working group members where they

participate in decision-making and have access to more

trainings as well as stipends.

The work our volunteers and staff do is dynamic and

challenging, most days we have at least one team of 2-4

people driving a truck to remote areas to leave life-saving

supplies in the desert. During these trips they may come in

contact with people who are lost, injured, and in distress,

they may find somebody who has passed away. Because of

this, our training does not stop after the first week.

Volunteers and staff continuously mentor each other,

teaching new skills and coordinating trainings to better

respond to the needs of people crossing the border. Over

the past few years these are some of the trainings volunteers

and staff have attended:

Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder: In

partnership with numerous borderlands humanitarian aid

groups and with financial support from Mutual Aid Disaster

Relief and other humanitarian aid organizations, volunteers

became certified Wilderness First Aid providers and

Wilderness First Responders, free of charge. The trainings

were put on by Larkspur Rescue and NOLS. Instructorswere able to contextualize course content for the particular

environments volunteers work in.

Criminalization of Humanitarian Aid and Protocols: We

maintain that humanitarian aid is never a crime, and work

within our protocols, which have been reviewed by legal

counsel. However, we also recognize that during the current

administration, like the last Trump presidency, the targeting

of migrant communities will expand and include those who

stand in solidarity with them. Volunteers reviewed the

criminal charges that Scott Warren and others in the

organization have faced over the years and learned more

about our Foundations of Borderland Humanitarian Relief

(full document available on our website) and our desert aid

protocols. These documents are based on the Red Cross

Code of Conduct and a human rights framework.

Chainsaw Safety: Over the winter No More Deaths, along

with local Samaritans chapters and Humane Borders,

supported a camp along the border wall where asylum

seekers would often have to wait for hours or overnight to

be picked up by Border Patrol. NMD’s main contribution

was firewood. We hosted a chainsaw safety course for

volunteers to learn how to cut firewood down to size. The

course was put on by volunteers who work as arborists and

wildland firefighters.

Media Interviews and Public Presentation: The No More

Deaths’ Media Coordinators put on a training for volunteers

and staff to learn about No More Deaths talking points and

media strategy, as well as reviewing materials made for

public presentations and outreach.

Do you have a skill you would be willing to share with our

volunteers? Please reach out!

Possible topics include wilderness medicine, know your

rights, meeting facilitation, search and rescue/recovery,

vehicle maintenance, overland navigation, conflict

mediation, and many more! Remote and Southern Arizona

opportunities are appreciated.

Updates

Part-Time Fundraising Coordinator

October 29, 2024 No More Deaths

Application Deadline: November 30, 2024
Start Date: January 7, 2025
Apply Here:https://form.jotform.com/242977363196167

No More Deaths is seeking two part-time fundraising coordinators. This position is responsible for all aspects of fundraising: donor communication and stewardship, donation processing, annual fundraising campaigns, and grant management. The Fundraising Coordinators will form part of the Administrative Working Group.

About No More Deaths

We are a humanitarian organization based in southern Arizona, functioning as a ministry under our fiscal sponsor, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson. Our mission is to end migrant death and suffering through civil initiative while defending fundamental human rights within our community. Guided by transformative justice values, we operate as a non-hierarchical organization. This means that employees are expected to actively participate in various operational functions and attend organizational meetings. Our non-hierarchical structure promotes collaboration and inclusivity by distributing key responsibilities—such as decision-making, conflict resolution, staffing, finance, communications with allied groups, and event planning—across all employees.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Core Responsibilities:

Manage daily email and phone correspondence.
Process donations, generate acknowledgments, and maintain accurate records.
Steward donors by making phone calls, conducting one-on-one meetings, and writing letters.
Weekly pick up and distribution of incoming mail.

Campaign and Content Creation:

Create monthly fundraising email blasts and social media posts.
For the biannual newsletters, solicit and create content, format, coordinate translation, and manage printing and mailing.
Participate in special fundraising events, like Giving Tuesday and Arizona Gives Day, by creating targeted email blasts and social media content.

Grant Management:

Seek out opportunities for general funding grants.
Write grant applications and reports and if necessary, collaborate with working groups to monitor the progress of current grant projects.

Meetings and Events:

Schedule meetings with program staff and volunteers to learn about updates in their work and current needs.
Attend monthly Finance meetings and participate in the annual budgeting process.
Attend Administrative Working Group meetings and NMD meetings.
Represent NMD at online and local events, including event tabling and fundraising presentations. Create and maintain updated fundraising materials such as brochures, merchandise, and event kits.

As Needed:

Assist with our upcoming transition from fiscal sponsorship to incorporation by updating tax and banking information on all fundraising documents and platforms

Requirements

Language Proficiency

Fluent in English.
Spanish proficiency is highly preferred.

Residency

Strong preference for residency in Tucson.
Remote applicants will be considered.

Communication Skills

Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain positive relationships with donors, supporters, and colleagues.

Additional Requirements:

Deep understanding of and commitment to the mission and work of No More Deaths, with demonstrated connections to the border crisis.
If local, the ability to make weekly trips to the Post Office, UUCT office, and NMD storage facility.

Preferred Qualifications

Strong writing and communication skills.
Excellent interpersonal skills, with an understanding of power and oppression dynamics.
Effective time management and organizational abilities.
Proficiency in social networking, online engagement strategies, and database management (e.g. Network for Good or similar systems).
Demonstrated fundraising experience, including grant writing and crafting direct appeal letters and emails.

Contract Conditions

Duration and Renewal: 6-month contract with the option for renewal, subject to qualitative assessment at three and six months.
Training: Includes a two-week training period.
Work Hours: 20 hours per week.
Compensation: $22 per hour.
Work Materials: Provided work materials include a phone, laptop, and printer/scanner.

Our Package Includes

Work Model: Hybrid model with 90% work from home.
Benefits: Flexible PTO and Winter Vacation. This position is not eligible for health or retirement benefits.

No More Deaths values diversity and strongly encourages applications from people of color, people with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals. We especially welcome candidates with personal ties to the border or those who come from affected communities. U.S. citizenship is not a requirement. No More Deaths is an equal-opportunity employer.