May 28 2008
Even More Great Organizations
The other list was just getting too big so I decided to post the orgs that people recommended on another post. Keep the suggestions coming!
The following organizations were recommended by readers. I have not done anything to evaluate these organizations besides just verifying that they aren’t evil (to me). They are listed in the order in which they were received.
- Goodwill Industries International (Goodwill) claims to be one of the world’s largest nonprofit providers of education, training, and career services for people with disadvantages, such as welfare dependency, homelessness, and lack of education or work experience, as well as those with physical, mental and emotional disabilities.
- Teach For America recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in schools in low-income communities throughout the United States. The goal of TFA is for its corps members not only to make a short-term impact on their students, but also to become lifelong leaders in pursuing educational equality.
- Kiva Provides funding to entrepreneurs in developing countries in an effort to relieve poverty. Works by “microloans” from anybody willing and able to give money that are paid back like a standard loan once the person’s business is up and running. (Recommended by 2 people)
- Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is the most socially active college student comprised organization in the world. Their projects are incredible and life changing.
- Christian Children’s Fund provides services to children, most funded by individual contributors, in the form of monthly child sponsorships. In addition, CCF says it receives grants and donations that support vocational training, literacy training, food distribution, educational programs, early childhood development, health and immunization programs, nutritional programs, water and sanitation development, and emergency relief in both man-made and natural disasters.
- The Geek Group Science and Technology labs, teaching, and demonstrations for everyone, particularly aimed at school students, with the ultimate goal of being something of an open source MIT. No rules, just come in and work on your next greatest invention or project.
- Feed Just One has a mission to feed 1 million families before the end of the summer, it’s a start, based in Fayetteville, AR (who would have known), $1 will feed just one, do it.
- THON, also known as Penn State Dance Marathon is the largest student run philanthropy organization in the world. All of our proceeds go directly to the Four Diamonds Fund, set up in honor of Chris Millard, who dies of pediatric cancer at the age of 14. We have raised most recently 6.6 million dollars in 2008 and more than 20 million dollars in the last 4 years. The four diamonds fund ensures that any family who needs help financially is provided with everything they need to assist in the treatment process. Please check out thon.org and the four diamonds fund website http://www.hmc.psu.edu/fourdiamonds/ to learn about a great cause and group of kids who really do care at Penn State.
- DEKA That is Dean Kamen’s resarch division, but the ones making that water purification system, as seen on the Colbert Report. He also is a chief person involved in FIRST Robotics, which gets youth across the world excited about not only science and technology, but the ability to work together with people who you may have seen as an enemy. The best example Ive heard is a team in Israel that has Jews and Arabs working together to build one robot in 6 weeks.
- Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (SIAI) is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 to develop safe artificial intelligence software, and to raise awareness of both the dangers and potential benefits it believes AI presents.
- AIESEC describes itself as “The international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential so as to have a positive impact on society”.
- Crossroads is a great, non-religious, Hong Kong-based organization working in distribution of used, quality goods as well as education of important social issues.
- The Electronic Frontier Foundations (EFF) stated main goal is to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties.
- Working Assets (CREDO) was created in 1985 on a strong foundation of beliefs, a credo. Supporting peace, equality, human rights and the environment is the reason we exist. That is why each time one of our customers uses our mobile, credit card or long distance services, we donate a portion of their charges to these causes.
- Friends of Falun Gong USA (FoFG USA) is a U.S.-based, nonprofit human rights organization whose mission is to support the freedom of belief of persons who practice Falun Gong, to stop the persecution, and to bring to justice those who have perpetrated human rights crimes targeting Falun Gong practitioners.
- Direct Democracy Foundation wants to achieve our vision, we will promote direct deliberative democracy throughout the world by encouraging open and equal participation in government, creating a community of dialogue and debate in order to facilitate public knowledge and awareness, encouraging and promoting collective action, and developing a platform and forum by which individuals may openly and freely debate issues, share their ideas, propose solutions, and vote for and by consensus in order to bring about social and political change.
- SOS Children’s Villages work focuses on abandoned, destitute and orphaned children requiring family-based child care.
- Invisible Children Inc. wants to create awareness regarding the plight of the people of Northern Uganda, caught in the midst of a civil war between the government and Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group that makes extensive use of kidnapping children and making child soldiers.
- Summit Assistance Dogs is a nonprofit organization, located in Anacortes, Washington, that provides highly-skilled mobility, hearing and therapy dogs for people with disabilities.
- UNDP provides expert advice, training, and grant support to developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries. To accomplish the MDGs and encourage global development, UNDP focuses on poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, democratic governance, energy and environment, and crisis prevention and recovery. UNDP also encourages the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women in all of its programs.
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement whose stated mission is to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for the human being, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.
- ONE Campaign is a U.S.-based, nonpartisan, non-profit organization which aims to increase United States government funding for and effectiveness of international aid programs.
- Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic disease.
- Compassion International is a Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world.
- Gobena sells Fair Trade Organic Coffee at fair retail prices and donates 100% (All overhead time and work is donated) to charities, specifically to orphanages in the countries where the coffee is grown.
- The aim of Knowmore.org is to raise awareness of corporate abuse, and to serve as a catalyst for direct action against corporate power.
- WiserEarth serves the people who are transforming the world. It is a community directory and networking forum that maps and connects non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals addressing the central issues of our day: climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights and more. Content is created and edited by people like you.
- SignWriting is a script that allows sign languages to be written. The organization behind it has been working on this for over 30 years now and the script has evolved as a consequence. SignWriting is already used in countries as far afield as the US, Belgium, Jordan and Ethiopia. It makes a practical difference in the life of many children / adults.
- Jumpstart works toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. A national non-profit organization that pairs college students to work one-on-one with preschool children. Amazing organization that both benefits low-income communities as well as teaching college students about the importance of civic awareness.
- TCKID.com which helps “Third Culture Kids”, children of expatriates, cross cultural kids, like Barack Obama, who feel like they have a relation to different cultures, but ownership of none.
- Shared Interest is a co-operative lending society that aims to reduce poverty in the world by providing fair and just financial services. We work with fair trade businesses all over the world, both producers and buyers, providing credit to help them trade and develop.
- Planet Care/Global Health Access Program is a non-profit organization working to improve the well-being of communities in crisis, both locally and internationally, through the provision of health and public health services, capacity building, and resource enhancement.
- Thailand Burma Border Consortium provides food, shelter and non food items to displaced people from Burma. The refugee camps are the key locations for current activities, where TBBC also provides support for Camp management through the refugee committees. The organisation also engages with displaced people outside of camps, not only to address short term needs, but also to seek strategies that build capacity and address root causes over the long term.
- Rotary International - The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
- American Cancer Society (ACS) is the “nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.”
- the Hip Hop Caucus is challenging the demonization of a generation and culture by creating a space for young people to speak up – to discuss and debate a new vision of a society and a government that works for all of us. We insist that issues of poverty, inequality and opportunity be placed at the center of our national debate.
- Military Families Speak Out is committed to ending the occupation in Iraq, bringing the soldiers home, and taking care of them (medically, emotionally, financially) when they get here. They also do work in helping the family members of deployed soldiers in any way they can.
