Charity is not a panacea. Charities do not directly attack powerful institutions, the super-rich, or dissolve states. Only common people can do that. But by aiding the survival of more common people through charity and volunteer work, more people can fight back against the system that impoverishes and exploits the planet. This page doesn’t just list charities but also groups, such as indigenous communities you can support who are fighting to take back and protect their ancestral lands that were stolen from them.

Organizations that promote sustainability, equity, equality, environmental conservation and protection, and energy research that meets ecological and human needs are so important right now because conditions in the world are so unequal. In America, it can be hard to find a job, but in Uganda (and many other countries) it can be hard to find clean water or food.

Charities can provide temporary aid, but very well managed ones can also provide long-term solutions that give individuals the power to provide for themselves, (or “hand-ups”, instead of “hand-outs”). These solutions involve empowering everyday people (especially the poor, dissidents, minorities, children, women, the elderly, the disabled, and others at the bottom of the social hierarchy) by providing the resources to collaborate, organize, and live autonomously and without discrimination.

If you want to help make the world slightly less unequal, consider contributing to one of the charities, groups, or causes listed below. I am not affiliated with any of them, but I think they are all responsibly run organizations with worthy causes.

If you take away anything from this website, I hope it is the central belief that water, food, shelter, healthcare, education, and freedom are basic human needs, not luxuries. Poverty, torture, mass incarceration, famine, dehydration, slavery, genocide, and widespread disease are problems that don’t have to exist. We have the power and responsibility to eliminate them and the right charities can help us reach that goal, and they exist. Below are just a few.

There are very hardworking people who understand the balance between managing resources for ecosystems and people. They exist and if you need a reason to be motivated to act know that the situation is not hopeless and you can make significant changes to your community and beyond if you aren’t already. It is very hard to quantify human efforts for ecological and social justice. They are shaped by the actions of billions of people around the world and most actions go unnoticed. I think it’s important to point to these actions as much as we can see them, support them, and amplify them.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and I will be adding to it often. Many organizations listed have international goals, but a few are just local. If you would like to suggest an addition to the list, feel free. If you think a charity should be removed, feel free to say so and state why. There are plenty of fake charities out there that pocket money from well-intentioned people and I don’t want one on here!

Elimination of Homelessness and Poverty 

http://www.endhomelessness.org/

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/

http://www.accion.org/

http://www.finca.org/

(Boston)

http://www.rosiesplace.org/ 

http://homestart.org/

http://bostonrising.org/

Clean Water 

http://thewaterproject.org/

http://waterwellsforafrica.org/

http://www.muslimaid.org/index.php/what-we-do/current-campaigns-live/pakistan-flash-floods

Food Security and Worker’s Rights 

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/

www.bluemountainproject.org

www.UNEP.org – United Nations Environmental Program has made large solar installations in India.

http://iuf.org/ – Uniting Food, Farm, and Hotel Workers Worldwide

lahuelga.com

http://www.thp.org/The Hunger Project

http://www.care.org – Currently working on the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan

http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/

http://thehungersite.greatergood.com/

http://wwoofinternational.org/

http://wwoof.asia/

www.wwooflatinamerica.com

http://www.wwoofusa.org/

http://gbfb.org/ (Boston)

https://www.iww.org/

http://familiesforfreedom.org/

http://www.ciw-online.org/about/ – Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Environmental Preservation, Food Sovereignty and Safety, Protection of Marine life, and Reducing Pollution and Global Climate Change

http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/  – Started by Wangari Maathai, the Green Belt Movement has planted 51 million trees in Kenya.

https://onetreeplanted.org/ – Nonprofit focused on reforestation that has planted 1.3 million trees.

https://www.plant-for-the-planet.org – Nonprofit founded by 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner that aims to help plant one trillion trees

https://edenprojects.org/ – planted 250 million trees and hired low-income people of Haiti, Nepal, and Madagascar to help plant there.

*http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/–  Works with indigenous communities to protect the rainforest, providing them with tools to monitor forests and take action

http://cultiveresistencia.org/ – “Cultive Resistência is a non-profit association, founded on September 3, 2013, with the objective of promoting SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL JUSTICE for indigenous peoples, vulnerable populations, LGBTQI +, women and youth through Culture, Environmental Education, Health, Empowerment and Autonomy.”

http://amazonwatch.org/– Provides indigenous communities working to protect the Amazon with solar power, radio, and internet. They also expose the corporate and state powers responsible for destruction of the Amazon

iapf.org – Ashinga all female anti-poaching squad.

https://www.earthrights.org/ – Nonprofit organization that represents human rights defenders and environmentalists in court taking on major financial institutions and corporations guilty of human rights abuses and environmental crimes.

http://www.decoin.org/ – Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag – Grassroots organization working to preserve the biodiversity in the Intag area of northwestern Ecuador by helping communities interested in conservation to purchase land targeted for exploitation by extractive industries and assisting with sustainable development.

www.rainforest-rescue.org– Nonprofit that organizes protests against companies seeking to exploit the rainforest, attempts to affect policy, and raises funds to buy rainforest property

http://www.walhi.or.id/ – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment is a collective of anti-capitalist, environmental organizations in Indonesia that seek to protect the forests of Indonesia.

http://wrm.org.uy/–  The World Rainforest Movement “aims to contribute to struggles, reflections and political actions of forest-dependent peoples, indigenous, peasants and other communities in the global South.”

http://fseee.org/ – Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics seeks to reform the U.S. Forest Service and hold it accountable for land stewardship.

http://www.nrdc.org/ – National Resources Defense Council is a grassroots movement of 1.4 million members that strives to reduce pollution, preserve natural forests, reduce global warming, aid food security and quality, and protect marine life.

http://www.seashepherd.org/ – This international nonprofit uses direct action to protect marine life by taking out ships that are slaughtering it.

http://www.seethewild.org/ – organization that offers volunteer vacations for those who want to help conserve wildlife.

http://plasticwhale.com/ – This is not a nonprofit. But it fishes plastic waste out of the sea and melts it down to create boats.

http://storyofstuff.org/ – organization focused on reducing consumption of consumer goods

http://www.sierraclub.org/ – Nonprofit that lobbies politicians to promote sustainable energy, conserve the environment, and address climate change.

https://www.fuf.net/ – Friends of the Urban Forest plants trees in underserved neighborhoods in San Francisco. It also offers everyone interested the opportunity to volunteer and plant.

http://www.conservationfund.org/ – Plants trees, restores watersheds, buys land to prevent development, and practices sustainable forestry.

http://www.ecoterra.net/ – Global Society for Ecology and a Sound Economy

https://www.internationalrivers.org/ – Organization dedicated to removing dams and protecting rivers

http://www.mcsuk.org/ – The Marine Conservation Society is a UK based charity that organizes clean ups of beaches, removing litter from the shore, and lobbies politicians to create marine protected areas.

http://www.fauna-flora.org/ – Fauna and Flora is one of the oldest conservation organizations. It seeks to protect wildlife and natural spaces by securing land for conservation.

https://www.ienearth.org/– The Indigenous Environmental Network organizes campaigns, protests, and community building activities to protect the land, air, water, and sacred Native American sites. They also have a fund to help Native peoples adversely affected by mining projects.

Sustainable Energy Research and Development

http://www.nesea.org/

https://givepower.org/  

https://www.empoweredbylight.org/

Collaborative and Nonprofit Farms

http://eastwind.org/

http://www.thefec.org/

http://gainingground.org/

http://secmol.org – Student’s Educational and Cultural movement of Ladakh, India

http://www.growingpower.org/ – Nonprofit land trust that sustainably grows healthy food and distributes it equitably.

http://earthangelvillage.org

Human Rights, Peace, and Assistance for Refugees and Immigrants

https://nomoredeaths.org/ – Provides humanitarian aid for refugees and immigrants crossing the border

endtheoccupation.org

https://uscpr.org/ US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

https://unitedwedream.org/

http://www.peacebrigades.org/ – Helps to protect targeted human rights defenders through unarmed “protective accompaniment” essentially relying on the fact that foreign nationals are less likely to be targeted due to greater repercussions. While they have done some good work, they are highly pacifist and revere Ghandi, despite the fact that he won war medals and got thousands killed by encouraging his followers not to defend themselves. Still, I thought I should add them to this list.

UNRWA.org – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East

http://www.actforpeace.org.au/

http://www.ewb-international.org/ – Engineers Without Borders

https://cldc.org/ – Civil Liberties Defense Center

http://www.chemistswithoutborders.org/

http://www.heifer.org/

http://www.peacebrigades.org/

http://www.amnesty.org/

http://www.unhcr.org – United Nations Refugee Agency

http://hlp.home.igc.org/ – The Humanitarian Law Project

http://www.achpr.org/ – African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/

http://www.aclu.org/ American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.splcenter.org/

http://www.ctcinternational.org/

http://ccrjustice.org/ – Center for Constitutional Rights

https://www.nrc.no/ – Norweigan Refugee Council

http://www.iom.int/about-iom – International Organization for Migration

http://youthaiti.org/ 

http://www.peoplescommunitymedics.org/

colorofchange.org

https://www.escr-net.org/ – The International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Indigenous Rights, Legal Defense, and Resistance to Big Oil:

https://www.yintahaccess.com/

https://www.survivalinternational.org/

http://raventrust.com/

http://www.barrierelakesolidarity.org/

http://indigenousrising.org/

http://wwsw.lakotalaw.org/

http://twnsacredtrust.ca/

http://spiret.org/

http://www.laxuula.com/

https://www.generosity.com/fundraising/free-red-fawn

http://cwis.org/– Center for World Indigenous Studies

https://stoppilgrimpipeline.com

http://societyofnativenations.org

http://www.sabaltrailresistance.org/

http://www.arkansasrising.net/

http://www.labucketbrigade.org/

http://minorityrights.org/

Resistance to Military Recruiting and ROTC programs

www.nnomy.org – National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth

https://www.veteransforpeace.org/ 

https://www.ivaw.org/ – Iraqi Veterans Against the War

http://www.atriumsoc.org/programs-model.php – Youth Peace Literacy Project

http://peaceoptions.blogspot.com/

Anarchist and Antifascist Resistance Groups 

https://linktr.ee/Theblackheadquarter – “The Committee of Resistance,” anarchist coordinating group in Ukraine involved in education, assisting refugees and children orphaned by the war in Ukraine, and armed resistance to the Russian invasion.

Global Education and Resources for Learning

http://www.shinecharity.org/

http://www.boundless.com 

http://collegeopentextbooks.org/

Reproductive Healthcare and Women’s Rights 

http://onebillionrising.org/

http://reproductiverights.org/

http://www.pathfind.org/

http://www.globalfundforwomen.org

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

http://www.edwon.org/index.htm

http://www.populationconnection.org/

https://weareultraviolet.org/

Healthcare

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

http://www.berkeleyfreeclinic.org/ – radical, anti-authoritarian volunteer free clinic

http://www.pedaids.org/

http://www.ipacademy.org/

https://www.pih.org/

https://www.freeclinics.com/  – a searchable database of free clinics throughout the US

Rights of Children

http://www.childrensmedicalemergency.com/

http://www.smiletrain.org/ –

http://www.unicefusa.org/ – Works in 100 countries, saving children’s lives.

http://www.nobodyschildren.org/

http://www.children.org/

http://www.burnrescue.org/ Non-profit for burn victims

http://wonderwork.org/

http://www.tanzanianchildrensfund.org/

Secular Humanitarian Efforts

http://cjpip.org/ – Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine

http://www.ffrf.org/about/ – Freedom from Religion Foundation

atheists.org

http://richarddawkins.net/

http://www.secular.org/

http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/

http://www.iheu.org/

Drug Law Reform

http://norml.org/

http://hemp.org/

http://www.tdpf.org.uk/ – Transform Drug Policy Foundation

https://www.mpp.org/ – Marijuana Policy Project

Police / Prison Reform and Abolition

communitymovementbuilders.org/

http://freealabamamovement.com/

https://iwoc.noblogs.org/

http://www.rootsofrenewal.org/

http://www.justicereformnow.org/

http://www.justdetention.org/

http://www.howardleague.org

http://www.prisonpolicy.org/ 

http://www.prisonsucks.com/

http://www.realcostofprisons.com/ 

http://www.gatheringforjustice.org/

https://www.globalwitness.org (just journalism but significant)

http://www.sentencingproject.org/

Abolition of Slavery

https://www.freetheslaves.net

Gang Conflict Intervention and Alternatives

http://unityonefoundationinc.org/

http://www.sidewalkuniversity.org

 http://www.maximumforceenterprises.org/

http://theforgivenessproject.com/

Resources for Survivors of Sexual Abuse

http://justbeginnings.org/

http://www.generationfive.org/

Protection of Free Speech, Journalists, and Whistleblowers

http://americancensorship.org/

http://cpj.org/

Mental Health Research, Patient Advocacy Groups, and Patient Support Networks 

https://theicarusproject.net/

https://www.revolutionaryabolition.org/

http://bbrfoundation.org/

http://www.narpa.org/

Occupy Movements

http://occupywallst.org/

http://strikedebt.org/

Another way to help out is to volunteer or take direct actions against the institutions that are destroying us. You don’t need permission, just a plan.