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Save the World
These are groups that caught my attention. I have reason to trust them, and no reason to believe that they misuse donations. This is by no means a complete list of good causes; there are many more out there worthy of attention.
The descriptions below were taken from the organizations' official websites.
Join. Donate. Support. Save the world.
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I've added some links to these organizations' stores. Do some on-line shopping! And if you're not sure exactly who'd like the merchandise, send it to me!
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American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty. We work daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Our job is to conserve America's original civic values - the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
American Diabetes Association
The mission of the Association is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR)
amfAR's mission is to prevent HIV infection and the disease and death associated with it and to protect the human rights of all people threatened by the epidemic of HIV/AIDS.
Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of nearly 1,000 chapters and Blood Services regions dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
As a non-profit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, AmeriCares provides immediate response to emergency medical needs, as well as supporting long-term humanitarian assistance programs for all people around the world, irrespective of race, creed or political persuasion.
Amnesty International’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALS Association)
The ALS Association symbolizes the hopes of people everywhere that Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis will one day be a disease of the past – relegated to historical status, studied in medical textbooks, conquered by the dedication of thousands who have worked ceaselessly to understand and eradicate this perplexing killer.
Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN)
The mission of the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) is to offer lifelong learning opportunities to all Arkansans; to supply instructional programs to Arkansas' schools; to provide programming and services to improve and enhance the lives of Arkansas' citizens; and to illuminate the culture and heritage of Arkansas and the world.
Audubon
Audubon's mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
The nation's leading industry based HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization. BC/EFA's grantmaking has two emphases. The first is The Actors' Fund of America. BC/EFA currently supports five major social service programs at The Fund, each of which provides direct assistance to entertainment industry professionals and performing artists who are dealing with a variety of problems, including AIDS, HIV, and HIV-related issues.
Common Cause
Common Cause is a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1970 by John Gardner as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) serves as the official national Democratic campaign committee charged with recruiting, assisting, funding, and electing Democrats to the U. S. House of Representatives. We provide services ranging from designing and helping execute field operations, to polling, creating radio and television commercials, fundraising, communications, and management consulting.
Democratic National Committee (DNC)
The Democratic Party is committed to keeping our nation safe and expanding opportunity for every American. That commitment is reflected in an agenda that emphasizes the security of our nation, strong economic growth, affordable health care for all Americans, retirement security, honest government, and civil rights.
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
Our mission is to elect more Democrats to the United States Senate. We are the largest organization committed to electing a Democratic Senate in the country. From grass-roots organizing to candidate recruitment to providing campaign funds for tight races, the DSCC is working hard all year, every year to increase the number of Democratic Senators.
Developments in Literacy (DIL)
Since its inception in 1997, Developments in Literacy (DIL) has given hope to many young Pakistani children by bringing them the gift of education. Literacy rates in Pakistan average 49% nationwide and in remote rural areas can be as low as 0.5% for women. It is one of the few countries where illiteracy is on the rise, and is ranked second in the world for having the most out-of-school children (6.5 million), according to a UNESCO report.
The Dorough Lupus Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization. The Foundation's goals are to aide in research, educate the public and to provide financial assistance to organizations helping individuals living with Lupus who cannot afford treatment.
Earth Island Institute
Life on earth is imperiled by human degradation of the biosphere. Earth Island Institute develops and supports projects that counteract threats to the biological and cultural diversity that sustain the environment. Through education and activism, these projects promote the conservation, preservation, and restoration of the Earth.Shop!
The Borneo Project (a project of the Earth Island Institute)
The Borneo Project is an environmental justice initiative that partners with indigenous organizations and communities to permanently protect and manage ancestral rainforests.Shop!
Global Service Corps (a project of the Earth Island Institute)
Global Service Corps (GSC) is a nonprofit international volunteer organization that provides volunteer opportunities for people worldwide to live and work abroad in developing countries. We care about people. We care about the earth. We learn and we teach.
Earthjustice
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations and communities.
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation creates a future of hope for children and families worldwide by eradicating pediatric AIDS, providing care and treatment to people with HIV/AIDS, and accelerating the discovery of new treatments for other serious and life-threatening pediatric illnesses.
Environmental Defense is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including future generations. Among these rights are clean air, clean water, healthy food and flourishing ecosystems. We are guided by scientific evaluation of environmental problems, and the solutions we advocate will be based on science, even when it leads in unfamiliar directions.
FINCA provides financial services to the world’s poorest families so they can create their own jobs, raise household incomes, and improve their standard of living. We deliver these services through a global network of locally managed, self-supporting institutions.
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Since 1991, Victory has successfully helped elect hundreds of openly LGBT candidates to Congress, state legislatures, school boards, city councils and more. Through world-class programs and nonpartisan training, we also provide these new leaders with the skills and contacts they need to make the most of their influence and access.
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. Our mission is to reduce the spread of HIV disease, help people with HIV maintain and improve their health and independence, and keep the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV an urgent national and local priority.
Girls and Boys Town
Girls and Boys Town, the original Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, is a leader in the treatment and care of abused, abandoned and neglected girls and boys. Throughout its 88-year history, the nonprofit, nonsectarian organization has provided these children with a safe, caring, loving environment where they gain confidence to get better and learn skills to become productive citizens. Girls and Boys Town alumni have gone on to become successful in all facets of life.
Greenpeace
As a global organization, Greenpeace focuses on the most crucial worldwide threats to our planet's biodiversity and environment.
Heal the Bay is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to making Santa Monica Bay and Southern California coastal waters safe and healthy for people and marine life. We use research, education, community action and policy programs to achieve this goal.
The Brian Littrell Healthy Heart Club for Kids® will educate children and their families regarding the benefits of adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle. Through education, promotion and caring the Brian Littrell Healthy Heart Club for Kids ® fulfills its mission of nurturing heart conscious families while being instrumental in creating healthier communities.
Heifer International
Heifer envisions a world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. Heifer’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. Heifer's strategy is to “pass on the gift.” As people share their animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.
As America's largest gay and lesbian organization, the Human Rights Campaign provides a national voice on gay and lesbian issues. The Human Rights Campaign effectively lobbies Congress; mobilizes grassroots action in diverse communities; invests strategically to elect a fair-minded Congress; and increases public understanding through innovative education and communication strategies.
International Campaign for Tibet
The International Campaign for Tibet works to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet.
International Rescue Committee
Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee is a world leader in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression. Committed to restoring dignity and self-reliance, the IRC is a global symbol of hope and renewal for those who have taken flight in search of freedom.
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels.
Lutheran World Relief
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1945 to respond to the needs of communities devastated by World War II. Since then, it has evolved from a relief agency shipping material resources to war-torn Europe to an agency that works with partners worldwide to respond to emergencies, seek lasting solutions to rural poverty, and work for peace and justice for all.
Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1.3 billion in assistance to people in 100 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America, Europe and Asia, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,400 staff worldwide and reach nearly 14.4 million people in more than 35 countries.
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary health agency -- a dedicated partnership between scientists and concerned citizens aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than a million Americans.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.
NARAL Pro-Choice America
For more than thirty years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has been the leading national advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose. NARAL Pro-Choice America's mission is to develop and sustain a constituency that uses the political process to guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion.
National Campaign for Tolerance (a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center)
Tolerance.org is a principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating, in hate's stead, communities that value diversity. If you want to know how to transform yourself, your home, your school, your workplace or your community, Tolerance.org is a place to start — and continue — the journey.
The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded in 1971 as a small civil rights law firm. Today, the Center is internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists and its tracking of hate groups.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
NCLR is a national legal resource center with a primary commitment to advancing the rights and safety of lesbians and their families through a program of litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. In addition, NCLR provides representation and resources to gay men, and bisexual and transgender individuals on key issues that also significantly advance lesbian rights.
National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. By empowering transgender people and our allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation's capital and around the country.
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is a national organization committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities, who often face discrimination because of their sexual expression.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation (the Task Force) was the first national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights and advocacy organization and remains the movement's leading voice for freedom, justice, and equality. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a world that respects and makes visible the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society.
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since its founding in 1966, NOW's goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women.
National Women's History Museum
Founded in 1996, the National Women's History Museum is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution dedicated to revealing, presenting, and celebrating the rich and diverse history of women's contributions that have shaped American culture and society. The Museum will be established in Washington, D.C., where the world's most prominent museums and monuments are located.
Natural Resources Defense Council
NRDC is the nation's most effective environmental action organization. We use law, science and the support of more than 1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.
The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
Oxfam America
Oxfam America is a Boston-based international development and relief agency and an affiliate of Oxfam International. Working with local partners, Oxfam delivers development programs and emergency relief services, and campaigns for change in global practices and policies that keep people in poverty. Oxfam America works on the scene, helping people gain the hope, skills, and direction to create a new future.
Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG)
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence. We believe that respect and value for diversity in all aspects of our organization are essential to our well-being. We believe that reproductive self-determination must be voluntary and preserve the individual's right to privacy.
We fight for openness and democratic accountability in government, for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts; for clean, safe and sustainable energy sources; for social and economic justice in trade policies; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; and for safe, effective and affordable prescription drugs and health care.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and related forms of intolerance.
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
SAGE is the world's oldest and largest non-profit agency dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender senior citizens. Since its inception, SAGE has pioneered programs and services for seniors in the GLBT community, and countless organizations across the U.S. (including a number of independent SAGE affiliates) have turned to SAGE for support in developing programs for GLBT seniors in their communities.
The Sierra Club's members are more than 750,000 of your friends and neighbors. Inspired by nature, we work together to protect our communities and the planet. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.
SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental and social development organisation, which has been active in the field of children's needs, concerns and rights since 1949. Its activities focus on neglected and abandoned children and orphans, as well as disadvantaged families. If a child cannot stay with his/her biological family, his/her right to care, protection and equal opportunities should still be guaranteed.
Stem Cell Research Foundation
Stem cell therapy can be defined as a part of a group of new techniques, or technologies that rely on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy, functioning ones. These new techniques are being applied experimentally to a wide range of human disorders, including many types of cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's Disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. We have the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality. That makes us unique among world organizations, and unique among those working with the young. We believe that nurturing and caring for children are the cornerstones of human progress.
Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. Waterkeeper Alliance supports and empowers member Waterkeeper organizations to protect communities, ecosystems and water quality; promotes the Waterkeeper model for watershed protection worldwide; and advocates for issues common to Waterkeeper programs.
The Wilderness Society
We're spirited people protecting America's Wilderness since 1935 through the potent combination of science, advocacy and education. We deliver to future generations an unspoiled legacy of wild places, with all the precious values they hold: Biological diversity; clean air and water; towering forests, rushing rivers, and sage-sweet, silent deserts.
World Wildlife Fund
Known worldwide by its panda logo, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) leads international efforts to protect endangered species and their habitats. Now in its fifth decade, WWF works in more than 100 countries around the globe to conserve the diversity of life on earth. With nearly 1.2 million members in the U.S. and another 4 million worldwide, WWF is the world's largest privately financed conservation organization.
