Resource center

Explore articles, toolkits, and information on corporate giving programs from the experts.

Featured Resources

10 Charitable Giving Ideas Based on Moments That Matter for Employees

If the business of HR is to manage — and enhance — the employee experience, an understanding of Moments That Matter (MTM) may be one of the most critical tools the HR professional can add to their repertoire. The HR world adopted the term from the customer relations department, which refers to the moments in a customer's life when they are likely to make the decision to buy a product or service. In HR, it refers to the moments in an employee's life, both professional and private, that can most influence their feelings about their job and their employer. There are many ways to employ a Moments That Matter approach to employee management, but there's one that's often overlooked — incorporating it into the company's corporate giving strategy. Here's why you should, and some ideas of how your company can do it.

Moments That Matter — What It Is and Why It Matters

The idea behind the MTM management philosophy is that certain moments in your employees' lives have an outsize impact on their work satisfaction and attitude toward the company. Some of them are fairly generic — the job interview, their first weeks on the job, and promotions, for example. Others are more personal: an expectant parent, for instance, is likely to be influenced by how well — or poorly — HR helps them navigate the changes surrounding that milestone. Each of these experiences contributes to the overall employee experience with your company, and managing them well can play a big role in improving employee morale, job satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

Which Moments Matter?

As suggested, the answer to that question can vary from employee to employee. There is, however, some agreement on the most common moments, and suggestions for determining which moments matter the most to your employees. Gartner, Inc., an internationally respected HR consulting firm, lays out five types of moments likely to have the highest impact on employees in a recently published paper. They include moments that are:

Emotion-generating: like personal anniversaries and life milestones.
Scalable: have the potential to influence many employees.
Frequent: happen many times over the course of a day, week or month.
Business-aligned: moments that align with corporate strategy or culture.
Critical talent-aligned: impact a specific population with critical talents in the organization.

Understanding which moments matter to your employees can help you create policies and procedures that acknowledge them and respond to them positively and positively. In order to do this, it's vital that you equip your HR department with the tools to identify important moments and respond to them with empathy and clear guidance.

Corporate Philanthropy and Moments That Matter

More and more research shows that employees care about working for a company that aligns with their values. They want to work for a company that makes them proud, one that takes corporate responsibility seriously (CSR) and that supports — or empowers them to support — the causes that matter to them. Many employees are motivated by a company's commitment to give back and are engaged by corporate giving strategies like donation matching, group volunteer efforts and community giveback days. When you incorporate MTM into your corporate giving strategy, you can exponentially increase the impact on both your employees and the causes they support.

10 Moments That Matter-Inspired Charitable Giving Ideas

If all of that explanation left you buzzing but still unsure how to combine it with your corporate giving strategy, here are 10 ways that you can use Moments That Matter to inspire, motivate and engage your employees.

1. Make Corporate Giving Part of Your Employee Benefits Package

The job interview is one of the first times your employee will have contact with the HR department. Use that moment to explain that corporate giving is part of your standard employee benefits package, and show them how you make it easier for them to support the causes that matter to them.

2. Celebrate Work Milestones With Charitable Donations

Instead of — or in addition to — recognizing work anniversaries or achievements with swag, offer a bonus donation to be made to the charity of their choice. If you're using the Groundswell platform, it's easy to simply add the appropriate amount to the employee's giving account. You can even set it up as part of the policies that administer the program.

3. Use Data From Your Employee Donation Programs To Help Identify Moments That Matter

Many employee benefits management companies provide data and feedback to your company that can give you insight into what matters to your employees. Use that data to help identify giving trends and refine your program to make it more appealing.

4. Reward Team Milestones with a Giving Stipend

Sure, go ahead and have that pizza party for the team when QA checks off on their work, but why not give them something even more meaningful — add a little something to their charitable giving stipend. You're being doubly rewarding by giving them the power to support the causes they care about.

5. Recognize the Employee of the Month with the Opportunity to Make a Difference

It's nice to get your picture in a place of honor when you're voted Employee of the Month, but you can do better by giving your EOTM a chance to do more good. It's easy to set up one-time additions to an employee's giving fund based on their designation as a valued employee.

6. Give the Gift of Giving for Birthdays

Birthdays are a classic personal moment that matters — and many people celebrate by making a donation to charity. Even Facebook recognizes that — their Birthday Fundraiser feature is one of the platform's most popular. Empower your employees to be more charitable on their birthdays by making a birthday donation part of their benefits package.

7. Mark Work Transitions with More Donating Power

Take the opportunity to recognize work transitions — the end of a probation period, a promotion to team leader, or moving to a new department — with a contribution to their giving fund. If the transition is a promotion or other permanent rise in the company structure, you can even make it a permanent increase in the company's charitable giving program.

8. Celebrate Personal Milestones With a Contribution

There's no better way to make employees feel valued than demonstrating that you notice — and care about — what's happening in their lives. In addition to standard milestones, such as weddings or a new addition to the family, you can also celebrate the achievement of a new degree or certification, closing on a new house, or being recognized by a community organization.

9. Share the Celebration of Company Milestones

It's common for businesses to mark milestones by making a donation to charity. Whether your company is celebrating Founder's Day, recognizing their 1 millionth sale, or marking the awarding of a big contract, let your employees share in the festivities by making a contribution to their donor funds to distribute as they see fit.

10. Extend Your Annual Holiday Bonus

Add a little something extra to your holiday bonus program — an extra contribution to their employee giving fund. Many employees celebrate holidays with a donation to their favorite charities anyway. Why not empower them to give a little more?

How Groundswell Helps You Meet Moments That Matter to All of Your Employees

The right software program can make it easy for you to match moments that matter to the unique interests and needs of all of your employees. Designing a corporate giving program can be challenging, with many factors to consider and incorporate. Groundswell is designed to be inclusive, private, and empowering. By putting the power to give into the hands of each employee, the platform eliminates many barriers to giving that are inherent in traditional corporate match programs.

Employees can donate on their own timeline, rather than during a specified giving period.
There are no complicated forms to fill out and have approved.
Charities get their donations all at once rather than having to wait for the matching part of the donation.
Employees can give to the causes they support without worrying that their donations will expose parts of their private lives they'd rather not reveal. You can read more about how the Groundswell platform helps make employee giving more accessible and welcoming to everyone in the blog Is Your Donation Matching Program Inclusive and Equitable? Probably Not.
The simple interface makes it easy for your company to respond quickly to current events that have a wide cultural impact and provides a way for your company to be supportive to diverse groups among your employees.

Of course, your company can — and should — support your employees' charitable efforts in other ways, as well. You can create moments that matter for your employees by, for example, sponsoring weekly, monthly, or annual team volunteer opportunities. The time spent building out playgrounds, repairing homes for seniors, and serving meals at a local food kitchen all have the potential to be part of the reason your employees feel that they matter, not only to your company, but to the community at large.

Final Thoughts

Moments That Matter is more than just a current HR trend. It reflects a long tradition in the HR field — one of philanthropy and benefit focused on employees and their needs. When your company recognizes the most impactful moments in the lives of its employees — and provides them with a way to recognize, celebrate and navigate them — you are strengthening the relationship between your employee, your company and the community. In short, everyone benefits. Learn how at Groundswell.

Featured Resources

68% of Nonprofits Say This About Donations vs Volunteers - “Show us the money!”

Recently, leaders have stopped organizing employee volunteer events and shifted towards gifting and matching programs for good reasons.That's because company leaders have discovered that they're not the only ones that think volunteering isn't the best place for highly-skilled employees to spend their limited time. In fact, two-thirds of nonprofit leaders agree that donations are often better than organizing and overseeing volunteer events.A recent poll conducted by Groundswell of 500 nonprofit leaders indicated 68% preferred receiving monetary contributions over facilitating a corporate volunteer event.If you've considered putting together a volunteer event for your employees or setting up a corporate gifting and matching program, you're in the right place.This article helps you decide what programs are best for you and your organization, what benefits and drawbacks come with organizing volunteer events, and why companies are moving away from sending their employees out and moving towards offering employees a gifting and donation match program that sends money directly to nonprofits.

Volunteers or Donations?

Volunteering is at the heart of many charity and nonprofit organizations. Without people willing to volunteer their time to support the causes they care about, some nonprofits would fall short of their goals.However, while the act of volunteering is noble and well intentioned, not all volunteers and volunteering activities are created equal. Most organizations that rely on volunteers to deliver services strive for volunteers who are willing to show up consistently, complete training, and execute tasks according to standards.For example, the Boys and Girls Club’s lifeblood is community members who sign up to mentor at-risk youth. Mentors who consistently meet with, coach, and encourage their mentees can have a profound impact on that child’s life. Conversely, a volunteer that quits after two meetings can devastate a child’s self-esteem.Similarly, Feeding America - the largest network of foodbanks in the U.S. - relies substantially on volunteers to help operate its food warehouses. But, just like any Amazon fulfillment center, maintaining an efficient operation requires effective human capital management, including volunteer scheduling and training on tasks like storing, packing and shipping different types of food items. Having dedicated volunteers that commit to consistent work shifts allows FA operations leaders to plan effectively.There are countless examples of how committed volunteers can make a difference, but anyone considering a day of volunteering should ask themselves important questions about what the nonprofit they’re aiming to support needs most: time or money?

The Truth About Why Companies Love Corporate Philanthropy

Corporations love sending employees to help nonprofits because they see it as a win-win-win: nonprofits get support, employees get engaged, and the company burnishes its reputation..It’s clear that an army of employees adorned in color-coordinated shirts emblazoned with the company’s logo, deployed out into the community with rakes or paintbrushes, makes for a great photo op. The activity sends a message to the community that the company cares, and that’s a good thing as corporate stakeholders increasingly demand that company’s focus on social impact.There’s also no doubt that the activity engages employees. It often gets them out of the office and mingling with one another in a low-stress, lighthearted way. Many will return to the office grateful that their employer prioritized making a difference.But what about the nonprofit? Have they received the resources they need most to execute their mission best?

The Pros and Cons of Hosting Volunteer Events

Corporate volunteer events are events organized by nonprofit organizations at the request of a company, often through a corporate social responsibility (CSR) team.These events generally last a few hours, typically around the same time as an employee all-hands conference or retreat. They can be hosted at the company’s headquarters or at the nonprofit’s location. Often, employee volunteers are untrained, and despite wanting to make a difference, likely have no direct tie to or passion for the nonprofit’s mission; meaning most will conclude the event with no intention of volunteering with the organization again.If coordinated with the nonprofit effectively and resourced appropriately, corporate volunteer events can create value.

Here are the pros and cons of corporate volunteers.

Benefits of volunteering:

Positive employee experience - employees that volunteer often walk away with a good experience and positive outlook on aiding others.
More hands on the project - some projects benefit from more people on a project, like with community clean-ups.
Positive company image - Employees that volunteer contribute to the philanthropic values of a company and improve its public image.

Drawbacks of volunteering:

Additional work for the nonprofits - Organizing an event, training new volunteers, and managing an unfamiliar person can take a lot of effort and resources away that could have otherwise been used on supporting the organization's cause.
Reduced efficiency - The best nonprofits build efficient systems to do their work. Oftentimes, corporate volunteer events operate outside these systems. This can happen geographically, by dictating the location be at the corporate office, or otherwise by having to accommodate volunteers unfamiliar with the established system or process.

Volunteering isn’t always equitable and inclusive - Not every employee can participate in a volunteer activity. For example, if you’re cleaning up a beach employees with mobility issues could be left out.
Smaller return on investment - Volunteer events take a lot of work to plan, coordinate and execute, and sometimes - especially absent an additional monetary contribution from the company - the effort doesn’t yield sufficient impact.
Unpredictable effort and labor - The skills of volunteers can range from amateur to expert, which can make it tough for organization leaders to get high-level contributions.
No time -- Businesses are busy. Not all employees, executives, investors, and board members have the time to commit to volunteering, making it easier to donate money instead of time.

While volunteering can have a handful of benefits, it can sometimes come with a great deal of unnecessary administrative duties that take valuable resources away from an organization's limited resources.

Four Valuable Insights From Nonprofit Employees

Along with uncovering the reality about corporate volunteer programs, our poll revealed important insights into the truth about how nonprofits leaders felt about shifting trends in corporate philanthropy.According to our research, 79.4% agreed that corporate volunteer events are often more focused on employee experience than generating desirable outcomes for the organization's causes.Notably, 56.2% experienced a corporate volunteer event that didn't lead to efficient outcomes for the organization's cause.Perhaps in light of that, 72.2% believe corporations should make monetary contributions to offset the effort required to facilitate corporate volunteer events.Finally, a remarkable 42.2% believe planning volunteer opportunities for companies is actually a distraction to their core mission.

Here's Why Donating Is Better Than Volunteers.

Just like any business, having working capital is crucial for charities to deliver consistent outcomes.For nonprofit organizations, donations help fuel campaign initiatives, purchase supplies, pay for employee salaries, cover the cost of insurance and support efforts made by the entity. Even volunteer events cost money! Who do you think covers the cost of those bottles of water, ham sandwiches, and cans of paint?In other words, donations support nearly every facet of an organization, from supporting their infrastructure to facilitating initiatives and backing campaigns.In nearly all cases, donations are much more flexible than volunteering. Donations can be used for anything related to the organization's operation while volunteering is limited to labor-specific tasks. Volunteering is also limited by the volunteer's level of expertise, whereas donations can be used to hire experts to accomplish the same task using less effort and resources.

Have You Launched Your Company Gifting and Matching Program?

Since donations generally contribute directly to the organization's central mission while providing them with ultimate discretion in how to deliver impact, corporate leaders and their employees are realizing their contributions can go a lot further when donating money instead of time.If you’re curious to learn more about how corporate gifting and matching programs work, you’ll find more resources on our blog.

Featured Resources

Is Your Donation Matching Program Inclusive and Equitable? Probably Not.

Corporate employee gift matching - where an employer matches an employee’s gift to a charity - has been a mainstay of major companies for decades. It has unlocked billions of dollars of community funding and helped donors double their impact. It’s also inequitable and lacks inclusion as matching programs currently operate. Fortunately, there’s a solution.

But first, a history lesson.

In many ways and for many reasons, GE is one of America’s most iconic companies - though notably its star has dimmed since its peak several decades ago. GE was born by Thomas Edison, became a founding member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (where it stayed from 1907 to 2018), and was awarded countless patents for innovation across aviation, healthcare, and energy.

However, an innovation GE rarely gets credit for is its innovation in corporate philanthropy. In 1954, GE rolled out what is often credited as the first workplace-giving program. In the nearly seven decades since GE reports that it has matched over $1.5 billion in employee gifts. That’s an astounding number.

Yet GE’s program has not evolved much since its inception. Sure, it uses a software platform to help facilitate gifts (one that could use a good ol’ fashioned overhaul) and they’ve probably increased the amount they’ll match (it’s currently a generous $5,000 per employee). But the basic construction remains the same - and therein lies the problem.

Today’s standard matching gift program works like this:

An employee gives money to a charity; they then submit that donation receipt to someone on staff (often in HR, finance, or perhaps a dedicated corporate social responsibility or CSR function). That staff member then must vet the charity to ensure it’s a registered 501c3 with the IRS and that it meets the company’s stated program requirements (for example, many companies won’t match gifts to places of worship - like a church - despite them being tax-exempt organizations). Finally, if all goes according to plan, a form is submitted to the accounts payable department and a check is issued from the company to the nonprofit - often weeks or months later.

Many folks would rightfully point out that this process seems like an administrative nightmare - and it is, both for the employee and the employer. But what’s often not discussed is that it is also by nature exclusionary and therefore inequitable.

How so? Let me explain.

The existing process - even if supported and enabled by software platforms that ease (but don’t eliminate) some of the administrative burdens - requires the employee to disclose where they have given to charity. On the surface, this may not seem like a problem - how else would the employer know where to send the matching money? But spend a moment and imagine all the reasons that someone may not want their employer or work colleagues to know the specific charities you are supporting.

For many people, their philanthropy is deeply personal and inspired by lived experiences. An employee that grew up in an abusive household may support a local domestic abuse shelter. A member of the LGTBQ community that is not yet open about their sexuality certainly wouldn’t want their coworkers knowing they support the Trevor Project. A recovering alcoholic may not want to submit the receipt for their monthly donation to Alcoholics Anonymous.

So what happens?

They simply don’t participate. They feel excluded.

The inequity is further exacerbated when companies determine that some causes or issues are worth matching, but others are not. In GE’s example, the determination that the company will not match contributions to houses of worship - churches, synagogues, mosques, and others - is akin to telling GE’s employees that what matters to them is not worth matching.

Now, we should be fair to GE. Because of GE’s matching program design, any matches sent to charities are coming from GE. Iconic brands like GE must be very careful in creating a perception that they are affiliated with or endorse any specific organization, or in this case, faith. That’s certainly reasonable - but it’s demotivating to the practicing Catholic who dutifully tithes 10% of her paycheck each week to her church.

(As a disclaimer, we draw the line at any nonprofit, religious or not, that stands for hate, and you won't find any classified hate groups available to fund in the Groundswell app.)

Essentially, today’s standard matching program makes about as much sense as if an employer chose not to deposit employees’ paychecks into bank accounts, but instead forced those employees to submit receipts for all of their expenses so that their cost of living could be reimbursed. How comfortable would you be with inviting someone into your personal life in that fashion?

So is there a better way? Yes, there is.

Modern matching programs must evolve to reflect the capabilities of our modern tax and financial technology ecosystem. Groundswell (www.groundswell.io) is doing this by making donor-advised funds (DAFs) accessible to anyone, and by specifically creating a corporate benefits platform that provides one to employees. By providing employees with Personal Giving Accounts built on top of donor-advised funds, our platform can disaggregate someone’s decision to be charitable (the moment they contribute to their Groundswell account) from their decision on what charity to support (sending their Groundswell funds to a nonprofit).

With Groundswell, employees contribute to their Personal Giving Account and companies can match those contributions according to their matching program rules. At that point, the employee controls the funds - they can direct the full amount to whatever qualifying charity they choose when they choose.

Because funds sent to charities are distributed by the Groundswell Charitable Foundation, companies no longer have to restrict where their employees give - because the company is never directly associated with the gift.

Information provided back to the employer is anonymized. They will know all the charities that were supported but will not be able to associate them with individual employees. The result is that companies can better understand what their employees truly value, without violating their privacy.

With Groundswell, employers can take meaningful action that drives home their commitment to DE&I initiatives while providing a unique employee benefit that allows employees to freely be their authentic, charitable selves.

Let's have a conversation - what do you think?

Featured Resources

What Is Corporate Philanthropy and Why Should You Care?

If the words "corporate philanthropy" call up images of pink ribbon campaigns, big donations to very visible causes, and big brands improving their image through charitable donations, hang tight.There's a lot more to the picture than big-dollar donations to well-known charities and causes. In today's business world, businesses of all sizes and in all sectors are committed to giving back to their communities through some form of charitable giving — and "charitable giving" takes on many forms.In fact, as of 2021, 85% of U.S. companies have a formal corporate giving program in place, and they donated a combined $20.77 billion to charitable causes.But what is corporate philanthropy, exactly, and what are the best ways for your company to give back to the community? The answers to those questions are evolving as a society — and employees — become more knowledgeable, engaged, and interested in how the companies they deal with affect the world around them.

What Is Corporate Philanthropy?

Corporate philanthropy refers to activities and investments voluntarily made by businesses to make a positive impact on the community around them. That's a very broad umbrella. It covers everything from giving money to donating expertise and encouraging employees to volunteer for community organizations. If your company hosts a food drive for Thanksgiving, buys uniforms for a local soccer team, or offers a matching donations program for charitable giving, it is engaging in corporate philanthropy. Learn more about corporate giving and why it's important in our resource section.

Who Benefits From Corporate Philanthropy?

The benefits of giving back are many, and not just for the organizations on the receiving end of donations. The business also reaps benefits, as do the employees and the general community. In a world where consumers increasingly expect companies to be socially responsible partners in our world, having a formal corporate giving program in place is a vital part of doing business. Charitable donations aren't just a sunk cost of doing business, though. There are clear benefits for the company when they make the choice to give back. Those include:

7 Types of Corporate Philanthropy

The face of corporate philanthropy has been evolving rapidly, especially in light of the last few years of upheaval and technological advances. These are the seven most common forms of corporate giving. Many companies engage in more than one, and many more are rethinking their strategic corporate philanthropy plans as corporate social responsibility takes on more importance to customers and employees. More on that later.

Employee and Board Stipends

Some corporations provide cash stipends to employees or board members, which they can donate to the charities or causes of their choice.

Volunteer Support

Companies may organize, support or give paid time off to employees who volunteer for organizations in their community. The support may be technical — an accounting firm may provide training and expertise to a startup nonprofit, for example — or more general, such as gathering a team to help paint houses or build playgrounds in the neighborhood.

Corporate Sponsorships

The Little League team, a fundraising event by the local food bank, a fashion show put on by a local charity — these are all examples of businesses using corporate sponsorships as part of their overall corporate philanthropy strategy. The corporation makes a donation to charity in return for being prominently mentioned during the event.

Community Grants

A company may offer grants to community organizations that apply for them and meet specific criteria to qualify. Walmart, for example, offers grants ranging from $250 to $5,000 to local community organizations. Often, the grants are given through a foundation established by the company for the purpose of making corporate donations.

In-Kind Donations

In-kind donations are donations of goods or services instead of cash. This type of donation is more common among smaller businesses, such as restaurants donating pizza to a local homeless shelter, or providing coffee and donuts free of charge to a weekly parents' group meeting. Similarly, many companies donate a "portion of x sold" gifts to charity. Stop and Shop, for example, donates a dollar to a local organization for each reusable shopping bag purchased by customers.

Donor-Advised Funds

Donor-advised funds — DAFs — are a variation on making grants to charities and causes through a foundation. In a nutshell, a DAF is like a personal charitable giving account, similar to a health savings account. The donor can make donations at any time and receive an immediate tax advantage. The funds sit in the DAF until the donor decides to disburse them to the charity or cause of their choice. DAFs offer several benefits that make them the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the U.S.

Matching Donations

We saved this one for last because matching donation programs are among the most common corporate giving programs — 9 out of 10 companies have employee matching programs. Traditionally, an employee makes a donation to a charity or cause, and then either they or the nonprofit submits a form to the company, which then makes a second donation to the charity, effectively doubling — or sometimes tripling — the original amount. Despite their popularity, matching gift programs account for only about 12% of cash donations received by nonprofits, and an estimated $4 to $7 billion in matching gift money is never distributed. That's because the entire process can be cumbersome, both for your HR department and for the nonprofit receiving the donation.

A New Kind of Corporate Philanthropy — Philanthropy as a Service

Groundswell believes that it's time to rethink how matching donations programs work. Groundswell makes it easy for companies to launch a charitable giving program that takes advantage of all the benefits of a DAF for them and their employees. The Groundswell platform unlocks the potential of DAFs reimagining corporate philanthropy using the x-as-a-service model. Philanthropy as a service — PHaaS — lets you skip the complicated process of setting up a foundation, hiring accountants and handling all the day-to-day nuts and bolts of managing a charity. Instead, you get a simple, transparent platform that allows your company and your employees to support the causes they believe in without all the friction that accompanies traditional matching donation programs. Your company reaps the benefits of having a defined charitable giving program. Your employees are more engaged, with their privacy protected and their autonomy honored, and the causes they support get their donations without the hassle of chasing down the matching funds. It's a win-win-win solution that empowers everyone in the equation.

Final Thoughts

Corporate philanthropy has evolved over the years, and it's evolving faster than ever thanks to technological advances and changing social attitudes. If you're ready to take the next step in corporate philanthropy, reach out to us to learn more about what PHaaS can bring to your company.

Matching

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

All

Corporate Philanthropy

Cause Spotlights

Personal Giving

Guides and toolkits

All Posts

6 mins read

Blog Post

12 Employee Benefits Survey Questions Modern Companies Should Ask

In today's business environment, having the right and highest performing talent is more critical than ever. With benefits packages playing a vital role in these decisions, how can companies truly gauge their effectiveness? By initiating regular employee benefits surveys.

Scroll down for a free survey template below.

Let's dive in to the importance of asking the following questions.

Is our workforce satisfied with the current employee benefits package?

Gaining insights from "how satisfied are you with our company’s benefits package?" can offer companies a quick pulse on the effectiveness of their benefits. A dip in satisfaction might signal a need for re-evaluation, especially if you're looking to maximize your budget.

How comprehensive are the employee benefits we offer?

Do employees feel that the organization covers a wide range of their needs? Asking, "do you feel our benefits package is comprehensive in its offering?" can shed light on any potential gaps in coverage.

Are we showing true commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion through our benefits?

Are the company's efforts in promoting DE&I resonating? This can be gauged by asking if the benefits genuinely support diversity and inclusion. If they aren't, here's an opportunity to collect ideas directly from your employees.

Do our benefits reflect our company culture and values?

The question, "do you feel our benefits package supports our cultural values?" will highlight any potential discrepancies in practicing what you're preaching.

Did you know? Two-thirds of employees say it’s important for a company to align to their values.

Are we catering to the needs of a remote or multi-location workforce?

With remote work on the rise, is the company adapting its benefits accordingly? It's essential to find out if employees feel supported, regardless of their work setting.

Would employees recommend the company based on our benefits?

This is an easy one to skip, but it's a great question to ask. See how influential your benefits package is for employee referrals. Determining if employees would advocate for the company based on its benefits can be a key metric for recruitment.

How do specific benefit categories fare?

By querying satisfaction levels across various benefits – physical health, social impact, mental health, financial health, and fringe benefits – can companies discern which areas are thriving and which need enhancement?

What additional benefits do employees desire?

Is there a particular benefit that could make a difference in employee satisfaction and retention? Discovering this can be as straightforward as asking, "if you could choose one benefit not currently offered, what would it be?"

If your workforce desires a more meaningful benefit, see why decentralizing your corporate philanthropy strategy can achieve greater impact at scale.

How often should I send an employee survey about our benefits?

While every business has their own set of unique needs, conducing a quarterly employee survey at minimum can help you get a pulse check.

There will be some natural and unplanned peaks in valleys throughout the year that can drastically affect employee morale and company culture. By proactively seeking feedback through surveys, companies can foster a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring they remain at the forefront of employee satisfaction.

What are some affordable benefit options we can provide employees?

Corporate matching or giving programs can be a low-cost addition to your benefit offering that supports your employees’ unique passions and perspectives through charitable giving and boosts your company’s commitment to social impact. Groundswell offers a comprehensive solution with a simple implementation and nearly zero administration burden.

Request a demo

[Free Template] Employee Benefits Survey Questions

How satisfied are you with our company’s benefits package?
Do you feel our benefits package is comprehensive in its offering?
Do you feel our benefits package supports our cultural values?
Do you feel our benefits package supports our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion?
Do you feel our benefits package supports our remote or multi-location workforce?
How likely are you to recommend applying based on our benefits package?
How satisfied are you with our physical health benefits (i.e. health care, sick leave, etc)?
How satisfied are you with our social impact benefits (i.e. corporate matching, volunteering, etc)?
How satisfied are you with our mental health benefits (i.e. vacation time, EAP, etc)?
How satisfied are you with our financial health benefits? (i.e. retirement, student loan assistance, etc)
How satisfied are you with our fringe benefits and perks? (i.e. fitness subsidies, stipends, etc)
If you could choose one benefit not currently offered, what would it be?

6 mins read

Blog Post

6 Tips For An Effective Corporate Volunteerism Program with Groundswell

For companies seeking to streamline their giving and volunteering in one place, Groundswell has a number of volunteer features designed to easily track, reward, and engage employees. We have been extremely thoughtful about the volunteerism features we’ve built - with an eye towards being value-add for companies that may need some support with their volunteerism initiatives, and want to streamline their giving and volunteering programs in one place - from design to execution to reporting.

6 Tips For An Effective Corporate Volunteerism Program

1. Set your goals:

When designing a volunteer program, it’s important to start by defining your goals, whether you’re focused on participation numbers, team-building, or the ability to provide additional support to a nonprofit that is already a recipient of corporate funding. None of these are mutually exclusive, but how you approach volunteerism, and the ways in which you execute it, may help advance certain goals more than others.

2. Identify internal champions:

A volunteer program is rarely successful unless there are internal champions that can provide peer-to-peer encouragement, or geographic-specific coordination. While Groundswell's volunteer platform provides important tools to facilitate and help execute volunteer programs, some of the most successful companies have internal champions or volunteer “ambassadors” who can engage and motivate their fellow employees to participate, as well as build critical relationships with nonprofits. For companies with different geographic hubs, having champions to spearhead volunteering events can help drive meaningful employee engagement at a more local level.

3. Create community across groups and locations:

Leverage regional champions and/or Employee Resource Group leads to help spearhead events that bring employees together across geographies and other affinity groups. Groundswell’s Volunteer Event Management tool enables companies to schedule and manage registration for larger events, as well as empower teams based in different regional hubs to schedule and track participation in their own volunteer events..A best practice is to designate a specific time of year for volunteer activation - whether a day of service, week or full month - so that employees can feel motivated and inspired to participate when the entire company is focused on volunteerism and service.

4. Align your Giving and Volunteering Program Through Dollars for Doers:

Groundswell’s Volunteer Matching feature - also known as Dollars for Doers - provides another way for employees to show their support for the causes that matter most to them. Through Volunteer Matching, an employee logs volunteer hours and then receives funds into their Groundswell account, to then be donated. And it also recognizes that some employees may have time to give, but not money to donate – and rewards them for that. You can set up a Volunteer Match program as a stand-alone, or combine with an existing donation matching program.

5. Design a program that includes remote or hybrid workers:

Many companies are eager to revive larger, in-person events. But not everyone may be based at the headquarters, and the “new normal” of hybrid work schedules may make it difficult for larger groups to come together. Groundswell’s volunteer platform can be customized to allow employees to volunteer their time even if they aren’t able to be at an event in-person. The Volunteer Hours Tracking Tool enables employees to log those individual volunteer hours, so that the company can capture their participation even if it is not with a larger group volunteer event.

6. Leverage Data for Internal Feedback and External Storytelling:

Groundswell’s streamlined reporting dashboard allows companies to easily access key metrics around volunteer hours, participation levels, and number of events. By integrating across giving and volunteering programs, companies can have a holistic view of their impact for ongoing or annual reporting requirements. The data is also an important tool for internal reporting and engagement - highlighting regions that may be particularly active in their giving and volunteering, and inspire more engagement for future events.

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Big Donation Distribution Problem You Don’t Know About

At Groundswell, we are passionate about challenging the status quo, and one industry standard that we’ve set our sights on is the unconscionable donation distribution delays normalized by legacy platforms like Benevity, Cybergrants, and YourCause. These companies, which currently service the majority of Fortune 500 companies, routinely take 30-60 days to send a donor’s donation to charity, and 90-180 days to send a company’s matching gift.

‍We believe that this is wrong. So we’ve fixed it.

‍Groundswell is the fastest employee giving platform, sending both the employee's donation and the company's match together within 5 days.

Why do distribution timelines matter?

In this blog post I’m going to share with you why this is so powerful. But first, let me tell you why this is personal.

From 2010 through 2020 I served as the founder and CEO of the global humanitarian relief organization Team Rubicon (TR). TR responds to hundreds of disasters and crises each year, each mission carefully planned. One critical planning factor is fundraising - how much will the organization be able to successfully raise in the immediate onset of this event? The first 96 hours of an event are the most telling, as individual donations begin pouring in and corporations begin calling to make pledges. Using these early signals, a budget is prepared and a mission is launched.

Now fast-forward four months. A literal mountain of paper checks begin arriving, representing the matching donations that have finally been invoiced, collected, aggregated, and distributed to us by Benevity, Cybergrants, and YourCause. However, more often than not the mission was already over - and the money now unable to be spent effectively.

Don’t get me wrong - a nonprofit is never going to complain about donations coming in. But having not known that these checks were coming, they were not included in the original budgeting. This created massive headaches for our staff, but more importantly, represented a missed opportunity to have delivered more impact during the response phase.

When I started Groundswell, this was one very real problem that I set out to solve.

Why does it take so long for legacy platforms to distribute donations?

There are several things that lead to these distribution delays, the primary of which is these platform’s process of distributing donations in aggregated batches. That process looks like this:

Employee 1 makes a $10 donation to a Charity X on September 1st, Employee 2 makes a $15 donation to Charity X on September 10th, and Employee 3 makes a $25 donation to Charity X on September 30th.
In October, the legacy platform combines all donations designated for Charity X in September into a single amount - in this instance $50 ($10 + $15 + $25)
On or around October 15th, $50 is sent to Charity X - often via a paper check

In this process, Employee 1’s donation does not reach the charity for at least 45 days. Worse yet, many platforms have a minimum donation threshold, which means that the platform will not process the distribution until a minimum amount has been designated for the charity. This often means that a donor’s money can sit as a pending payment for months or even years, until additional donors make enough donations to reach the threshold.

The process gets even more convoluted when there’s a corporate donation match involved. That process looks like this:

Let’s assume Employees 1 and 2 in the above scenario work for Acme Corporate, while Employee 3 works for XYZ Corp. Acme Corp and XYZ Corp both offer employee donation matches.
Following their respective September donations, the legacy platform will send both Acme Corp and XYZ Corp an invoice for the match amount owed by each company, $25 and $25 respectively in this example. This invoice is sent in late October for September’s donations.
Both companies receive and review the invoice. Reconciling the invoice takes 1-2 weeks.
Upon approval, administrators at both companies forward the invoice to accounts payable for payment. Acme Corp has net-30 payment terms and sends the legacy platform $25 in late November. XYZ Corp has net-60 payment terms, so does not send its $25 until late December.
The platform receives all funds in late December and processes payment of the matching donations to Charity X in January.

This example clearly lays out how an employee that made a donation on September 1st may not have her matching donation reach the charity for five months! This process erodes the employee experience, creates unnecessary administrative tasks for company administrators, and delays critical cash flow for nonprofits.

How has Groundswell upended this process to make distributions in 5 days?

Groundswell’s commitment to social impact drives everything we do. Thus, we set out to set a new standard in donation distribution timelines. The result is that we:

Instantly match an employee’s donation
Send both the employee’s donation and the company match together within 5 days
No longer aggregate these payments together, but instead send them individually

Now we have improved the employee experience, eliminated the administrative burden on companies, and improved the nonprofit’s cash flow.

But we’re not done. The only reason we’re waiting five days to distribute instead of sending the funds within 24 hours is because donors occasionally initiate credit card or ACH reversals, and it’s challenging to resolve these if we’ve already sent the funds to charity. However, we’re committed to examining the data over the coming months to determine what our reversal rate is, and whether we’re able to further reduce this timeline accordingly.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Increase Impact With Corporate Grants

Corporate philanthropy is table stakes - as businesses are judged not just by profits and market shares, but also on the impact they make on society and the world at large. With more and more companies embracing corporate philanthropy strategies, the need for efficient, hassle-free, and impactful approaches has never been greater. With CSR budgets strained, and teams facing competing pressures, it’s important to streamline elements of a company’s corporate philanthropy strategy by combining employee giving, volunteerism, as well as corporate-level grantmaking. At Groundswell, we're spearheading the movement to make corporate grants more efficient, impactful, and accessible.

With our platform, companies can administer corporate grants akin to having a corporate foundation, but without the associated administrative burden or cost. Running a corporate foundation is no small feat. It involves significant administrative work, legal compliance, and financial investment. Groundswell eliminates these hurdles, providing you with the grant-making functionality of a corporate foundation without the associated overhead. Our platform is designed to seamlessly handle all the back-end work while you focus on selecting deserving nonprofits, allowing you to put your energy into the more important aspects of a strategic nonprofit partnership.

We also cut down on the hassle of getting money to nonprofits - which is a win-win on both sides. In traditional corporate grant-making, the process of disbursing funds can be laborious. With Groundswell, you don't have to worry about cutting checks and ensuring they reach the right organizations. All you need to do is choose your recipients, decide the grant amount, and provide any additional notes. We take care of the disbursement to nonprofits for you, with a commitment to getting the funds to the nonprofits within a few days of initiating a grant, making sure that the funds are put to good use promptly.

Another pain point in the grant-making process is the distribution fee often charged, which reduces the amount of funds that reach the designated nonprofits. At Groundswell, we are committed to ensuring that 100% of your funds reach the nonprofits you want to support. That's right, we never charge a distribution fee on grants.

All of these efficiencies are designed to create the time and space for you and your company to focus on what matters most - selecting the best nonprofit partners, and deepening the strategic relationship in ways that align with your broader philanthropic strategy - perhaps through volunteerism or other engagement. You can also turn your energy to ways in which corporate grants can be used to complement your employee giving program; for example, some companies send larger grants to the top 5 nonprofits receive the most support from employees - aligning your corporate philanthropic dollars with what matters most to your employees.

Corporate grants, as a part of a comprehensive corporate philanthropy strategy, can help companies increase their impact on the world. And when coupled with employee matching and gifting, the potential impact is even more substantial. At Groundswell, we’re committed to help eliminate the barriers that often hamper efficient and effective grant-making, letting companies focus on what truly matters.

6 mins read

Blog Post

How Decentralizing Your Corporate Philanthropy Strategy Can Achieve Greater Impact at Scale

Unlocking the power of grassroots giving

In the world of corporate philanthropy, a common scenario is that large corporations write substantial checks to a select few well-known charities. The recipients often implement programs that align with signature initiatives or thematic cause “pillars” that align with a company’s philanthropic strategy. And while this model of giving has undoubtedly created significant impact, it is also important to acknowledge that it limits the opportunity for smaller, lesser-known, but equally deserving charities to receive much-needed support. So, what does it look like to turn the model on its head? Or, put differently, what does it look like to both support a few strategic partners AND decentralize your company’s philanthropy by empowering employees to show support for causes and charities that matter most to them?

Decentralizing the traditional model of corporate philanthropy creates a unique opportunity for grassroots nonprofits often in need of financial support. This shift can translate into meaningful impact at the local level, often in communities where employees live, work, and care about deeply. Donation data analyzed by Groundswell speaks to this: we estimate that over 60% of donations are made to local charities. And it also helps companies gain powerful insights into the causes and nonprofits that matter to their employees. Think of it as a philanthropic pulse-check: what do your people truly care about?

Employees empowered to participate in their company’s giving program transforms them from passive participants to active changemakers. It also fosters greater inclusion. As a diverse group of individuals with a wide array of interests and passions, employees can bring to light myriad causes that might otherwise be overlooked in a traditional philanthropy model. From local environmental initiatives and small nonprofits working on minority rights, to community health projects and education for underprivileged children - the possibilities for impact are vast and varied.

During the pandemic, I witnessed first-hand the critical role that grassroots nonprofits play when I worked to address critical delivery gaps for emergency food assistance in cities across the country - from Atlanta, Louisville and Houston to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Stockton. I partnered with organizations working in the midst of lockdowns to step up and support the most vulnerable populations. In San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, Bayview Senior Services supported low-income seniors who were unable to leave their homes by delivering warm meals. In Atlanta, Community Outreach in Action provided much-needed food assistance to those impacted by the pandemic. And in Houston, Bethel’s Heavenly Hands played a critical role for the community not just providing food during the pandemic but also when historic freezing temperatures crippled residents across the city. These are all examples of small (by revenue) but high-impact organizations working on the frontlines to support residents in local communities.

As we look towards the future, it's clear that the traditional model of corporate philanthropy needs to evolve to keep pace with the changing expectations of employees and society at large. Decentralizing corporate philanthropy is not merely a trend; it's a powerful movement that can redefine corporate social responsibility. By harnessing the power of grassroots giving, companies can truly transform lives and communities, one employee-chosen donation at a time.

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Guide to Being a Modern Philanthropist: Elevate Your Impact With Groundswell

This guide is intended to provide resources and inspiration for Groundswell users on how to donate to causes they care about. It provides tips to best identify and donate to charities that have a proven track record of impact. It also discusses how to think about geography and size when deciding where to donate, and explains the ways in which even small, recurring donations can have be powerful for charities working on the frontlines every day.

Groundswell can be your partner in your journey as a modern philanthropist. Your donations are a critical part of addressing society's myriad issues, such as poverty, education, healthcare, and environmental concerns. And giving to others is also good for you. It has been shown that people who donate to charity experience increased happiness and well-being compared to those who do not give. This sense of satisfaction comes from the knowledge that your actions are making a positive impact on the world and helping those in need.

Through Groundswell, you can easily add funds to your account, browse or search for charities, and donate in a matter of minutes. In this guide, we help demystify some of the questions you might have as you consider where, when and how to donate.

Six Tips to Becoming a Modern Philanthropist

Summary

Pick causes and charities that align with your values: When deciding what you want to support, start by taking into consideration the people, places, or problems that you care about most.
Understand impact through the lens of size & geography: The geographic reach of different charities' programs, and how large or small they are, can help as you determine what to support.
Evaluate best in class charities: Learn how to assess not only the financial health of an organization, but also what questions to ask when looking at other impact metrics.
Set a giving goal: Decide how much you want to give annually through Groundswell, and follow the simple steps to set up contributions to achieve that goal.
Maximize impact through recurring donations: Simplify your giving and provide nonprofits with a steady stream of revenue through monthly, recurring donations.
Optimize your giving through tax-efficient strategies: Leverage the versatility of Groundswell to reduce your tax burden through payroll giving, stocks contributions, and bunching.

1. Pick Causes & Charities that Align with Your Values

Your giving journey often is deeply personal, rooted in your own values and lived experiences. When deciding what causes you want to support, it’s important to start by taking into consideration the people, places, or problems that you care about most. Who or what do you want to impact? What cause is most aligned with that? Use that as a starting point to then find the charities best positioned to have an impact on what you care most about. Focusing on specific cause areas allows you to be more intentional about how you donate.

There are thousands of causes and more than a million nonprofits on the Groundswell platform that tackle challenges from all angles, from improving K-12 education or finding a cure for Alzheimer’s to reducing plastics in the ocean or protecting women’s rights.

After determining what causes matter most to you, it’s also helpful to identify the type of impact you are seeking to make. Are you interested in supporting organizations that are “on the ground” providing direct services or those doing longer-term, important policy and research work? That can help guide you in picking the charities that you want to donate to.

2. Understand Impact: Size & Geography

Where to donate

When deciding where to donate, it’s also important to determine where you want that impact to happen. For many people, where they give is closely linked to where they live – their local food pantry, homeless shelter, house of worship, or neighborhood school.

Others may want to focus their giving beyond where they live and donate to organizations that operate in certain regions or even other countries. There’s no ‘right’ answer - and many people choose to donate both locally and globally to a cause they care about. For example, you may want to support an organization that is both on the frontlines supporting refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, as well as helping resettle refugee families near your town in the U.S.

Does size matter?

Similarly, there is no right answer for what size organization is best to donate to. Whether they are large or small, if they have a strong track record of impact and do not have a pattern of mismanagement of funds, they are worthy recipients of donations.

Many people want to donate to organizations that have a proven track record of implementing large-scale programs, or are on a strong growth trajectory, year over year. Larger organizations generally have shown their ability to receive larger amounts of funding, and in turn design and implement programs at a scale that have a greater impact towards the causes you care about most. But small organizations can also be extremely impactful - even if the radius or scope of impact is smaller. Although many of today’s social and environmental problems are massive in scale, the vast majority of nonprofits are tiny; indeed, most nonprofits in the United States are small, grassroots organizations - and 20% have annual budgets of less than $50,000. For smaller nonprofits, even the smallest donation on an annual or monthly, recurring basis can have a huge impact on their ability to sustain programs or even expand.

3. Evaluate "Best in Class" Charities

There are multiple ways to assess the quality of a charity; many ratings sites focus primarily on financial metrics, but it is equally important to assess not only how an organization is managing its funds, but also the quality of its work. And while a rating system like Charity Navigator can be helpful, it is important to know that no rating system is comprehensive. Groundswell offers an important starting point - we only feature organizations that are in good standing with the IRS and eligible to receive tax-deductible donations.

Programmatic Impact: Understanding a nonprofit’s impact - through its programs and the populations that it serves - is an important way to evaluate its effectiveness in tackling the causes you care about. Many nonprofits provide details about programming approaches on their websites, including testimonials, photos, and reports detailing specific results. Keep in mind that understanding and assessing impact is highly qualitative - there is no clear ‘score’ - especially because what or who is being impacted varies across the thousands of nonprofits.

Financial Management: Nonprofits, especially larger ones, are required to disclose details related to their financial performance annually – to include assets, revenue and breakdown of expenses in forms submitted to the IRS. Many nonprofits are proactively transparent about their finances and post audited financial statements and other reports on their websites. But financial data does not always tell a complete story. There may be important investments in fundraising staff, which two years later yield a windfall in donations that can be put towards programs.

Advisories: Sometimes there are advisories based on pending or ongoing legal action. Groundswell works to monitor these advisories and remove any charities that it believes are acting improperly or mismanaging donor funds. We also remove any charities that have had their nonprofit status revoked by the IRS.

Groundswell-curated Featured Causes: While many donors might want to do their own research, sometimes it’s far easier (and efficient) to put your trust in others. Groundswell’s impact team provides donors with additional inspiration, and has done the vetting work to determine cause-specific organizations that are well run and most importantly having a strong impact.

4. Aim High with a Giving Goal

You can use Groundswell’s calculator found under your Profile to set or edit your annual giving goal. This can be a flat amount, or a percentage of your annual salary. While estimates vary, a common range for giving as a percentage of annual salary is between 2-6%.

The good news is that with your Groundswell Personal Giving Account, you can easily set up recurring contributions to stay on track to meet your goals. It’s also important to maximize the matching offered by your company’s giving program, where applicable.

Your giving goal can help fund recurring donations, as well as account for unexpected events that you may want to donate to.

5. Level Up with Recurring Donations

Recurring donations can be a great component of your philanthropic strategy. As a bonus, there are benefits for both donors as well as nonprofits.

For donors, setting recurring donations to autopilot every month or quarter means you don’t have to think about it or go through the steps to do it on a regular basis.

Put simply, it’s a smart use of your time. It is also a symbol of a donor’s commitment to a cause, and a belief in the nonprofit’s ability to have a positive impact - not just in a moment of crisis, but on a continuous basis. Groundswell’s recurring contributions and donations features help facilitate recurring giving.

For charities, recurring donations provide a steady, predictable stream of revenue that helps with budget planning. For many organizations, large or small, recurring donations can have a huge impact. Similar to the trends in grassroots political fundraising, having many small-dollar donors is good for nonprofits.

It helps them build awareness and shows to the larger-dollar donors that there is a community that believes in the nonprofit’s mission. It also helps de-risk; nonprofits with one or two large donors and very few small-dollar donors can run into major problems if any of those large donors stop supporting their work.

6. Optimize Your Tax-Efficient Giving

You can leverage the versatility of your Groundswell Personal Giving Account, which is underpinned by a Donor-Advised Fund, to be strategic and reduce your tax burden.

Donate appreciated stock

If you have appreciated stocks that you've held for more than a year and you donate them through your Groundswell account, you won't have to pay capital gains tax on the appreciation when those shares are exchanged for their market value.

Plus, you'll be eligible for a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock at the time of contribution into your Groundswell account.

Give with payroll

You can leverage Groundswell’s Payroll feature to make giving more tax efficient. Contributions to Groundswell through payroll deductions are eligible for an immediate tax deduction for the amount contributed. This means that your taxable income for the year is reduced by the amount of your contribution. Contributing on a recurring basis via payroll also makes it easier to “set and forget” and achieve your giving goals more efficiently.

Bundle contributions

You can also take advantage of the Donor-Advised Fund structure of Groundswell to make a larger contribution in a single tax year and maximize tax benefits by itemizing deductions in the year that the larger contribution is being made - commonly known as “bunching.”

For example, if you typically give $5,000 to charity each year but decide to give $25,000 to your Groundswell account in one year, you can itemize your deductions that year and take the standard deduction in the following years. By doing so, you may be able to minimize your tax burden over time while still supporting the charities you care about.

Want access to other toolkits like this?

Corporate giving programs aim to empower employees and help companies facilitate and support philanthropic efforts. As global access grows and corporations become more diverse, employee representation becomes an increasingly important subject.

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Unleash the Power of Your Employee Giving Program: Best Practices Guide

Your Best Practices Guide for Maximizing Your Employee Giving Participation

This guide provides you with tools and tips to maximize employee participation in your giving program, not just when the program launches but throughout the entire year.

Leveraging our expertise in the social impact and nonprofit sectors, Groundswell is here to support you and your employees on your impact journey.

Overview

Employee giving programs can be a great way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to social responsibility, engage employees, and make a positive impact on the community. But too often, employees don’t take full advantage of the opportunities provided through their giving programs, leaving billions of funds unmatched every year. For some, this is due to either a lack of awareness about their company's giving program, or for others because an unwieldy donation portal and match process that leaves employees frustrated. Groundswell's technology brings corporate giving into the 21st century and unleashes the modern philanthropist in all of your employees.

Whether your goal is to grow the percentage of employees participating in your giving program, increase the amount of funds going to nonprofits, or to better understand the causes that matter most to your employees, these best practices can help you achieve those goals.

By reducing the administrative burden required to launch and implement a Giving Program, Groundswell frees you up to focus on what matters most: inspiring your employees and having a positive impact on the world through your company’s support for charitable causes.

6 Tips for Maximizing Participation in Your Employee Giving Program

1. Communicate Early and with Intention

Communication is a critical component of any successful giving program. We want you to have the tools to effectively share program details and encourage participation - whether launching a new employee giving program or transitioning from an existing one.

The key is to help employees understand why and how Groundswell fits into your company’s broader vision around corporate citizenship and employee engagement - and build enthusiasm around the potential to collectively have a positive impact on the world through donations to charities.

Program Launch Communications:

Here are some ways to think about the program launch. Depending on whether this is a new program or transitioning from an existing one, your adoption plan may change. You don’t want to inundate employees with too much information, while also providing them with the resources they need to successfully enroll in the program and easily engage on the platform.

Keep it short, and emphasize that the intent is to center employees in corporate philanthropy and make it as easy as possible for employees to give.
If the Giving Program is new: Why now? How does it align with your company’s values? Why is Groundswell a good fit for the company?
If the program is replacing an existing program: Why now? What’s different (and better) from the previous program? New matching or gifting features? It may also be helpful to highlight the tax effectiveness of the donor-advised fund model.

Monthly Program Communications

In order to encourage ongoing participation in your program, and for employees to take advantage of the gifts and matches offered by your company, we encourage monthly nudges to remind employees about the program.

Monthly Cause Spotlights

Start off the month by highlighting some timely causes - make sure to link to Groundswell-curated “Featured Cause” Portfolios that Groundswell uploads to the dashboard every month for a hand-off approach to spotlighting.
Share “Cause of the Month” information with employees, leveraging the toolkits found in Groundswell’s Resource Center.

Engagement & Impact Reporting

Utilize the data that you can find on your company Dashboard or download via CSV to highlight some of your company’s collective impact - including a percentage of employees enrolled, the total dollar amount that has been donated, as well as top nonprofit donation recipients and/or cause areas.
This helps employees see how their individual donations are having a larger impact as part of your company’s collective giving program.

2. Drive Early Adoption through Gifts

Gifts can be a terrific way to get employees to sign up and start using the Groundswell platform immediately. Here are a few tips on how to drive early adoption using the Gifting feature:

Launch with a one-time gift into employees’ Giving Accounts that will show up as soon as employees enroll. This can be a great way to create buzz about the program and empower employees to donate and make an impact immediately - even before they contribute their own funds to their Groundswell account.
Throughout the year, provide unexpected, ad hoc gifts into employees’ accounts - for work anniversaries, milestones, great performance, etc.
A way to make it fun is to do a lottery at All Hands meetings by randomly selecting an employee to receive $25 in their Groundswell account. Follow this link or reach out to the Groundswell Customer Success team to learn more.

3. Inspire Engagement through Matching

Set up a matching program that immediately doubles the impact when an employee puts funds into their Groundswell Giving Account. This creates a feeling of “we’re in this together” - and drives home the message about an equitable approach to corporate philanthropy.
A match program can run for an entire year, or be tailored to specific months.
With the Groundswell match happening at the point of contributing funds to the Groundswell account, employees can tangibly see and feel what it means to double the impact for the charities and causes that matter most to them.

4. Leverage Cause Campaigns & Respond to the Emergent Events

Planned Campaigns:

Utilize a Social Impact Cause Calendar to plan monthly or bi-monthly communications to employees highlighting specific causes - with resources to educate employees about the cause, and a curated list of nonprofits most relevant to the cause. You can refer to Groundswell’s monthly cause portfolios that are updated to reflect timely causes and issues.
Tip: Plan your annual budget to launch match campaigns focused on specific charities or cause areas throughout the year.

Unforeseen Events:

Utilize Groundswell’s curated list of best-in-class nonprofits responding to disasters in the United States or globally. Being able to quickly and confidently point your employees to vetted nonprofits to donate to shows that you are responsive as a company and empowering employees to take action in moments of crisis.
Tip: Keep a portion of your annual budget in reserve so that you can match employee donations and/or provide gifts to employees to expand the impact in response to the unforeseen emergency.

5. Engage Employee Resource Groups

Another mechanism to center employees in corporate philanthropy and recognize their own lived experiences: provide Employee Resource Groups (ERG) a platform to speak to key cause areas (e.g. AAPI Awareness, Black History Month, etc).

ERGs can take the opportunity to recommend nonprofits that they think are most effective and related to the cause, and share their commitment to specific causes with the tag-line “My cause is ____ “
Tip: Solicit recommendations from the Employee Resource Group for books to read, films, and documentaries to watch, and podcasts to listen to. This can generate a deeper understanding of causes and lead to engagement via donations to support the causes.

6. Lean Into End-of-Year Giving Spirit

30% of annual giving happens in December, with about 10% of all annual donations coming in the last three days of the year. For nonprofits, this can be a critical time to raise funds and prepare programming budgets for the next year.

You can leverage Groundswell's Giving Tuesday resources to launch an end-of-year donation campaign, featuring specific cause areas and nonprofits.

Tip: Set a budget aside for a surprise end-of-year gift - leveraging the fact that a large percentage of people prefer to donate at the end of the year.

Read related articles

Groundswell is your ally in corporate philanthropy.

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

5 Successful American Corporate Giving Programs To Model From

Corporate giving programs are a way for companies to give back to the communities where they operate. These programs can take many different forms, but they all share the same goal of making a positive impact on the world.

Here are some of the benefits of corporate giving programs:

Improved corporate image: Companies that give back to their communities are seen as more responsible and caring organizations. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and attract top talent to work there.
Stronger community relationships: When companies invest in their communities, they show that they are committed to making a difference. This can lead to increased support from local governments and businesses.
Improved lives of people in the community: Corporate giving programs can help to improve the lives of people in need. This can lead to improved quality of life for everyone in the community.

Here’s a list of 5 American corporate giving programs that have found success to inspire your corporate philanthropy.

Groundswell for Corporate Giving

If you are a company that is looking for ways to give back to your community, Groundswell can help.

Groundswell is a corporate giving program provider for employee gifting and matching program opportunities as an employee benefit to corporations of all sizes.

Want to elevate your corporate philanthropy and offer employees a benefit that leaves a lasting positive impact on local and global communities? Learn how Groundswell is leading the charge in democratizing corporate philanthropy and supercharging employee benefits.

5 Successful American Corporate Giving Programs

Microsoft’s Corporate Giving Program

Microsoft has a long history of corporate giving, and the company is committed to making a positive impact on the world. In 2022, Microsoft donated over $1.1 billion to charitable organizations around the world. This funding supported a variety of initiatives, including:

Education: Microsoft supports a variety of educational programs, including scholarships, grants to schools and universities, and support for STEM education.
Environmental sustainability: Microsoft supports a variety of environmental sustainability initiatives, including renewable energy projects, carbon capture and storage projects, and support for environmental organizations.
Economic development: Microsoft supports a variety of economic development initiatives, including job training programs, small business grants, and support for community development organizations.
Health and wellness: Microsoft supports a variety of health and wellness initiatives, including programs to fight poverty, hunger, and disease.
Humanitarian relief: Microsoft supports a variety of humanitarian relief initiatives, including programs to help people affected by natural disasters and other crises.

Here are some of the specific initiatives that Microsoft supports through its corporate giving program:

Microsoft Philanthropies: Microsoft Philanthropies is the company's primary vehicle for giving back to the communities where it operates. The foundation supports a variety of initiatives, including education, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
Microsoft Employee Giving Campaign: Microsoft employees are encouraged to give back to their communities through the company's annual employee giving campaign. Employees can donate their time or money to a variety of nonprofit organizations. (Launch an employee giving program with Groundswell here).
Microsoft Volunteering: Microsoft employees are encouraged to volunteer their time to nonprofit organizations in their communities. The company offers a variety of volunteer opportunities, including mentoring, tutoring, and fundraising.
Microsoft Matching Gifts: Microsoft matches employee donations to nonprofit organizations dollar for dollar, up to $15,000 per year. (Learn to launch a matching gift program here)

Chevron’s Corporate Giving Program

In 2022, Chevron donated over $1 billion to charitable organizations around the world. This funding supported a variety of initiatives, including:

Community development: Chevron Humankind supports employees, retirees, and corporate directors in their commitment to building better communities. Chevron offers a 1-to-1 match for your financial contributions to any eligible nonprofit, up to $5,000 per employee and $2,000 per retiree annually.
Education: Chevron supports a variety of educational programs, including scholarships, grants to schools and universities, and support for STEM education.
Environmental sustainability: Chevron supports a variety of environmental sustainability initiatives, including renewable energy projects, carbon capture and storage projects, and support for environmental organizations.
Economic development: Chevron supports a variety of economic development initiatives, including job training programs, small business grants, and support for community development organizations.

Here are some examples of how Chevron's corporate giving program has made a difference in the communities where it operates:

Chevron donated $10 million to support the construction of a new science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) center at a local high school.
Chevron awarded $5 million in grants to support STEM education programs at schools in the company's operating regions.
Chevron partnered with a local environmental organization to plant 10,000 trees in a community that had been affected by a natural disaster.
Chevron supported a small business development program that helped to create 100 new jobs in a local community.

Target’s Corporate Giving Program

Target's corporate giving program offers several features unique to its business. The company uses its resources as a department store in the form of donations and community grants as part of its giving program.

The company also uses a private foundation called the Target Foundationmuch, much like how a donor-advised fund, to facilitate its donations.

Here's a list of what's featured on their corporate giving program:

Target GiftCard donations: Target donates Target GiftCards to local nonprofits and schools. In 2022, Target donated over $20 million in GiftCards to support a variety of causes, including education, hunger relief, and disaster relief.
Target Circle Community Giving: Target Circle is a loyalty program that gives guests the opportunity to vote on how Target donates money to local nonprofits. In 2022, Target Circle members voted to donate over $1 million to support a variety of causes, including food banks, homeless shelters, and youth organizations.
REACH Community Grants: Target's REACH Community Grants program provides funding to Black-led organizations that are working to improve the lives of Black people in the United States. In 2022, Target awarded over $50 million in REACH Community Grants to support a variety of initiatives, such as economic development, education, and health and wellness.
Target Foundation: The Target Foundation is a charitable organization that supports a variety of causes, including education, hunger relief, and disaster relief. In 2022, the Target Foundation donated over $100 million to support these causes.

Lowe’s Corporate Giving Program

Lowe's corporate giving program is a way for the company to give back to the communities where it operates. The program includes a variety of initiatives, such as:

Lowe's Heroes: Lowe's Heroes is a program that encourages Lowe's associates to volunteer in their communities. In 2022, Lowe's Heroes volunteered over 2 million hours in their communities.
Lowe's Hometowns: Lowe's Hometowns is a program that provides grants to local organizations that are working to improve their communities. In 2022, Lowe's Hometowns awarded over $50 million in grants to support a variety of projects, such as building playgrounds, renovating community centers, and providing disaster relief.
Lowe's Foundation: The Lowe's Foundation is a charitable organization that supports a variety of causes, including education, hunger relief, and disaster relief. In 2022, the Lowe's Foundation donated over $100 million to support these causes.

Here are some examples of how Lowe's corporate giving program has made a difference in the communities where it operates:

In 2022, Lowe's Heroes volunteers helped to rebuild a playground that had been damaged by a tornado in Oklahoma.
Lowe's Hometowns grants helped to renovate a community center in Texas that had been damaged by flooding.
The Lowe's Foundation donated money to help provide food and shelter for people affected by a hurricane in Florida.

Amazon Corporate Giving Program

One of Amazon's most well-known corporate giving programs is AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is a program that allows customers to support their favorite charities every time they shop on Amazon. When customers shop through AmazonSmile, the company donates 0.5% of the purchase price to the customer's chosen charity.

Amazon also has a number of other corporate giving programs, including:

Amazon dollar-for-dollar employee donation matching: In 2019, Amazon launched an employee donation matching program that matches any amount donated to 20 vetted nonprofits that combat homelessness, up to $5 million.
Amazon Future Engineer: This program provides scholarships and other support to students from underrepresented and underserved communities who are interested in pursuing careers in computer science and engineering.
Amazon STEM: This program provides grants and other support to schools and nonprofits that are working to improve STEM education.
Amazon Disaster Relief: This program provides support to communities that have been affected by natural disasters.

Amazon's corporate giving programs have a significant impact on the communities where the company operates. In 2021, Amazon donated over $10 billion to charitable organizations around the world. This funding has helped to support a variety of causes, including education, hunger relief, and disaster relief.

6 mins read

Blog Post

11 Common Types of Corporate Giving Programs

Corporate giving programs are company-subsidized charity programs that businesses use to encourage their employees to participate in donations.

Successful companies build corporate giving programs into their employee benefits packages for a handful of reasons. Those reasons include making the world a better place, attracting and retaining talented employees who want to work for a purpose, and improve the public status of the company.

Corporate giving programs come in many different forms, from gifting and matching to volunteer grants.

Here’s a list of common types of corporate giving programs:

Gifting and Matching

Corporate gifting and matching programs are a way for companies to encourage their employees to give back to their communities. These programs can take many different forms, but they all have the same goal: to make it easier for employees to donate their time and money to causes they care about.

One type of corporate gifting program is a matching gift program. In a matching gift program, the company will match employee donations to certain charities, up to a certain amount. For example, a company might match employee donations to the United Way up to $500 per year. This is a great way for companies to double the impact of their employees' donations.

Another type of corporate gifting program is a volunteer grant program. In a volunteer grant program, the company will give employees paid time off to volunteer for certain charities. This is a great way for employees to give back to their communities without having to sacrifice their work hours.

Corporate gifting and matching programs are a great way for companies to show their employees that they care about giving back. These programs can also help to attract and retain top talent, as employees are more likely to want to work for a company that shares their values.

Here are some of the benefits of corporate gifting and matching programs:

Employee engagement: Corporate gifting and matching programs can help to increase employee engagement by giving employees a way to give back to their communities.
Employee morale: Corporate gifting and matching programs can help to improve employee morale by showing employees that their company cares about giving back.
Company reputation: Corporate gifting and matching programs can help to improve a company's reputation by showing that the company is committed to social responsibility.
Tax benefits: In some cases, corporate gifting and matching programs can provide tax benefits for the company.

If you are looking for a way to give back to your community and show your employees that you care, consider starting a corporate gifting or matching program.

Volunteer Grants

A volunteer grant is a monetary award given to a nonprofit organization by a corporation in recognition of volunteer work being done by a company's employees. This practice is widespread in the United States. Corporate giving programs created to encourage volunteerism by a corporation's employees by providing volunteer grants are called volunteer grant programs or Dollars for Doers programs.

Philanthropic organizations offer grants for individuals to volunteer with nonprofit organizations for an extended period of time. These are sometimes called volunteer grants but are normally referred to as fellowships. In these cases, a volunteer receives a stipend from a nonprofit to live and work within a community in need. Companies typically state that any 501(c)(3) nonprofit or school is eligible for their corporate volunteer grant scheme; most however require a minimum number of hours served.

Volunteer grants can be a great way for companies to encourage their employees to give back to their communities and to support the causes they care about. They can also be a great way for companies to build relationships with local nonprofits and to show their commitment to social responsibility.

If you are a nonprofit organization that is interested in applying for a volunteer grant, be sure to check with your local corporations to see if they offer such a program. You can also find a list of companies that offer volunteer grants online.

Fundraising Match

A fundraising match is a corporate giving program in which a company matches employee donations to a nonprofit organization. For example, if an employee donates $100 to a nonprofit, the company might match that donation with another $100, bringing the total donation to $200.

Fundraising matches are a great way for companies to encourage employees to give back to their communities. They can also help to raise more money for nonprofits.

Here are some of the benefits of fundraising matches:

They can help to raise more money for nonprofits. When a company matches employee donations, it essentially doubles the amount of money that is raised for the nonprofit. This can be a huge help to nonprofits, especially those that are working on important but underfunded causes.
They can encourage employee giving. Fundraising matches can make it more likely that employees will donate to their favorite nonprofits. When employees know that their donations will be matched, they are more likely to give. This can lead to a significant increase in donations for nonprofits.
They can help to build employee morale. Fundraising matches can show employees that their company cares about giving back to the community. This can help to build employee morale and make employees feel more connected to their company.
They can help to improve a company's reputation. When a company has a fundraising match program, it shows that the company is committed to social responsibility. This can help to improve the company's reputation and make it more attractive to potential employees and customers.

If you are looking for a way to support your favorite nonprofit organization, be sure to check with your company to see if they have a fundraising match program. It's a great way to double your donation and help make a difference in the world.

Community Grants

Community grants are financial awards given to nonprofit organizations or other community groups to support their work in the community. They can be used to fund a variety of projects, such as:

Programs that provide direct services to community members, such as food banks, homeless shelters, and after-school programs.
Projects that improve the community's infrastructure, such as parks, libraries, and community centers.
Initiatives that promote social change, such as those that address poverty, hunger, or education inequality.

Community grants are often awarded by foundations, corporations, and government agencies. They can be competitive, so it is important to carefully research the eligibility requirements and application process before applying.

Here are some of the benefits of community grants:

They can help to fund important projects that benefit the community.
They can help to build partnerships between nonprofits and other community groups.
They can help to raise awareness of important issues in the community.
They can help to improve the quality of life in the community.

If you are a nonprofit organization or other community group that is interested in applying for a community grant, be sure to do your research and find a grant that is a good fit for your organization and its work. There are many different types of community grants available, so you are sure to find one that is right for you.

Dollars for Doers

Dollars for Doers is a type of corporate giving program in which a company provides monetary grants to nonprofits where its employees regularly volunteer.

These programs are sometimes referred to by other names such as:

Volunteer grants
Dollar for hour
Matching time
Volunteer matching
Grants for time
Matching gift per hour
Credit per hour
Service credit

Here are some of the benefits of Dollars for Doers programs for both companies and nonprofits:

Companies:
Increased employee engagement and morale
Improved company reputation
Tax benefits
Nonprofits:
Increased funding
Increased visibility
Increased volunteerism

If you are a company or nonprofit interested in learning more about Dollars for Doers programs, many resources are available online. You can also contact your local United Way or other community foundation for more information.

Team Volunteer Grants

A team volunteer grant is a corporate giving program in which a company provides a monetary donation to a nonprofit organization when a group of employees volunteer together. These programs encourage team building, community service, and employee engagement.

Many types of team volunteer grants are available, each with its own set of eligibility requirements and benefits. Some companies offer grants for any team of employees who volunteer together, while others require that teams meet certain criteria, such as a minimum number of volunteer hours or a specific type of service.

In addition to providing financial support, team volunteer grants can also offer other benefits to nonprofits. For example, companies may provide teams with training or resources to help them maximize their volunteer experience. They may also help to promote the nonprofit's work to the company's employees and customers.

If you are interested in applying for a team volunteer grant, you should keep a few things in mind. First, you will need to find a company that offers this type of program. You can search online or contact your company's human resources department. Once you have found a company that offers team volunteer grants, you will need to read the program's eligibility requirements carefully. These requirements may vary from company to company, so it is important to ensure your team meets all of the criteria.

Once you have determined that your team is eligible for a team volunteer grant, you will need to submit an application. The application process will vary from company to company, so be sure to read the instructions carefully. In general, you will need to provide information about your team's volunteer project, the number of hours that your team will volunteer, and the impact that your team's volunteer work will have.

If your team is selected to receive a team volunteer grant, you will be notified by the company. The company will then provide you with the grant money, which you can use to support your team's volunteer project.

Team volunteer grants are a great way to encourage team building, community service, and employee engagement. If your company offers this type of program, I encourage you to apply for a grant. It is a great way to give back to your community and to show your employees that you value their time and effort.

Here are some additional tips for applying for a team volunteer grant:

Start planning your volunteer project early. This will give you plenty of time to find a project that is a good fit for your team and to secure the necessary permissions.
Be clear about the impact that your team's volunteer work will have. This will help the company to see the value of your project and to make a decision about whether or not to award you a grant.
Get creative with your project. The more unique and interesting your project is, the more likely it is to stand out to the company.
Be sure to follow all of the company's requirements. This will increase your chances of being selected for a grant.

Volunteer Support Programs

Volunteer support programs are designed to help volunteers find, prepare for, and succeed in their volunteer roles. These programs can provide volunteers with a variety of resources, such as training, orientation, and support networks.

There are many different types of volunteer support programs available, each with its own focus and target audience. Some programs are designed for specific groups of volunteers, such as new volunteers, young volunteers, or volunteers with disabilities. Other programs are designed to provide support for specific types of volunteer work, such as disaster relief, environmental conservation, or social justice.

Volunteer support programs can be offered by a variety of organizations, including nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and businesses. Some programs are free to use, while others charge a fee.

If you are interested in volunteering, I encourage you to find a volunteer support program that is right for you. These programs can help you make the most of your volunteer experience and make a difference in your community.

Here are some of the benefits of participating in a volunteer support program:

Training and orientation: Volunteer support programs can provide you with the training and orientation you need to be successful in your volunteer role. This training can cover topics such as safety, ethics, and effective communication.
Support networks: Volunteer support programs can provide you with a support network of other volunteers. This network can provide you with encouragement, advice, and friendship.
Resources: Volunteer support programs can provide you with a variety of resources to help you in your volunteer role. These resources can include training materials, equipment, and funding.
Recognition: Volunteer support programs can help you to be recognized for your volunteer work. This recognition can come in the form of awards, certificates, or public recognition.

If you are interested in finding a volunteer support program, there are a few things you can do. First, you can search online for volunteer support programs in your area. You can also contact your local nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and businesses to see if they offer volunteer support programs.

Once you have found a volunteer support program that you are interested in, you can contact the program to learn more about it. The program can provide you with information about the program's requirements, fees, and benefits.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Annual Giving

Annual giving is a type of fundraising that focuses on raising money from individuals on an ongoing basis throughout the year. It is a critical component of a nonprofit's fundraising strategy, as it can provide a steady stream of income to support the organization's ongoing programs and services.

There are many different ways to raise money through annual giving. Some common methods include:

Direct mail
Email
Phone calls
Social media
Special events

Annual giving campaigns can be very successful, but they require careful planning and execution. It is important to identify your target audience, create compelling appeals, and track your results.

If you are a nonprofit, I encourage you to consider annual giving as a part of your fundraising strategy. It is a proven way to raise money from individuals and build a strong donor base.

Here are some of the benefits of annual giving:

It is a reliable source of income for nonprofits.
It helps to build relationships with donors.
It can be used to support a variety of programs and services.
It is a cost-effective way to raise money.

If you are interested in learning more about annual giving, there are many resources available online and in libraries. You can also contact your local nonprofit organization for more information.

Annual Grant Stipends

An annual grant stipend is a type of grant that is awarded to individuals or organizations on an annual basis. These grants are typically used to support ongoing programs or activities, rather than one-time projects.

There are many different types of annual grant stipends available, each with its own eligibility requirements and benefits. Some grants are open to all applicants, while others are only available to specific groups of people, such as students, artists, or nonprofit organizations.

In addition to providing financial support, annual grant stipends can also offer other benefits to recipients, such as:

Access to resources and support networks
Credibility and visibility
Increased opportunities for collaboration and networking
The ability to reach a wider audience

If you are interested in applying for an annual grant stipend, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, you will need to find a grant that is a good fit for your needs and goals. You can do this by searching online or contacting your local nonprofit organization. Once you have found a grant that you are interested in, you will need to read the application carefully and make sure that you meet all of the eligibility requirements.

The application process for annual grant stipends will vary from grant to grant. However, in general, you will need to provide information about your project, your qualifications, and your budget. You may also be asked to submit letters of support from colleagues, mentors, or other community members.

If you are selected to receive an annual grant stipend, you will be notified by the grantor. The grantor will then provide you with the grant money, which you can use to support your project.

Annual grant stipends are a great way to support your work and make a difference in your community. If you are eligible, I encourage you to apply for a grant. It is a great way to get the financial support you need to achieve your goals.

Here are some additional tips for applying for an annual grant stipend:

Start planning early. The grant application process can be time-consuming, so it is important to start planning early.
Be clear about your goals. The grantor wants to know what you plan to do with the money, so be clear about your goals and how the money will be used.
Tailor your application to the grant. Each grant has its own eligibility requirements and benefits, so be sure to tailor your application to the specific grant you are applying for.
Proofread carefully. Typos and grammatical errors can make a bad impression on the grantor, so be sure to proofread your application carefully before submitting it.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Internal Employee Fundraising

Internal employee fundraising is a type of fundraising that takes place within a company. It is a way for employees to come together and raise money for a cause that they care about.

There are many different ways to raise money through internal employee fundraising. Some common methods include:

Donation campaigns: Employees can donate money directly to the cause.
Matching gifts: Companies can match employee donations, which can double or triple the amount of money raised.
Volunteerism: Employees can volunteer their time to the cause.
Product sales: Employees can sell products or services to raise money for the cause.
Special events: Companies can host special events, such as bake sales or walk-a-thons, to raise money for the cause.

Internal employee fundraising can be a very successful way to raise money for a cause. It is a great way to get employees involved in giving back to their community and to build a sense of community within the company.

Employee Product Donation Programs (EPDP)

An Employee Product Donation Program (EPDP) is a corporate giving program that allows employees to donate company products to nonprofit organizations. EPDPs are a great way for companies to give back to their communities and to engage their employees in philanthropy.

There are many different ways that EPDPs can be structured. Some companies allow employees to donate any company product, while others only allow employees to donate specific products. Some companies also require employees to get approval from their manager before donating, while others do not.

The benefits of EPDPs for companies include:

Increased employee engagement: EPDPs can help to increase employee engagement by giving employees a way to give back to their communities and to feel like they are making a difference.
Positive public relations: EPDPs can generate positive public relations for companies by showing that they are committed to giving back to their communities.
Tax benefits: In some cases, companies may be able to deduct the cost of donated products from their taxes.

The benefits of EPDPs for nonprofits include:

Increased access to resources: EPDPs can help nonprofits to get access to resources that they might not otherwise be able to afford.
Increased visibility: EPDPs can help nonprofits to increase their visibility in the community.
Increased donations: EPDPs can help nonprofits to raise more money from donors.

If you are considering implementing an EPDP, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, you must ensure you have the resources to support the program. Second, you need to ensure that you have a process for managing the program. Third, you need to make sure that you are promoting the program to your employees.

EPDPs can be a great way for companies to give back to their communities and to engage their employees in philanthropy. If you are considering implementing an EPDP, I encourage you to do so. It is a great way to make a difference in the world.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Israel-Palestinian Victims: Where to Support

Israel has declared war against Hamas after the terrorist group launched a surprise attack from Gaza into Israeli territory on the morning of Saturday October 7, the Jewish Sabbath and a major holiday.
In total, more than 1,400 Israelis were killed by Hamas militants, and over 100 civilians and soldiers were taken to Gaza as hostages.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and retaliated with airstrikes that have killed at least 2,800 Palestinians, and another 9,700 wounded, per Palestinian health officials.
Escalation in the conflict will further endanger civilians on both sides, and humanitarian groups are working to provide support to those in need.
Please consider donating today in support of organizations aiding those impacted.

Organizations providing humanitarian aid:

Groundswell has put together a list of organizations on the frontlines you can directly support:

American Friends of Magen David Adom: Magen David Adom ensures 33,000 paramedics, EMTS, first responders, and first-aid providers -- volunteers and staff -- have the training, equipment, and medical supplies they need to treat all injured and ill people in Israel.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): As medical centers are overwhelmed, MSF is donating critical medical supplies to hospitals and health facilities in Gaza to respond to medical needs.
IsraAID: IsraAID is partnering with local and civil society organizations to coordinate humanitarian efforts, providing psychosocial support, urgent aid to vulnerable communities, evacuees, and their families.
Save the Children: Save the Children has been working with Palestinian children since 1953, with a permanent presence in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1973. Their main aims are to ensure children survive, learn, and are protected from all types of abuse.
Palestinian Childrens Relief Fund: As a humanitarian organization, its teams are on the ground delivering crucial and life-saving medical relief and humanitarian aid where it is needed most.

The best way to support is to provide funding to one of the many nonprofits that are working to provide assistance to those impacted. You can support them directly today.

Donate on Groundswell

6 mins read

Blog Post

Celebrating the Rich Cultural Heritage: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on August 9 pays tribute to the world's indigenous communities.

About 370 to 500 million indigenous people are estimated to live in 90 countries worldwide. This year, the United Nations is highlighting indigenous youth as agents of change in recognition of the role that indigenous youth must occupy in decision-making around climate action, the search for justice for their people, and the creation of an intergenerational connection that keeps their culture, traditions, and contributions alive. Indigenous communities are threatened worldwide due to challenges ranging from discrimination to climate change.

Indigenous peoples makeup 15% of the world's extremely poor and suffer higher rates of landlessness, malnutrition, and internal displacement than other groups.

Numerous nonprofits are working to protect and preserve indigenous communities in the United States and worldwide – please consider supporting them today.

Cultural Survival

Cultural Survival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide.

The organization was founded in 1972 with the primary mission to defend and promote indigenous communities' cultural, political, economic, and social rights and empower them to determine their futures.

What the Cultural Survival organization does:

Advocates for Indigenous Rights: Cultural Survival works to raise awareness about the challenges faced by indigenous peoples, including issues like land rights, cultural preservation, and self-determination.
Supports Grassroots Initiatives: The organization provides support and resources to grassroots projects and initiatives led by indigenous communities. This support helps strengthen their cultural practices, language preservation, and sustainable development efforts.
Publishes Indigenous Media: Cultural Survival publishes various media platforms, such as a magazine, radio programs, and online content, to amplify the voices of Indigenous peoples and share their stories, struggles, and achievements with a global audience.
Promotes Fair Trade: Cultural Survival supports fair trade practices by assisting indigenous artisans and producers market their traditional crafts and products. This initiative helps preserve cultural heritage while generating sustainable income for the communities.
Conducts Research and Education: The organization researches indigenous issues, producing reports and educational materials to raise awareness among the public and policymakers about the challenges faced by indigenous peoples and the importance of protecting their rights.
Fosters Capacity Building: Cultural Survival empowers indigenous leaders and communities through capacity-building programs, offering training in community organizing, legal rights, and sustainable resource management.
Builds Networks and Alliances: The organization fosters alliances and collaborations with other NGOs, indigenous organizations, and human rights groups to strengthen collective efforts in promoting indigenous rights and welfare.

Red Eagle Soaring

Red Eagle Soaring is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to empowering Native American and Indigenous youth through theater arts and storytelling.

Founded in 1992, the organization aims to provide a safe and culturally enriching space for young people to express themselves, explore their identities, and build confidence through creative expression.

What the Red Eagle Soaring organization does:

Native Youth Theater Program: Red Eagle Soaring offers a comprehensive theater arts program tailored to Native American and Indigenous youth. Through workshops, rehearsals, and performances, participants learn various aspects of theater, including acting, stagecraft, playwriting, and directing.
Cultural Empowerment: The organization emphasizes cultural empowerment by incorporating traditional Native storytelling, dance, and music into theatrical productions. This approach preserves cultural heritage and provides a unique and authentic platform for youth to share their stories and experiences.
Youth Leadership Development: Red Eagle Soaring focuses on nurturing leadership skills among its participants. The organization encourages youth to take on responsibilities both on and off the stage, fostering a sense of ownership and agency in their artistic endeavors.
Performances and Workshops: Red Eagle Soaring stages theatrical performances in various venues, including community centers, schools, and theaters, allowing the participants to showcase their talent and creativity to broader audiences. Additionally, the organization conducts workshops and outreach programs to reach more young people and expand its impact.
Life Skills and Mentorship: Alongside theater training, Red Eagle Soaring provides participants with life skills development and mentorship. These programs focus on building self-esteem, communication skills, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities, essential for personal growth and success in any field.
Healing and Well-being: Red Eagle Soaring recognizes the healing potential of creative expression and storytelling. The organization helps youth process trauma and emotional challenges by providing a supportive and compassionate environment, contributing to their overall well-being and resilience.

Huairou Commission

The Huairou Commission is a nonprofit organization that empowers grassroots women and community-based organizations (CBOs) worldwide. Founded in 1995, the organization is named after Huairou, a rural town in China where the Fourth World Conference on Women occurred in 1995.

The Huairou Commission emerged from this conference to address the specific challenges women living in poverty and marginalized communities face.

What the Huairou Commission organization does:

Women's Leadership and Capacity Building: The organization strengthens women's leadership capacities in grassroots and community-based organizations. They provide training, mentorship, and resources to enhance the skills of women leaders and enable them to become effective agents of change in their communities.
Networking and Partnerships: The organization facilitates networking and collaboration among grassroots women's organizations, CBOs, and other civil society groups. By fostering partnerships, they create a global network of support for women's empowerment initiatives and share best practices for community development.
Knowledge Sharing and Research: The Huairou Commission researches and documents women's issues, community-led development, and gender-based challenges marginalized communities face. They share this knowledge through publications, conferences, and online platforms to inform policymakers and practitioners.
Community-Led Development: The organization promotes community-led development approaches, emphasizing the importance of local knowledge, culture, and traditional practices. They support initiatives designed and implemented within the communities, ensuring sustainable development that meets the specific needs of women and their families.
Disaster Resilience and Climate Justice: The Huairou Commission addresses the unique vulnerabilities of women in disaster-prone regions and advocates for climate justice. They work to incorporate gender-responsive strategies in disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation efforts, recognizing that women often play a critical role in disaster preparedness and recovery.
Urban Development and Land Rights: The organization advocates for secure land tenure and housing rights for women in urban and peri-urban areas. They support community-driven initiatives for affordable housing, access to land, and basic services to improve the living conditions of women and their families in cities.
Economic Empowerment: The Huairou Commission promotes economic empowerment among women by supporting income-generating activities and entrepreneurship opportunities. They facilitate access to financial services, skills training, and market linkages to enhance women's economic independence.

Nia Tero

Nia Tero is a nonprofit organization committed to partnering with and supporting Indigenous peoples and communities worldwide. The organization's name, "Nia Tero," is derived from two words from different indigenous languages: "Nia" means "purpose" in Swahili, and "Tero" means "life" in Hmong.

This reflects the organization's mission to work harmoniously with Indigenous peoples to protect their lands, cultures, and rights, recognizing the intrinsic connection between Indigenous communities and the planet's health.

What the Nia Tero organization does:

Indigenous-Led Conservation: Nia Tero collaborates with Indigenous communities to advance conservation efforts that are led and guided by the communities. The organization recognizes Indigenous peoples' profound knowledge of their lands and ecosystems and empowers them to be the primary stewards of their territories.
Land Rights and Tenure Security: The organization works to secure and defend the land rights of Indigenous communities. They advocate for legal recognition of customary land tenure systems and support efforts to protect Indigenous lands from illegal encroachments and land grabs.
Cultural Heritage Preservation: Nia Tero is dedicated to preserving and revitalizing Indigenous cultures, languages, and traditional practices. The organization recognizes the importance of cultural heritage in maintaining the resilience and identity of Indigenous communities.
Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation: Nia Tero addresses the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss on Indigenous communities and territories. They support community-led climate adaptation and mitigation strategies that integrate traditional knowledge with modern science.
Sustainable Livelihoods and Economic Empowerment: The organization promotes sustainable livelihoods for Indigenous communities, supporting economic activities that align with their cultural values and ecological knowledge. This includes promoting sustainable agriculture, artisanal crafts, and eco-friendly enterprises.
Collaborative Partnerships: Nia Tero actively builds partnerships with other conservation organizations, governments, and corporations to leverage resources and amplify the voices of Indigenous communities in decision-making processes that affect their lands and resources.
Indigenous Leadership Development: The organization invests in the leadership development of Indigenous youth and women, recognizing their crucial role in shaping the future of their communities and advocating for their rights on local and global platforms.

Amazon Watch

Amazon Watch is a nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting the Amazon rainforest and advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin.

Founded in 1996, the organization operates at the intersection of environmental and human rights advocacy, working with Indigenous communities to defend their lands, cultures, and livelihoods from threats like deforestation, oil and gas extraction, and other destructive activities.

What the Amazon Watch organization does:

Environmental Advocacy: The organization campaigns against deforestation, illegal logging, and environmental degradation in the Amazon rainforest. They work to raise awareness about the importance of the Amazon ecosystem in mitigating climate change and conserving biodiversity.
Indigenous Rights and Land Defense: Amazon Watch partners with Indigenous communities to protect their ancestral territories from land grabs and encroachments by mining, oil drilling, and agriculture industries. They support Indigenous land titling initiatives and advocate for recognizing Indigenous land rights.
Corporate Accountability: The organization monitors and challenges the actions of corporations operating in the Amazon region. They hold companies accountable for environmental and social impacts, aiming to promote responsible business practices that respect the rights of Indigenous communities.
Campaigns against Oil and Gas Extraction: Amazon Watch opposes destructive oil and gas extraction projects in the Amazon. They work with local communities to resist harmful extractive activities threatening the environment and Indigenous peoples' livelihoods.
Support for Community-led Initiatives: Amazon Watch provides support and resources to strengthen the capacity of Indigenous communities to defend their rights and territories. This includes legal assistance, training, and funding for sustainable development projects.
Indigenous Rights Documentation: Amazon Watch conducts research and documentation to expose human rights violations and environmental abuses faced by Indigenous communities in the Amazon. They share these findings with the international community to promote accountability and justice.
Climate Justice: The organization advocates for climate justice, emphasizing the role of the Amazon rainforest as a critical carbon sink and the impact of climate change on vulnerable Indigenous communities. They highlight the importance of Indigenous knowledge and traditional practices in climate resilience.

Native American Youth & Family Center

The Native American Youth & Family Center (NAYA) is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to serving the Native American community, focusing on youth and families.

Founded in 1974, NAYA aims to provide culturally relevant services, support, and opportunities to empower Native American individuals and families to achieve self-sufficiency and overall well-being.

What the Native American Youth & Family Center organization does:

Youth Programs: NAYA offers programs specifically designed for Native American youth, including academic support, leadership development, cultural enrichment, and mentorship opportunities. These programs aim to build confidence and foster a sense of identity and cultural pride among young Native Americans.
Education and Academic Support: The organization provides educational support services, such as tutoring, homework help, and college preparation assistance. NAYA strives to improve educational outcomes for Native American students and increase their access to post-secondary education.
Cultural Preservation and Revitalization: NAYA is committed to preserving and revitalizing Native American cultures, languages, and traditional practices. The organization hosts cultural events, workshops, and classes to pass down traditional knowledge and strengthen cultural connections within the community.
Family Services: NAYA offers comprehensive family services, including parenting support, counseling, and access to resources for Native American families. The organization focuses on creating a supportive and nurturing environment for families to thrive.
Housing Assistance: NAYA provides housing support services to help Native American individuals and families find safe and affordable housing. This includes rental assistance, housing counseling, and information on homeownership opportunities.
Wellness and Healthcare Services: NAYA provides wellness programs and healthcare access to support the physical and mental well-being of Native American community members. This includes health screenings, counseling services, and wellness workshops.
Youth and Family Empowerment: Overall, NAYA's mission is to empower Native American youth and families by providing them with the tools, resources, and support they need to thrive. The organization strives to create a strong and resilient community that celebrates and preserves Native American cultures and traditions.

First Nations Development Institute

First Nations Development Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Native American and Indigenous communities through community-driven solutions and economic development initiatives.

Founded in 1980, the organization supports sustainable economic and social progress for Native American tribes and organizations across the United States.

What the First Nations Development Institute organization does:

Grantmaking and Capacity Building: The organization provides grants and capacity-building support to Native American tribes and organizations. These grants fund community-led projects, including economic development, food sovereignty, cultural preservation, education, and youth programs.
Indigenous Food Systems: First Nations Development Institute promotes food sovereignty and revitalizes Indigenous food systems. They support initiatives encouraging traditional agricultural practices, local food production, and access to healthy, traditional foods.
Economic Development and Entrepreneurship: The organization supports economic development efforts within Native American communities. This includes developing small businesses, providing entrepreneurial training, and supporting community-based enterprises.
Native Youth and Education: First Nations Development Institute invests in the educational and leadership development of Native American youth. They provide scholarships, mentorship programs, and support for cultural education to empower the next generation of Indigenous leaders.
Financial and Technical Assistance: The organization offers financial and technical assistance to Native American organizations and individuals seeking to improve their financial literacy, financial management, and asset-building skills.
Data and Research: The organization researches and collects data on Native American economic and social issues. This information helps inform their grantmaking and advocacy efforts and contributes to a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing Native American communities.
Philanthropic Engagement: First Nations Development Institute collaborates with other philanthropic organizations to increase support for Native American-led initiatives and community development projects. They work to increase awareness and investment in Native American causes.

Native American Heritage Association

The Native American Heritage Association (NAHA) is a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and support to Native American communities in need.

Founded in 1993, NAHA focuses on improving the living conditions, health, and overall well-being of Native American families, particularly those living in poverty on reservations.

What the Native American Heritage Association does:

Emergency Assistance: NAHA provides emergency assistance to Native American families facing immediate hardships, such as food shortages, housing crises, and natural disasters. They offer critical support to help families overcome these challenges.
Food and Nutrition: The organization runs food distribution programs that provide nutritious meals to Native American families, especially those who struggle with food insecurity on reservations where access to fresh and healthy food is limited.
Elder Care: NAHA supports Native American elders by providing essential resources, medical supplies, and home repairs. The organization recognizes the importance of honoring and caring for Native American elders in the community.
Medical and Dental Care: The organization offers medical and dental clinics on reservations, providing access to healthcare services often lacking in remote and underserved areas. These clinics help address health disparities and improve the overall well-being of community members.
Warmth for Winter: NAHA runs the Warmth for Winter program, providing winter clothing, blankets, and heating assistance to families who face cold temperatures and lack the resources to stay warm during the winter months.
Housing Improvements: The organization undertakes housing improvement projects, such as repairing roofs, installing insulation, and addressing critical home repairs to ensure safe and livable conditions for Native American families.
Partnership and Collaboration: NAHA collaborates with Native American tribes, organizations, and other nonprofit groups to maximize their impact and ensure that their programs align with the needs and priorities of their communities.

Other causes to support:

6 mins read

Blog Post

Help victims of Morocco's deadly earthquake

A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco on Friday, and with the death toll already surpassing 2,800 it is the deadliest and most powerful earthquake to hit the North African country in decades.
The epicenter was in the High Atlas Mountains, located about 50 miles southwest of the popular tourist city of Marrakech.
Rescue teams are struggling to reach those in affected areas due to roads blocked by the rubble left in the quake’s wake.

Organizations helping victims of Morocco's earthquake:

Disaster response organizations are mobilizing quickly to support the immediate, life-saving relief efforts as well as longer-term recovery. The best way to support is to provide funding to one of the many nonprofits that are working to provide assistance to those impacted.

Groundswell has put together a list of organizations you can directly support:

International Committee of the Red Cross
Team Rubicon
CARE
International Medical Corps
Doctors without borders
GlobalGiving
UNICEF

The best way to support is to provide funding to one of the many nonprofits that are working to provide assistance to those impacted - please consider donating today.

Donate on Groundswell

6 mins read

Blog Post

October: Causes to Support

October recognizes Breast Cancer, Mental Illness, Poverty Eradication, Animals, and Arts & Humanities.

Nonprofit organizations are working on the frontlines to support causes and the communities most impacted - through direct programming, research, advocacy and much more. They rely on the support from donors to sustain their important work.

Join the Groundswell movement to learn about and support these nonprofits and countless others found on the Groundswell app.

Breast Cancer Awareness

Breast Cancer Awareness Month, observed every October, is an annual international health campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer, the most common cancer in women worldwide, and the most common cancer diagnosed in American women.

With one in eight women at risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime, it is likely that many employees or their loved ones will be affected. But it is estimated that 50% of all people with cancer are afraid to tell their employers, whether because of sigma or insecurity that exists for people with cancer in the workplace.

There are many amazing nonprofit organizations that are working day in and day out to not only research breast cancer, but also to support preventative measures, as well as those undergoing treatment or on the road to recovery. Consider donating today.

National Breast Cancer Foundation

Delivers help and hope when those affected by breast cancer need it most—now. We provide help and inspire hope to those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education, and support services.

Cancer & Careers

Empowers and educates people with cancer to thrive in their workplace, by providing expert advice, interactive tools and educational events.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Provides critical funding for cancer research worldwide to fuel advances in tumor biology, genetics, prevention, treatment, metastasis and survivorship.

Mental Illness

Mental Illness Awareness Week was established in 1990 to raise awareness about the mental illness crisis and provide resources for those impacted. Nearly 50 million American adults live with a mental illness condition, and many do not receive treatment or other support. The pandemic further exacerbated these challenges, especially for young adults - with those impacts continuing to persist in troubling ways.

Nonprofit organizations provide essential resources, therapies, and interventions, advocating for the rights and dignity of those affected by mental health conditions. They bridge gaps in the healthcare system, ensuring accessible and quality care, and fostering a society where mental wellness is prioritized. Consider supporting one of the charities that are working to advocate for and support those impacted by mental illness.

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

Dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and cure of anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, and co-occurring disorders through the alignment of science, treatment, and education.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

The Jed Foundation

Protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive today…and tomorrow.

World Animal Day

October 4th commemorates World Animal Day, in dedication to animal rights and welfare. Rooted in a 1925 event in Berlin, and aligned with Saint Francis of Assisi's feast day, this occasion champions the invaluable roles animals play in our ecosystems and daily lives. Yey, despite their significance, many face threats from habitat loss, pollution, and exploitation.

Nonprofits focused on animals are at the forefront of tackling these challenges. They rescue, advocate, educate, and innovate, ensuring animals receive the respect and care they deserve. Supporting these organizations allows them to advance their work, ranging from rescuing animals to advocating for legislative and policy changes.

World Wildlife Fund

Works in nearly 100 countries. At every level, we collaborate with people around the world to develop and deliver innovative solutions that protect communities, wildlife, and the places in which they live.

RE:WILD

Protects and restores the diversity of life on Earth through innovative collaborations among individuals, communities, Indigenous peoples, governments, scientists, and businesses to drive the most pressing nature-based solutions to our planet’s urgent crises. Radical change requires radical collaboration.

Wildlife Conservation Society

Saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

Poverty Eradication

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - also known as World Poverty Day - is observed every October 17 to bring attention to the struggle of people living in poverty and make their concerns heard. Since its inception in 1987, people from different countries, backgrounds, and beliefs gather every year on this day to show their renewed commitment and solidarity with the poor.

Poverty transcends geography, race and ethnicity - impacting people all over the world. There are numerous charities focused on alleviating and eradicating poverty through their programs, sustained in large part from donations large and small. Please explore and consider supporting their important work to reduce poverty rates all around the world.

Innovations for Poverty Action

Creates and shares evidence, while equipping decision-makers to use evidence to reduce poverty. With a long-term presence in 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, IPA leads the field of development in cutting-edge research quality, innovation, and impact.

Concern Worldwide

A global community of humanitarians, partners, and supporters who share a common vision of a world where no one lives in poverty, fear, or oppression, and all can exercise their rights to a decent standard of living.

Against Malaria Foundation

Helps protect people from malaria by funding anti-malaria nets, specifically long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), and works with distribution partners to ensure they are used.

Supporting Arts & Humanities

National Arts & Humanities Month is a collective celebration and recognition of culture in the United States. It is a time to celebrate the diversity of artistic expression in this country - amplifying a wide range of important voices and stories about the fabric of this country.

There are many ways to support National Arts & Humanities Month - including visiting a local museum, attending a concert, or visiting a local gallery. You can also support one of the many charities found within Groundswell's Arts & Culture cause area, including those in this month’s featured causes.

Americans for the Arts

Builds recognition and support for the extraordinary and dynamic value of the arts and to lead, serve, and advance the diverse networks of organizations and individuals who cultivate the arts in America.

Sesame Workshop

A global impact nonprofit organization with a mission to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.

Art Start

Uses the creative process to nurture the voices, hearts, and minds of historically marginalized youth, offering a space for them to imagine, believe, and represent their creative vision for their lives and communities.

6 mins read

Blog Post

September: Causes to Support

September recognizes Hispanic Heritage, Childhood Cancer Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Hunger Action, and World Alzheimer’s Awareness.

Nonprofit organizations of all sizes and across geographies are working on the frontlines to support causes and the communities most impacted - through direct programming, research, advocacy and much more. They rely on the support from donors to sustain their important work.

Join the Groundswell movement to learn about and support these nonprofits and countless others found on the Groundswell app.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually from September 15 - October 15 to celebrate the contributions that generations of Hispanic and Latino Americans have made to American history, society, and culture.

The 2023 theme for Hispanic Heritage Month is ‘Prosperity, Power, and Progress’, recognizing the significant strides of Hispanics in the economic, political, and social growth of the U.S. Across the country, communities come together during this time in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic and Latino Americans who have positively impacted and enriched our nation and society. Many local and national nonprofits are working to empower, protect and support Hispanic and Latino communities across the country - and consider supporting their important work.

Canal Alliance exists to break the generational cycle of poverty for Latino immigrants and their families by lifting barriers to their success - by educating, empowering, supporting and partnering with immigrants and their families to meet their needs.
La Casa De Las Madres responds to calls for help from domestic violence victims, of all ages, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and gives survivors the tools to transform their lives.
Hispanic Federation empowers and advances the Hispanic community, supports Hispanic families, and strengthens Latino institutions through work in the areas of education, health, immigration, civic engagement, & economic empowerment.

Childhood Cancer Awareness

National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month helps bring awareness to pediatric cancer, which remains the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 14. According to estimates from the American Cancer Society, approximately 9,910 children and 5,280 adolescents are expected to be diagnosed with some form of cancer in 2023. And more heartbreaking, approximately 1,040 children and 550 adolescents will die from these diseases in 2023.

Researchers around the world continue to pioneer new therapies and explore the root causes of the disease, driving progress that could reveal cures or improved outcomes for patients. Consider supporting this cause by donating to these charities.

St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
National Pediatric Cancer Foundation is dedicated to funding and developing novel research and clinical trials to find less toxic, more effective treatments for childhood cancer.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand is changing the lives of children with cancer through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families, and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

National Suicide Prevention Week

National Suicide Prevention Week raises awareness about suicide, educating the public about its prevention, and reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues. The CDC's provisional data for 2022 show a record high of 49,369 suicide deaths, the highest number on record and about 3% above the toll in 2021.

Donating to nonprofits dedicated to suicide prevention is crucial because these organizations often rely on donations to fund programs that provide immediate help to those in crisis, such as hotlines and emergency interventions. Nonprofits also engage in long-term prevention efforts, including educational programs in schools and workplaces to teach people about the warning signs and how to help.

The Jed Foundation protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive today…and tomorrow.
Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, high-quality text-based mental health support and crisis intervention by empowering a community of trained volunteers to support people in their moments of need.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death.

Hunger Action Month

Hunger Action Month is a time to stand together to build awareness of and take action to fight hunger, which is a very real issue for over 34 million Americans each and every day, including 1 in 8 children. Hunger is the distress that comes from not having enough food which leads to a multitude of other problems, including health decline, developmental delays, behavioral issues, and decreased productivity.

Food banks, pantries, and other food-serving nonprofits all across the country are working tirelessly to ensure those in need of food can get it. Please consider supporting them today - even a few dollars can go a long way towards providing food for those who need it most.

Feed the Children is dedicated to helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow—all while providing food and assistance to help them today.
Global Foodbanking Network advances and unites food banks to nourish the world’s hungry.
Feeding America partners with a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies.

World Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

In September, people and organizations from all around the world work to raise awareness and challenge the stigma that persists around Alzheimer's disease and all types of dementia. And although progress has been made in advancing research around causes and treatments, there is still so much to be discovered about these complex disorders.

Please consider supporting these or other organizations that exist to fund cutting-edge research, and support patients as well as their families and loved ones.

Alzheimer’s Association leads the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support.
Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation works to rapidly accelerate the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer's disease.
Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation provides millions of dollars for novel Alzheimer’s research primarily conducted by the late Nobel Laureate Dr. Paul Greengard.

6 mins read

Blog Post

World Humanitarian Day: Nonprofits Empowering Humanity, Together

On World Humanitarian Day, we unite to honor the indomitable spirit of aid workers and volunteers, whose unwavering commitment saves lives and uplifts communities in crisis.

Join us as we promote the organizations showing compassion and solidarity, working tirelessly to alleviate suffering, and champion the cause of the most vulnerable. With your support, they’ll make a lasting impact on issues like food insecurity, healthcare access, education, and sustainable development.

On this World Humanitarian Day, we can create a place where humanity knows no borders and where the power of collective action propels us toward a brighter future for all.

Be a part of the change this World Humanitarian Day – donate, volunteer, and stand with us as we empower humanity.

Team Rubicon

Team Rubicon is a non-profit organization that deploys teams of skilled volunteers to provide disaster response and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of natural disasters and other crises. The organization was founded in the United States but has since expanded its operations to several countries worldwide.

Critical aspects of Team Rubicon include:

Disaster Response: Team Rubicon deploys highly trained and experienced military veterans, first responders, and civilian volunteers to disaster-affected areas. These volunteers provide immediate assistance in search and rescue operations, medical support, debris removal, and other essential tasks to help affected communities.
Humanitarian Aid: Besides disaster response, Team Rubicon also engages in humanitarian aid missions to support communities facing ongoing challenges. This can include projects related to infrastructure, healthcare, education, and other long-term initiatives to promote community resilience and well-being.
Veterans' Empowerment: Team Rubicon's mission is focused on providing disaster relief and empowering military veterans by providing them with a sense of purpose and the opportunity to continue serving others in meaningful ways after their military service.
Global Reach: While founded in the United States, Team Rubicon has expanded its operations to other countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and others. This global presence allows the organization to respond internationally to disasters and humanitarian crises.
Collaborative Approach: Team Rubicon often collaborates with other non-governmental organizations, governments, and local partners to ensure a coordinated and effective response to disasters and emergencies.
Training and Development: The organization offers training and development programs to its volunteers, ensuring they are well-prepared to handle the challenges they may encounter during disaster response missions.

International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an independent humanitarian organization that protects and assists victims of armed conflicts and other violent situations. Established in 1863, the ICRC is one of the world's oldest and most respected humanitarian organizations. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

Critical aspects of the International Committee of the Red Cross include:

Humanitarian Mission: The primary mission of the ICRC is to alleviate human suffering in times of armed conflict and other emergencies. It provides impartial, neutral, and independent humanitarian assistance to those affected by conflict, including civilians, prisoners of war, and wounded or sick combatants.
Protection of Civilians: The ICRC protects civilians from the effects of armed conflict and other violent situations. This includes advocating for respect of international humanitarian law, which governs parties' conduct during armed conflicts.
Visiting Detainees: The ICRC visits detainees held in connection with conflicts to monitor their treatment and detention conditions. They aim to ensure that detainees are treated humanely, and their rights are respected.
Humanitarian Aid and Services: The ICRC provides essential humanitarian aid such as food, water, medical care, and shelter to those affected by conflicts and natural disasters. They also help in the reunification of families separated during disputes.
Promoting International Humanitarian Law: The ICRC encourages and strengthens international humanitarian law (the laws of war) to protect civilians and combatants during armed conflicts.
Neutrality and Impartiality: The ICRC maintains a strict policy of neutrality and impartiality, ensuring that political, religious, or national interests do not influence its humanitarian work.
International Presence: The ICRC operates worldwide, with offices and delegations in various countries and conflict zones, ensuring a rapid and effective response to humanitarian needs.

Direct Relief

Direct Relief is a nonprofit humanitarian organization based in the United States that provides medical assistance and disaster relief to people worldwide. The organization was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

Critical aspects of Direct Relief include:

Medical Aid and Supplies: Direct Relief focuses on delivering essential medical aid, supplies, and equipment to communities affected by poverty, emergencies, and natural disasters. They support healthcare facilities and clinics, ensuring they have access to the resources needed to care for patients.
Disaster Response: Direct Relief is actively involved in disaster response efforts. When natural disasters strike, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods, the organization works to provide emergency medical supplies and support to affected areas and healthcare providers.
Health Initiatives: In addition to emergency response efforts, Direct Relief works on long-term health initiatives, including disease prevention and control programs. They collaborate with partners and local healthcare providers to address health issues such as maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and chronic conditions.
Global Reach: Direct Relief operates in all 50 U.S. states and partners with healthcare facilities and nonprofit organizations in over 100 countries worldwide. This global reach allows them to respond rapidly to emergencies and health crises wherever they occur.
Transparency and Accountability: Direct Relief is committed to transparency and efficiency in its operations. The organization has received high ratings from independent charity evaluators, such as Charity Navigator and GuideStar, for its responsible use of donor funds.
Medical Supply Chain: Direct Relief has established a robust and efficient medical supply chain to procure, store, and distribute medical resources effectively. They work closely with pharmaceutical and healthcare companies to secure donated products and ensure they reach those in need.
Partnerships: The organization collaborates with a wide range of partners, including corporations, foundations, governments, and local health organizations, to extend its impact and enhance its response to emergencies and health challenges.

Doctors without Borders

Doctors Without Borders, known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in French, is an independent, international medical humanitarian organization. It was founded in 1971 in France and is known for its critical and lifesaving work in providing medical assistance to people in need worldwide, particularly in areas affected by armed conflicts, epidemics, natural disasters, and other crises.

Critical aspects of Doctors Without Borders include:

Emergency Medical Response: Doctors Without Borders provides emergency medical care and assistance in regions facing humanitarian crises. Their medical teams, often doctors, nurses, midwives, and other healthcare professionals respond rapidly to provide medical services and treatment to those in need.
Neutral and Impartial: Doctors Without Borders is committed to maintaining strict neutrality and impartiality. The organization delivers medical aid based solely on needs, irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation.
Focus on Vulnerable Populations: Doctors Without Borders prioritizes the needs of vulnerable populations, including refugees, internally displaced people, and those affected by conflict and violence. They provide medical care, nutritional support, and mental health services to address the specific needs of these communities.
Mobile and Flexible Operations: The organization's ability to rapidly deploy medical teams to remote or hard-to-reach areas is crucial in providing timely medical assistance during emergencies.
Disease Outbreak Response: Doctors Without Borders has been at the forefront of responding to significant disease outbreaks, such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, cholera, and malaria. Their experience in treating infectious diseases helps contain outbreaks and save lives.
Advocacy and Raising Awareness: In addition to their medical work, Doctors Without Borders engages in advocacy efforts to raise awareness about humanitarian crises and the need for increased access to medical care in underserved regions.
Funding and Donations: Doctors Without Borders relies on private donations and funding to carry out its medical missions. Their independence from government and political interests allows them to respond rapidly to emergencies and maintain their humanitarian principles.

International Medical Corps

International Medical Corps is a global humanitarian organization that provides lifesaving medical care, training, and support to communities affected by disasters, conflicts, and other crises. The organization was founded in 1984 by Dr. Robert Simon, and its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California.

Critical aspects of the International Medical Corps include:

Emergency Response: International Medical Corps specializes in rapid response to emergencies, including natural disasters, armed conflicts, disease outbreaks, and other humanitarian crises. Their teams of medical professionals and support staff deploy quickly to affected areas to provide immediate medical assistance and relief.
Health Services: The organization delivers various health services, including medical care, nutrition support, mental health services, and disease prevention and treatment. They prioritize the health needs of vulnerable populations, including women, children, and refugees.
Capacity Building and Training: In addition to emergency response, International Medical Corps emphasizes building the capacity of local healthcare workers and communities. They provide training and support to local health professionals, helping to strengthen healthcare systems and improve long-term health outcomes.
Nutrition Programs: International Medical Corps implements nutrition programs to address malnutrition in crisis-affected areas. They work to prevent and treat malnutrition among children and pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support: Recognizing the impact of emergencies on mental health, the organization provides psychosocial support to survivors and those affected by trauma and stress.
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): International Medical Corps integrates WASH programs into their emergency response efforts to ensure access to clean water, proper sanitation, and hygiene facilities in affected communities.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Response: The organization also addresses gender-based violence in crisis settings, providing support and services to survivors while advocating for prevention measures.
Resilience and Recovery: International Medical Corps emphasizes building strength in communities to better prepare them for future disasters and crises. Their approach aims to assist communities in recovering and rebuilding after emergencies.

Save the Children

Save the Children is a global nonprofit organization focused on improving the lives of children in need worldwide. Founded 1919 in the United Kingdom, the organization has since expanded its reach and operates in over 120 countries, including the United States.

Critical aspects of Save the Children include:

Child-focused Programs: Save the Children's mission centers on the well-being and rights of children. The organization runs programs to improve child health, education, protection, and overall quality of life.
Emergency Response: Save the Children is known for its rapid and effective response to humanitarian emergencies, including natural disasters, conflicts, and disease outbreaks. Their teams provide immediate assistance to children and families in crisis, including food, clean water, medical care, and shelter.
Child Protection: Save the Children advocates for protecting children's rights and well-being. They work to prevent and respond to issues such as child labor, child trafficking, violence against children, and other forms of exploitation.
Health and Nutrition: The organization's health programs focus on improving child and maternal health, providing vaccinations, nutrition support, and access to healthcare services in underserved communities.
Education: Save the Children strongly emphasizes education, working to ensure that all children have access to quality education and learning opportunities. They build schools, train teachers, and support programs that promote learning and literacy.
Child Rights Advocacy: Save the Children advocates at national and international levels for policies and laws that support children's rights and protect them from harm. They work with governments and partners to create a more child-friendly and supportive environment.
Long-term Development: Besides emergency response efforts, Save the Children focuses on long-term development projects that address the root causes of poverty and inequality, ensuring sustainable improvements in children's lives.
Collaboration and Partnerships: Save the Children collaborates with governments, other NGOs, communities, and corporations to leverage resources and expertise and maximize their impact on children's lives.

CARE

CARE is a global nonprofit organization that fights poverty and provides humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities worldwide. The organization was founded in 1945 and has since grown to become one of the world's largest and most well-known humanitarian organizations.

Critical aspects of CARE include:

Poverty Alleviation: CARE addresses the root causes of poverty and inequality in communities, focusing on empowering women and girls. They implement programs and initiatives that support economic development, education, healthcare, and nutrition.
Women's Empowerment: CARE strongly emphasizes women's empowerment and gender equality. They believe empowering women and girls positively changes their communities and society.
Humanitarian Aid: CARE provides emergency assistance and humanitarian aid in response to natural disasters, conflicts, and other crises. Their rapid response teams deliver life-saving support to affected communities, including food, water, shelter, and medical care.
Education and Health: The organization implements programs to improve access to education and healthcare services in underserved communities. They work to ensure that children have access to quality education and that communities have access to essential healthcare services.
Food Security and Nutrition: CARE addresses food insecurity and malnutrition in vulnerable populations. They implement programs to improve agricultural practices, provide food assistance, and promote nutrition education.
Advocacy: CARE advocates for policies and legislation that address the underlying causes of poverty and promote sustainable development. They work with governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders to create lasting change.
Disaster Risk Reduction: Besides emergency response efforts, CARE emphasizes disaster risk reduction programs to help communities build resilience and preparedness for future disasters.

Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian organization that operates in some of the world's most challenging and crisis-affected regions. Founded in 1979, Mercy Corps is committed to helping people build better, stronger, and more resilient communities by providing emergency aid and sustainable development programs.

Critical aspects of Mercy Corps include:

Emergency Response: Mercy Corps responds to natural disasters, conflicts, and other emergencies to immediately assist affected communities. Their emergency response efforts include providing food, water, shelter, healthcare, and other essential services.
Sustainable Development: The organization focuses on long-term, sustainable development programs that address the root causes of poverty and build the resilience of vulnerable communities. These programs cover agriculture, economic development, education, and climate change adaptation.
Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: Mercy Corps works to resolve conflicts and promote peace in conflict-affected regions. They engage with local communities and stakeholders to foster dialogue, reconciliation, and cooperation.
Gender Equality: Mercy Corps is committed to advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls. They work to ensure that women have equal access to resources, education, and economic opportunities.
Youth Empowerment: The organization recognizes the potential of young people as agents of change. Mercy Corps invests in youth empowerment programs, providing young individuals with education, skills training, and leadership opportunities.
Technology and Innovation: Mercy Corps leverages technology and innovation to enhance its humanitarian and development efforts. They use digital tools, data analysis, and mobile technology to improve program delivery and impact.
Research and Learning: Mercy Corps conducts research and learning initiatives to understand the complexities of crises and inform evidence-based programming. They continuously evaluate their programs to ensure effectiveness and adaptability.
Collaboration and Partnerships: Mercy Corps collaborates with governments, local organizations, corporations, and other humanitarian agencies to maximize their impact and reach more needy people.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Maui Fires: Disaster Relief Organizations to Support

Help is desperately needed in Hawaii in the wake of devastating, fast-moving wildfires that were burning out of control across the Big Island and Maui for the past week. As of Tuesday, the death toll had climbed to 99, making this the deadliest US wildfire in more than 100 years. Strong winds associated with Hurricane Dora fanned the flames, knocking out local communication and destroying thousands of homes and historic buildings. Maui hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering burns and smoke inhalation. Crews in west Maui are doing the devastating work of sifting through the ashes of incinerated homes and beloved landmarks - including the popular Maui tourist destination Lahaina town. While these search and rescue efforts are still ongoing, local officials warn that the death toll may continue to rise.

The best way to support is to provide funding to one of the many nonprofits that are working to provide assistance to those impacted - please consider donating today.

Donate to the following organizations on Groundswell:

American Red Cross
Hawaii Community Foundation
Team Rubicon
Maui Food Bank Inc Maui United Way
Maui Humane Society
Salvation Army - Hawaii
Kailua Alert & Prepared
Oahu Search And Rescue

Donate on Groundswell

6 mins read

Blog Post

Prepare for the Back-to-School Season with These Nonprofit Organizations Focused on Education.

Education is the key to progress and a better future for individuals and communities. As we prepare for the upcoming "back to school" season, we must recognize the incredible work of nonprofit organizations that tirelessly champion education and promote a more equitable and inclusive society.

Around the world, many children and young adults face challenges in accessing quality education due to financial constraints, geographic isolation, and other societal issues. Nonprofits that support education are a beacon of hope, bridging gaps and providing a lifeline for those in need. Their dedication to fostering learning opportunities, cultivating creativity, and nurturing curiosity demonstrate the transformative power of education.

These organizations offer scholarship programs that provide access to higher education and initiatives that provide essential classroom supplies. They demonstrate an unwavering commitment to empowering the next generation.

As we celebrate the "back to school" season, let's acknowledge and appreciate these nonprofits' tireless efforts in uplifting communities, breaking down barriers, and planting the seeds of knowledge that will shape a brighter tomorrow. Together, we can reaffirm our collective responsibility to support education and ensure every child's right to learn is fulfilled.

DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose is a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that connects teachers needing classroom resources with donors who want to support public education. The organization was founded in 2000 by Charles Best, a former public school teacher in the United States based in New York City.

Critical aspects of DonorsChoose include:

Teacher Funding Requests: Teachers from public schools across the United States can create project proposals on the DonorsChoose platform. These proposals outline the specific resources they need for their classrooms, such as books, art supplies, technology, science equipment, and more.
Crowdfunding: DonorsChoose operates on a crowdfunding model, allowing individuals, corporations, and foundations to browse the teacher proposals and choose the projects they want to support. Donors can contribute any amount they wish to the tasks of their choice.
Direct Delivery of Resources: DonorsChoose purchases the requested materials and delivers them directly to the teacher's school once a project is fully funded. Donors receive photos and thank-you notes from the students and teachers they supported, providing a tangible connection between the donors and the impact of their contribution.
Transparency and Accountability: DonorsChoose maintains a high level of transparency and accountability. Donors can see the specific items being funded and the cost breakdown of each project. The organization also follows up with donors to confirm that the materials were received and utilized as intended.
Focus on Public Education: DonorsChoose is dedicated to supporting public education in the United States. The organization aims to enhance students' learning experiences and opportunities in underserved communities by providing much-needed classroom resources.
Corporate and Matching Partnerships: DonorsChoose partners with corporations and foundations to offer matching grants and exceptional funding opportunities. These partnerships amplify the impact of donations and encourage more individuals to get involved in supporting public education.

Since its inception, DonorsChoose has funded thousands of projects and impacted millions of students across the United States. The platform has gained widespread recognition and support from educators, donors, and the public for its innovative approach to addressing classroom resource gaps and promoting equity in education.

Pencils of Promise

Pencils of Promise (PoP) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving access to quality education for children in underserved communities worldwide. The organization was founded in 2008 by Adam Braun to ensure that every child can receive a quality education.

Critical aspects of Pencils of Promise include:

Building Schools and Learning Spaces: Pencils of Promise constructs schools and learning spaces in rural and remote areas with limited access to education. They work closely with local communities to identify the most suitable locations for these educational facilities.
Teacher Support and Training: The organization provides training and support to teachers to enhance the quality of education their schools offer. They focus on improving teaching methods and ensuring teachers have the necessary resources to create effective learning environments.
Community Engagement: Pencils of Promise actively engages with local communities to ensure their participation and ownership in developing educational projects. This approach fosters sustainability and long-term impact.
WASH Programs: Pencils of Promise integrates Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programs in schools to address health and hygiene issues, which can significantly impact children's attendance and overall well-being.
Girls' Education: The organization strongly emphasizes girls' education and empowerment. They work to break down barriers that prevent girls from accessing education and provide support to keep them in school.
Data-Driven Approach: Pencils of Promise uses a data-driven approach to measure the impact of their programs and ensure that resources are utilized effectively to achieve the best outcomes for students and communities.
Donor Engagement: The organization encourages donor engagement by providing donors with updates on the progress of the projects they support. Donors can see the direct impact of their contributions on the lives of the children and communities they are helping.

Pencils of Promise operates in several countries, including Ghana, Guatemala, Laos, and Nicaragua, to expand its impact to other regions in need. The organization is committed to transparency; a significant portion of the funds raised go directly to program expenses.

Since its inception, Pencils of Promise has built hundreds of schools, impacted thousands of students, and worked towards its vision of creating a world where all children have access to quality education and the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

Kids in Need Foundation

The Kids in Need Foundation (KINF) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that aims to ensure every child has access to the tools and supplies they need to succeed in school. The organization was founded in 1995 and is based in Dayton, Ohio.

Critical aspects of the Kids in Need Foundation include:

School Supply Support: KINF operates several programs that provide free school supplies to students and teachers in under-resourced schools. These supplies can include backpacks, notebooks, pencils, art materials, and other essential items needed for learning.
Teacher Grants: The organization offers grants to teachers to support innovative and creative classroom projects. These grants allow teachers to enhance their teaching methods and provide enriching experiences for their students.
Mobile Distribution: KINF operates mobile distribution programs that directly bring school supplies to students and teachers in communities with limited educational resources.
National Network: The Kids in Need Foundation partners with a network of Teacher Resource Centers (TRCs) in various regions across the United States. These centers serve as distribution hubs for school supplies and support teachers in providing quality education to students.
Corporate Partnerships: KINF collaborates with corporations, foundations, and individuals to secure funding and in-kind donations for their programs. These partnerships enable the organization to reach more students and schools in need.
Impact on Education Equity: The Kids in Need Foundation's work is focused on promoting educational equity and leveling the playing field for students in low-income communities. By providing necessary supplies and resources, KINF helps ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to learn and succeed.
Disaster Relief: Besides their ongoing programs, KINF provides emergency assistance and school supplies to students and teachers in areas affected by natural disasters or other emergencies.

Through its initiatives, the Kids in Need Foundation has significantly impacted students and teachers, supporting their learning and teaching experiences and fostering a positive educational environment.

Action for Healthy Kids

Action for Healthy Kids is a nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to improving children’s health and well-being by promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and overall wellness in schools and communities. The organization was founded in 2002 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Key aspects of Action for Healthy Kids include:

School-Based Programs: Action for Healthy Kids works directly with schools to implement programs that promote healthy eating and physical activity among students. These programs aim to create a healthy school environment supporting students’ well-being and academic success.
Parent and Community Engagement: The organization involves parents, caregivers, and community members to promote healthy behaviors among children. They provide resources and support to help parents and communities foster a culture of wellness.
Physical Activity Initiatives: Action for Healthy Kids encourages schools to incorporate physical activity into the daily routines of students. They support implementing physical education programs, recess activities, and opportunities for active transportation to and from school.
Nutrition Education: The organization promotes nutrition education to help students make healthier food choices. They work to improve school meal programs, increase access to nutritious foods, and provide education on the importance of a balanced diet.
Professional Development for Educators: Action for Healthy Kids offers professional development and training opportunities for educators and school staff to build their capacity to support students' health and wellness.
Data and Evaluation: The organization uses data and evaluation to assess the impact of its programs and initiatives. This helps them continuously improve their approaches and strategies to create a healthier environment for children.
Advocacy and Policy Change: Action for Healthy Kids advocates for policies and initiatives that support child health and wellness at the local, state, and national levels. They work to create systemic changes that promote healthier lifestyles for all children.

By partnering with schools, parents, and communities, Action for Healthy Kids aims to create a nationwide movement that fosters healthier habits and positive attitudes toward health and wellness among children.

AdoptAClassroom.org

AdoptAClassroom.org is a nonprofit organization in the United States that connects donors with teachers to provide much-needed funds and resources for classroom supplies. The organization was founded in 1998 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Critical aspects of AdoptAClassroom.org include:

Classroom Funding: AdoptAClassroom.org allows donors, individuals, and corporate partners to support classrooms and teachers directly. Teachers create profiles on the platform, outlining their specific needs and the required classroom supplies.
Donor Engagement: Donors can browse teacher profiles and select the classrooms they want to support. They can contribute any amount they wish, and their donations go directly to the chosen teachers to purchase the requested supplies.
Flexibility and Autonomy: AdoptAClassroom.org allows teachers to use the funds they receive to purchase the most relevant and necessary supplies for their classrooms. This autonomy enables teachers to address the unique needs of their students and teaching environment.
Schoolwide Initiatives: In addition to individual classroom adoptions, AdoptAClassroom.org also supports schoolwide initiatives and fundraising campaigns. This allows donors to support an entire school or specific programs within the school.
Support for High-Needs Schools: The organization strongly emphasizes supporting teachers and schools in low-income or high-needs communities where access to essential classroom resources may be limited.
Corporate Partnerships: AdoptAClassroom.org collaborates with corporations and businesses that share their mission to support education. Corporate partners often provide matching grants or other incentives to amplify the impact of individual donations.
Transparency and Accountability: The organization maintains transparency in its operations and ensures that donor funds are used responsibly to fulfill the needs of teachers and classrooms.

AdoptAClassroom.org has become a valuable resource for educators, providing them with the means to obtain the supplies and materials necessary to create a conducive learning environment for their students. Through this platform, teachers receive support from individuals and organizations that recognize the importance of quality education and the role of teachers in shaping young minds.

First Book

First Book is a nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to promoting equal access to quality education for children in need. The organization was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Critical aspects of the First Book include:

Providing Books and Educational Resources: The First Book addresses educational inequity by providing new books, educational materials, and resources to children from low-income families and under-resourced communities. They work to ensure that all children have access to high-quality reading materials that can foster a love for learning.
Access to Diverse Books: The organization is committed to offering a wide variety of books that reflect children's diverse backgrounds and experiences. They strive to provide books that feature characters and stories from different cultures and perspectives.
Market-Driven Approach: First Book employs a market-driven model to source books and educational resources at affordable prices. They can offer books and materials to schools and programs at significantly reduced costs by purchasing in bulk and negotiating with publishers.
Distribution Network: First Book partners with schools, community programs, and educators serving children in need. Through these partners, they distribute books and resources to reach children in underserved communities nationwide.
Educator Engagement: The organization actively engages educators and program leaders to understand their needs and preferences. They offer support and resources to help educators create engaging learning environments for their students.
Social Impact: First Book focuses on making a measurable social impact. They track and evaluate the outcomes of their programs to ensure that their efforts lead to positive educational outcomes for the children they serve.
Global Reach: Besides its work in the United States, First Book extends its impact globally, partnering with organizations and schools worldwide to provide access to quality books and educational resources.

First Book's work is supported by a network of corporate partners, foundations, and individual donors who share their commitment to promoting educational equity. The organization's efforts have reached millions of children and educators, significantly impacting educational opportunities for underserved communities.

Blessings in a Backpack

"Blessings in a Backpack" is a nonprofit organization in the United States that addresses childhood hunger by providing food to needy children on weekends. The organization was founded in 2005 by Stan Curtis and Karen Korp and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

Critical aspects of Blessings in a Backpack include:

Weekend Food Program: Blessings in a Backpack's primary program involves providing backpacks filled with food to children from low-income families on weekends. These backpacks are discreetly distributed to eligible children at schools, ensuring they have access to nutritious meals even when not in school.
Nutritious Food Choices: The organization prioritizes providing healthy food items to children, including non-perishable items such as granola bars, canned fruits, pasta, oatmeal, and more. The goal is to support children's health and well-being while away from school.
Community Engagement: Blessings in a Backpack operates through a network of volunteers and community partners. Local volunteers help pack the backpacks, and community support, including donations and fundraising events, allows the organization to expand its reach.
Public-Private Partnerships: The organization collaborates with schools, corporations, foundations, and individuals to address childhood hunger. Schools identify eligible children, and corporate and community partners fund and support the program.
Impact on Education: By ensuring that children have access to adequate food on weekends, Blessings in a Backpack aims to remove hunger as a barrier to learning. Proper nutrition can positively impact a child's ability to focus, participate, and thrive in the classroom.
Expanding Reach: Since its founding, Blessings in a Backpack has grown significantly and operates in hundreds of schools across the United States. Their reach continues to expand as they address the ongoing issue of childhood hunger in various communities.

The organization's focus on providing food support to children during weekends is essential because many children who rely on school meals may go hungry over the weekend when those meals are unavailable. Blessings in a Backpack's efforts aim to bridge this gap and ensure children have access to consistent and nutritious meals throughout the week.

Food for Thought Denver

Food for Thought Denver is a 100% volunteer organization that strives to eliminate weekend hunger in the Denver area. They provide weekend food bags (aka PowerSacks) to children in need who qualify for free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs during the school week.

The organization was founded in 2012 by Bob Bell, who became aware that many of Denver's school kids were not getting enough to eat — especially over the weekends. With the help of volunteers and their local Arvada Rotary Club, they raised sufficient donated funds to start providing PowerSacks to two Denver public schools.

Today, Food for Thought Denver serves 76 schools in Denver, providing PowerSacks to over 10,000 children weekly. Each bag contains enough non-perishable food items to feed a family of four for the weekend.

Food for Thought Denver is a great way to help your community and make a difference in the lives of needy children. There are many ways to get involved, including volunteering to pack PowerSacks, donating food or money, or spreading the word about the organization.

Here are some additional details about Food for Thought Denver:

They have a team of over 1,000 volunteers.
They pack PowerSacks every Friday at two locations in Denver.
They distribute PowerSacks to schools on the following Monday.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national nonprofit organization in the United States that provides after-school programs and support to young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The organization was founded in 1860 and has become one of the nation's leading youth development organizations.

Key aspects of Boys & Girls Clubs of America include:

Youth Development Programs: BGCA offers a variety of programs that focus on academic success, character and leadership development, and healthy lifestyles. These programs are designed to help young people build essential skills, develop positive behaviors, and reach their full potential.
After-School and Summer Programs: Boys & Girls Clubs provide a safe and supportive environment for children and teens during out-of-school hours. They offer after-school programs and summer activities, including educational support, recreational opportunities, and enrichment activities.
Academic Support: BGCA emphasizes academic success and provides resources and support to help young people excel in school. They offer tutoring, homework help, and programs encouraging learning and academic achievement.
Character and Leadership Development: The organization focuses on instilling values such as integrity, responsibility, and leadership in young people. They provide opportunities for youth to take on leadership roles and contribute positively to their communities.
Healthy Lifestyles: BGCA promotes physical fitness and healthy habits among young people. They offer sports and recreation programs and nutrition education to encourage a balanced and active lifestyle.
Inclusivity and Diversity: Boys & Girls Clubs of America is committed to inclusivity and serving young people from all backgrounds. They welcome children and teens of every race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Community-Based Model: BGCA operates through a nationwide network of local clubs in communities. Each club is independently governed and operated, allowing them to tailor their programs to the specific needs of the young people they serve.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America has a long history of positively impacting the lives of millions of young people. Through their comprehensive youth development programs, they provide a supportive and nurturing environment where children and teens can thrive and develop essential life skills.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Sharing the Spotlight: Nonprofits for American Theaters

American Theaters that offer live performances have been facing difficult times recently.

Despite the decline in the pandemic, several local theaters and independent art groups are still struggling to secure funding. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a drop in attendance, with numbers still below pre-pandemic levels.

Consequently, many theaters nationwide have had to cancel festivals, reducing performances and staff. This pandemic has only worsened already struggling theater groups. Although some theaters have managed to raise funds, many others still struggle to keep their shows running. While some are advocating for government intervention, donor support is crucial.

Consider supporting one of these organizations to help the arts.

Control Group Productions

Control Group Productions (CGP) is a Denver-based nonprofit organization dedicated to experimental and interdisciplinary performance and art. They focus on creating immersive experiences and exploring the boundaries of traditional performance forms.

CGP was founded by Patrick Mueller and Bailey Harper in 2008. Since then, it has become known for its innovative approach to live performance, combining dance, theater, music, and visual arts elements. The group often collaborates with artists from various disciplines to produce unique and thought-provoking works.

One of the key aspects of Control Group Productions is its site-specific performance. Instead of traditional theater spaces, CGP stages its productions in non-traditional venues like parks, abandoned buildings, warehouses, or other public areas. This approach adds an extra layer of engagement for the audience and challenges artists to work with the specific characteristics of each location.

The themes explored in CGP's performances often revolve around contemporary social issues, personal introspection, and the relationship between individuals and their environment. They use movement, storytelling, multimedia, and technology to create immersive experiences that stimulate the senses and provoke deep reflections.

Control Group Productions has also been involved in community outreach and education initiatives. They offer workshops, classes, and other educational programs to promote the arts and creativity within the local community.

Center Theater Group

Center Theatre Group (CTG) is a prominent non-profit theater organization in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1967, it has become one of the most influential and respected theater companies in the United States. CTG's mission is to enrich, entertain, and transform the cultural landscape of Los Angeles through the power of live theater.

Here are some key points about Center Theatre Group:

Venues: CTG operates three significant venues in the Los Angeles area: the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. These theaters host various productions, from classic plays and musicals to new and experimental works.
Diverse Programming: Center Theatre Group offers a varied and eclectic mix of productions, representing a variety of genres, styles, and cultural perspectives. They present classic and contemporary plays, world premieres, and shows from renowned playwrights and emerging artists.
Educational Programs: CTG is committed to theater education and community engagement. They offer educational programs that aim to introduce young people to the theater, inspire creativity, and provide opportunities for students to participate in the performing arts.
New Play Development: The organization is dedicated to supporting new works and fostering the development of emerging playwrights. Center Theatre Group has developed numerous world premiere productions over the years.
Collaborations: CTG collaborates with various local and national theater companies, artists, and institutions to bring diverse voices and perspectives to the stage.
Awards and Recognition: Center Theatre Group has received numerous awards and accolades for its contributions to the arts and the cultural life of Los Angeles. They have been recognized for their artistic excellence, innovative productions, and commitment to community engagement.

Broadway Advocacy Coalition

The Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) is a non-profit organization established in 2016. Its primary goal is to bring about social change by merging arts, advocacy, and activism. BAC is based in New York City and is well-known in the Broadway community.

This coalition was formed due to lacking diversity and representation in the theater industry and the broader performing arts community. It strives to address racial justice, social justice, and inclusion within the theater world.

BAC works with artists, activists, and legal experts to support initiatives that promote racial equity and social justice on and off the stage. The organization utilizes its platform to raise awareness of important causes, create spaces for dialogue, and engage in community organizing efforts.

One of BAC's most notable initiatives is the "Town Halls" they organize. These gatherings provide open discussions and collective problem-solving on various social issues such as racial discrimination, inequality, and systemic injustices.

The coalition also provides resources, training, and support for artists and creative professionals, empowering them to use their art as a tool for advocacy and positive change. By leveraging the power of storytelling and performance, BAC seeks to address pressing social issues and create a more inclusive and equitable future for the performing arts community.

Here are the campaigns BAC is responsible for:

Creating social change through the intersection of arts, advocacy, and activism.
Addressing racial justice, social justice, and inclusion issues within the theater industry and the performing arts community.
Collaborating with artists, activists, and legal experts to support initiatives that advance racial equity and social justice.
Organizing "Town Halls" to provide spaces for open discussions and collective problem-solving on various social issues.
Engaging in community organizing efforts to promote positive change.
Providing resources, training, and support for artists and creative professionals to use their art as a tool for advocacy and social impact.

Black Ensemble Theater

The Black Ensemble Theater promotes diversity and inclusion in the performing arts. Here are some essential facts about this organization:

Mission: BET aims to utilize theater arts to eradicate racism and its adverse effects. They strive to provide positive, high-quality, and transformative theatrical experiences that reflect African Americans' rich history, heritage, and contributions to society.
Productions: BET produces a variety of original and classic theatrical works, including musicals, dramas, comedies, and biographical productions that highlight influential African-American figures.
Founder and Leadership: Jackie Taylor, the founder of BET, has been instrumental in the theater's success. Her artistic vision and commitment to telling diverse stories have helped shape the company's identity.
Community Engagement: BET actively engages with the local community, particularly youth and aspiring artists, through educational and outreach programs. They offer workshops, classes, and opportunities for young people to explore the performing arts and develop their talents.
Awards and Recognition: BET has received numerous awards and honors for its contributions to African-American theater and its impact on the Chicago arts scene.
New Works: BET is a platform for developing and premiering new works by African-American playwrights and composers, contributing to the growth and diversification of American theater.
Diversity and Inclusion: BET is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the performing arts.

Northern Stage

Northern Stage is a non-profit regional theater company based in White River Junction, Vermont. It was founded in 1997 to produce high-quality professional theater and foster a local community’s love for the performing arts.

Here are some key points about Northern Stage:

Work: Northern Stage produces a diverse range of theatrical productions, including classic plays, contemporary pieces, musicals, and world premieres. They aim to present compelling stories that entertain, inspire, and provoke thought.
Community: The theater is deeply committed to community engagement and educational outreach. They offer educational programs, workshops, and opportunities for students and community members to get involved in the performing arts.
New Works Development: Northern Stage has been actively developing new works, collaborating with playwrights and composers to bring fresh and original stories to the stage.
Venue: The main stage of Northern Stage is located at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, Vermont. The center houses a 240-seat theater and other performance spaces.
Collaborations: Northern Stage often collaborates with other arts organizations, educational institutions, and local community groups to enrich the region's cultural life.
Artistic Leadership: Northern Stage has had various artistic directors and leadership teams, each contributing to the theater's creative vision and programming.
Recognition: Northern Stage has received critical acclaim and awards for its productions and contributions to the arts in Vermont and the surrounding areas.

Entertainment Community Fund

The Entertainment Community Fund (ECF) is a human services organization that caters to the specific needs of individuals working in performing arts and entertainment across the nation.

Established in 1882 as the Actors Fund of America, it underwent a name change in 2020 to reflect its extended scope and objective. Throughout the years, the ECF has assisted countless individuals in the entertainment industry and remains a crucial support system for those working in the arts.

The ECF provides a wide range of services, including:

Emergency financial assistance: The ECF provides financial aid to people struggling to pay for necessities, such as rent, food, and medical care.
Affordable housing: The ECF helps people find and maintain affordable housing. It also provides supportive services, such as case management and counseling, to help people stay housed.
Health care and insurance counseling: The ECF provides health care and insurance counseling to people in the entertainment industry. It also helps people access affordable health care.
Career development and management: The ECF provides career development and management services to people in the entertainment industry. These services can help people find jobs, develop their skills, and manage their careers.
Senior care: The ECF provides senior care services to people in the entertainment industry. These services can help people find and maintain quality care and connect with other seniors in the industry.
And more: The ECF also provides various other services, such as counseling, legal assistance, and substance abuse treatment.

Pablo Center

the Pablo Center at the Confluence is a non-profit arts center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The center promotes and fosters the region's arts, culture, and creativity by providing a venue for various artistic and cultural events.

Here are some key points about the Pablo Center:

Origin: The Pablo Center was a collaborative effort between the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the Eau Claire Regional Arts Council, and other community partners. It was established to meet the growing demand for a modern and versatile arts space in the Chippewa Valley region.
Facilities: The Pablo Center features state-of-the-art facilities, including a 1,200-seat theatre, a flexible 400-seat theatre, galleries, rehearsal spaces, classrooms, and event spaces. These spaces accommodate various performances, events, and artistic activities.
Programming: The center hosts a diverse array of performances and events, including theater productions, musical concerts, dance performances, visual arts exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and community gatherings. The programming aims to showcase local, regional, and national talent.
Community Engagement: The Pablo Center actively engages with the local community by offering educational and outreach programs, workshops, and opportunities for artists and performers to interact with audiences and share their work.
Non-Profit Status: As a non-profit organization, the Pablo Center relies on community support, sponsorships, grants, and donations to sustain its operations and fulfill its mission of enriching the cultural life of the Chippewa Valley region.
Impact: Since opening in 2018, the Pablo Center has become a vibrant cultural hub, attracting residents and visitors to experience and participate in the arts.

IndieSpace

IndieSpace is a non-profit organization promoting independent theater-making in New York City. It offers transparent, responsive, and equitable funding, real estate programs, professional development opportunities, and advocacy for individual artists, theater companies, and indie venues.

IndieSpace was established in 2015 by independent theater artists concerned about the lack of resources and support available for independent theater in New York City. The organization strives to strengthen the indie theater community by challenging ongoing displacement, promoting democratic power, advocating for social and financial equity, and speaking up for the authentic indie voice.

IndieSpace offers a variety of programs and services to support independent theater-makers, including:

Funding: IndieSpace provides grants to individual artists, theater companies, and indie venues. These grants can be used for various purposes, such as production costs, artist fees, and marketing.
Real estate programs: IndieSpace helps independent theater makers find affordable rehearsal and performance space. It also advocates for policies that will protect the spaces that independent theater-makers rely on.
Professional development: IndieSpace offers workshops, training, and other professional development opportunities to independent theater-makers. These opportunities help artists develop their skills and knowledge and build relationships with other theater-makers.
Advocacy: IndieSpace advocates for policies that support independent theater-making. It works with government officials, community organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure that independent theater has a seat at the table.

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Guide to Being a Modern Philanthropist: Elevate Your Impact With Groundswell

Six Tips to Becoming a Modern Philanthropist

Summary

Pick causes and charities that align with your values: When deciding what you want to support, start by taking into consideration the people, places, or problems that you care about most.
Understand impact through the lens of size & geography: The geographic reach of different charities' programs, and how large or small they are, can help as you determine what to support.
Evaluate best in class charities: Learn how to assess not only the financial health of an organization, but also what questions to ask when looking at other impact metrics.
Set a giving goal: Decide how much you want to give annually through Groundswell, and follow the simple steps to set up contributions to achieve that goal.
Maximize impact through recurring donations: Simplify your giving and provide nonprofits with a steady stream of revenue through monthly, recurring donations.
Optimize your giving through tax-efficient strategies: Leverage the versatility of Groundswell to reduce your tax burden through payroll giving, stocks contributions, and bunching.

1. Pick Causes & Charities that Align with Your Values

2. Understand Impact: Size & Geography

Where to donate

Does size matter?

3. Evaluate "Best in Class" Charities

Programmatic Impact: Understanding a nonprofit’s impact - through its programs and the populations that it serves - is an important way to evaluate its effectiveness in tackling the causes you care about. Many nonprofits provide details about programming approaches on their websites, including testimonials, photos, and reports detailing specific results. Keep in mind that understanding and assessing impact is highly qualitative - there is no clear ‘score’ - especially because what or who is being impacted varies across the thousands of nonprofits.

Financial Management: Nonprofits, especially larger ones, are required to disclose details related to their financial performance annually – to include assets, revenue and breakdown of expenses in forms submitted to the IRS. Many nonprofits are proactively transparent about their finances and post audited financial statements and other reports on their websites. But financial data does not always tell a complete story. There may be important investments in fundraising staff, which two years later yield a windfall in donations that can be put towards programs.

Advisories: Sometimes there are advisories based on pending or ongoing legal action. Groundswell works to monitor these advisories and remove any charities that it believes are acting improperly or mismanaging donor funds. We also remove any charities that have had their nonprofit status revoked by the IRS.

Groundswell-curated Featured Causes: While many donors might want to do their own research, sometimes it’s far easier (and efficient) to put your trust in others. Groundswell’s impact team provides donors with additional inspiration, and has done the vetting work to determine cause-specific organizations that are well run and most importantly having a strong impact.

4. Aim High with a Giving Goal

Your giving goal can help fund recurring donations, as well as account for unexpected events that you may want to donate to.

5. Level Up with Recurring Donations

Recurring donations can be a great component of your philanthropic strategy. As a bonus, there are benefits for both donors as well as nonprofits.

For donors, setting recurring donations to autopilot every month or quarter means you don’t have to think about it or go through the steps to do it on a regular basis.

6. Optimize Your Tax-Efficient Giving

You can leverage the versatility of your Groundswell Personal Giving Account, which is underpinned by a Donor-Advised Fund, to be strategic and reduce your tax burden.

Donate appreciated stock

Plus, you'll be eligible for a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock at the time of contribution into your Groundswell account.

Give with payroll

Bundle contributions

Want access to other toolkits like this?

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Science of Giving: Why Do People Donate to Charity?

It’s easy enough to give away that old sofa stashed in the corner of your garage. But why do people donate to charity? What causes you, or anyone else, to send a $100 check to a foundation or spend an evening tutoring underserved youth? We have dozens of sayings about giving. Do good and good things will happen to you. To whom much is given, much is expected. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. There’s more, but the point is that giving is a part of the human experience. Without a doubt, for many people, it seems the right thing to do. People give because it feels good to do so. Americans are a particularly generous lot. In fact, 60% of us give money, 72% help strangers and 42% volunteer, often just because we are asked. And during the pandemic? Americans became even more generous. In 2020 and 2021, donations were higher than they were in 2019. The average donation per person was $574 in 2021.What’s more, there are undeniable psychological and scientific benefits that make donating important to the human spirit and will keep people giving generously into the foreseeable future.

The Science of Giving: What Happens in the Brain

For Americans, there are plenty of opportunities to spend money which, researchers admit, provide a dopamine hit. So it can be tempting to think that we’re just a purchase away from nirvana. But the accumulation of things is not the type of spending that makes a difference in our lives or the lives of others. We get more bang for the buck, so to speak, when we give to others. That’s because giving has a positive impact on the brain. It makes sense that our brains would reward us for helping to preserve society, releasing the same types of feel-good chemicals as during exercise. It is one of the evolutionary traits that has helped us build prosperous civilizations. In fact, in 2006, Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman, neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health, were able to measure the neural activity of giving, thus proving what we intuitively knew already. Subjects were allocated money that they could either keep for themselves or donate to selected charities. By tracking the impact on the pleasure centers of the brain, researchers discovered that the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the subgenual area lit up when subjects donated the money. These are the same parts of the brain that light up when presented with a delicious meal or when talking about a romantic partner.

Why Do People Donate to Charity?

For years, there has been a philosophical discussion about whether or not charitable giving is altruistic. Do people give their money and donate their time just for the purpose of doing good, expecting nothing in return? Psychologists and philosophers argue that because charitable acts lead to feelings of happiness and satisfaction, true altruism does not exist.But many people consider this argument flawed. When it comes to human behavior, there are many shades of gray. If a benefactor feels happier following an act of kindness, that doesn’t mean that the motivation is self-serving.

Altruism

Altruism is a hallmark of cooperation. Cooperation underpins our society and is, in part, what separates humans from animals. Why do people donate? Because it feels good. Our society is built on the values of empathy, compassion and solidarity, among others. People give because doing so fosters a sense of belonging and generates meaning and purpose in their lives. There are other good outcomes, as well.

Giving May Help Depression

It’s pretty obvious that giving makes people happier. Michael Norton, professor of psychology at Harvard and co-author of the book, “Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending,” agrees. “When we tell people ‘Hey, did you know that giving to other people can make you happy?’ Most people are not blown away. They’ve had experiences that make them happy. They understand the concept, but it doesn’t occur to us that often to give instead of getting stuff for ourselves.”If you’re assuming that depression is not a major factor in your company, don’t be so sure. According to a July 2021 survey by SilverCloud Health, approximately two-thirds of U.S. workers suffer from clinical levels of depression or anxiety. Depression may mean that employees exhibit a high rate of absenteeism and fall short in key areas of performance, including decision-making, focus and communications. When an employee is depressed, it can have a devastating effect on the workplace. Depression is generally accompanied by a decline in how an individual views themselves. It may seem intuitive for those suffering from depression to attempt to bolster their self-image by focusing on, for example, getting others to notice their positive qualities. But researchers found that goals centered around self-image will likely make matters worse. Alternatively, they found that the pursuit of compassionate goals, that is, helping others, seems to alleviate the symptoms of depression and improve personal relationships. Perhaps that’s because helping others puts one’s own life into perspective and generates a more optimistic outlook.

Giving Increases Longevity

Charitable volunteering could even increase your lifespan. A classic study published in the Journal of Health Psychology concluded that elderly volunteers had a 44% lower mortality rate within the next five years after controlling for health habits, social support and other factors. According to researchers, prosocial spending or spending money on other people (which includes charitable donations) can even lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation, both risk factors for a number of health conditions.

The Charitable Brain and Your Corporate Giving Programs

According to Michael Norton, automatic withdrawals may not be enough to engage your employees. “(Automatic withdrawals are) not going to have as big an impact on my life as if I’m thinking about who I’m giving to and why I’m giving to them and the impact that I’m having.” When you understand how and why charitable giving makes people happy, you can leverage this information to make your corporate giving program one that will not only engage and delight your employees but accrue benefits to the company and to the broader society as well. The best programs align with corporate values and help employees establish habits that facilitate giving in a memorable and meaningful way. Certainly, it makes sense for companies to implement programs that are easy to administer. But they must also ensure that employees are involved in selecting charities, auditing themselves, managing their giving targeting, tracking the good deeds of the non-profits and maybe even volunteering. With a properly executed corporate giving program, companies can realize the many benefits that such a plan has to offer to its employees and to the communities it serves. At Groundswell, we can help you give your corporate giving program a whole new look and feel and make it a pillar of your compensation system. Contact us for more information.

6 mins read

Blog Post

From Dock to Dish: A Deep Dive Into Seafood Sustainability

This week we dive into an interview with Wendy Norden, Director of Science and Global Strategies at Seafood Watch Program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, discussing the interconnected depths of consumer buying, aquaculture, climate change, and economics of seafood.Celebrating seafood sustainability is a cause bigger than itself affecting human populations around the world as much as the species we fish and farm, and a cause that Meg Vandervort of Groundswell is particularly passionate about. Meg sat down with Wendy Norden from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program with questions to help all of us non-marine biologists understand the challenges and successes surrounding sustainable seafood. Wendy spent years working underwater as a marine biologist and researcher, before moving to New Zealand and working in a government role overseeing their seafood industry. For the past twelve years, Wendy has been with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and is currently the Director of Science and Global Strategies for their Seafood Watch Program, responsible for the overall scientific integrity, vision, innovation, and direction of the program. She’s also in charge of maintaining global strategic direction and partnerships that support global fisheries and aquaculture improvement.

Welcome! In celebration of World Oceans Day this year, I’m excited to dive into a topic near and dear to me—seafood sustainability. I’m a huge fan of Monterey Bay Aquarium and have been following the Seafood Watch program for some years now. For those who aren’t as familiar, can you give a brief overview of what Seafood Watch is doing to advance healthier oceans?

Wendy: Sure, and of course. Seafood Watch provides the information needed to make better choices at the supermarket, and we'll work with business partners to really source seafood and see that it’s more responsibly done. And it really boils down to very difficult subject matter into a guide, like red, yellow, and green, knowing what to source and also knowing that you know, consumer choices really do matter quite a bit. You know, that also has very broad reaching applications as well. So when consumers make choices in the United States, our business partners kind of come to the table—they want to source those seafood products that the consumers are looking for and also to make a better planet as well. But on top of that, it also gives producers around the world an idea of where their product is in terms of sustainability. And it is a big landscape, right, from really great production to really poor and everything kind of in between. So, we provide that information that helps guide purchasing but also helps industry understand about sustainability in order to make change and make things better, because our goal really is about celebrating seafood, making the right choices, and hopefully improving the rest.

That’s wonderful! I’m actually curious to learn a little bit more about you. We always love to highlight the people behind some of these amazing movements that are happening, but can you give us a brief history or your journey to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch program, and have you always had a passion for the ocean growing up?

Wendy: It’s a very winding path. Growing up I got into scuba diving. Before college, I worked several jobs and saved a lot of money because I wanted to travel, so then I went to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji as a young person. When I went scuba diving in most of these places for the first time, I did not realize at that point that it could be a job, like you could actually do this kind of work. The minute I came back home, I officially got advanced certified and I enrolled in college to really be a marine biologist. Everyone told me at that point, “that's nice, you'll never get a job”, but I was determined to do it anyway because I knew I’d figure it out. Throughout college, I had a lot of great internships, and I did a lot of work underwater. I got more experience doing research, but I wanted to do more. I ended up moving to New Zealand for several years, and I got a really great job working for the government working on a program to reduce bycatch, and I actually worked on the observer program for the whole country. That really helped me understand how to work better with the industry, how to set goals that maybe people didn't agree with, but learned how to actually work together. That and science, plus understanding what to actually call it, really helped me. With that experience, I ended up working in academics for a while. When I got to Seafood Watch, all that experience helped me understand how to apply science in an understandable way—how to work with the industry, knowing that you might be at odds at some point, but you actually all want the same end goal as well. It really helped me set up my career, and I’ve been with Seafood Watch for almost twelve years now. It’s been a very exciting journey. I learn every day—something different, something new—and I have amazing partners.

That’s exciting! Sounds like a dream job.

Wendy: Yeah, I feel really lucky. I never get bored. I find I'm amazed at the people that I meet all the time because I travel—or I used to before COVID— all over the place, talking to people about seafood, working with producers, understanding where everyones’ values are. At the end of the day, everyone wants to do a good job for seafood sustainability.

You touched on something that leads me to my next question about seafood sustainability in general, which is that it's actually an extremely complex thing, and it's not so cut and dry, like just buying from the local fisherman, or don’t eat fish.

But between sustainable fishing practices, aquaculture and the seafood supply chain – it's a lot to wrap your head around. What would you say for someone who's just getting into understanding this topic? What is the most pressing thing we can focus on?

Wendy: I feel like at any level, if you want to get involved, there's a place for you. I think if you really just want to, say, I want to understand the source of a particular seafood and I'm going to purchase responsibly, use our information. We boil it all down into very simple red, yellow and green. All of our reports and assessments are online, so if you want to dig a little deeper, you can read those assessments and understand the issues. There really is a place for any level of information you want, essentially, because we put it all out there. It's all out there publicly available. I think it really is important to know that the choices we make do matter at the grocery store. They do mean something. And they help us do our work and improve, because we want to celebrate seafood. We think eating seafood is a great thing. We want to have all seafood produced in a way that's sustainable and when I say sustainable, I mean the environment. I mean food security. I also mean things like better equity and supply chains. So, it really has to be good for people and the ocean.

Oh, that's so interesting. I'm also curious, from the general consumers’ perspective, a question that might come up is “should I potentially avoid buying a particular type of seafood?” For example, if I'm buying shrimp, is it more likely that it's unsustainably caught or has human trafficking attached to it?

Wendy: I go back to using our recommendations. The red is really what things you should avoid. Our hope is that red doesn't stay red. Our hope is not like you just abandon it and say, I'm not buying this again. But it does matter because when consumers don't buy something because it's red, that gives us a lot of incentives to go to the industry and say look, this is really what people are wanting. They want more sustainable products. That does go a long way. What we do in our reports is dig into those major issues. Why does it cause red? So we have standards that we develop from wild-capture and fisheries. We know scientifically why it's not sustainable, and it gives us the consumer demand. It really gives us that extra incentive for the industry to make those changes, which are also good for them. Any seafood product generally can be the best choice, farmed from any country that has a species—it's just a matter of us getting the right data, and us being able to say it isn't being done the right way. So the ability is there, like our green listing isn’t completely aspirational. It is doable, but it's a high bar. Everyone can actually get there. And that is our goal: To push the entire industry and have a much more sustainable industry overall.

On a brighter note, what are some of the bigger recent accomplishments that the Seafood Watch program has had that maybe people don't know about?

Wendy: Well, I think a big one that we haven't talked about enough is our development of our improvement verification platform, which doesn't sound very exciting, but it really is. We have developed the technology with partners to collect data efficiently and quickly on a farm and then scale it up to a region to understand. We actually can assess thousands of farms and in little time spent, get them to that green level. That has not happened in the past. We've developed technology that basically works online or offline and collects data efficiently and quickly, and then we scale it up to a region so you can have more scalable change. It also identifies areas needing improvement. We already have 2,000 shrimp farms going through the system that are green. To me, that's a huge accomplishment that's taken us a long time to develop. Very exciting. We also have recently launched aquaculture governance indicators, which again doesn't sound exciting, but it is because we have developed these indicators. We don't really know what makes really good aquaculture governance structures. What do you need to have? What are the key elements? We worked on developing those key elements to help the governance structures, and it isn't just about legislation, it's about how the industry is formed, and how reactive it is to change and how adaptable it is that the system in place in a country or region that allows for good things to happen allowing for sustainability. Understanding those underlying conditions and what gets in the way of sustainability is super important, because it isn't as simple as saying, here's a checklist. There's a reason why that isn't happening. And it could be infrastructure, it could be poverty, it could be too many illegal things happening. It could be many different things. It helps us understand underlying conditions that exist. A third one I'll just briefly talk about, one issue, is why use antibiotics for aquaculture? And that’s spread across every production system from farm salmon, shrimp, tilapia, you name it. We convened a large working group of fifty people from over twenty-one countries in the last year with the World Bank and came up with the key areas of impact on antibiotics, because we still don't even know that necessarily. What are our key recommendations going forward about what we think we should do, and how do you actually make sure the antibiotic issue doesn’t get out of control? Because right now, with warming water temperatures, you're gonna have more disease, more need for antibiotics. And in poor countries, you often don't even have labels on bottles for these things. Some people don’t really know what they're putting in their ponds. We are going to be launching our key recommendations very soon on that government and industry and then we're also doing a series of workshops to talk to farmers directly and find out what their needs are.

Wonderful, thank you so much for your insight and time, Wendy!

For Seafood Watch’s consumer guides to buying sustainable seafood that Wendy mentions, you can find them at SeafoodWatch.org.Log into your Groundswell Personal Giving Account to support Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Seafood Watch Program.

6 mins read

Blog Post

How To Become a Philanthropist: 7 Steps To Change the World

If you’re wondering how to become a philanthropist, it’s easier than you think. Anyone can do it and, contrary to popular belief, it’s not just for the wealthy. Make no mistake about it: Humans are social creatures. We love to help one another. That’s why philanthropy is so popular. It’s a feel-good activity that improves our world. And the benefits far outweigh the costs. Before you start contributing to worthy causes, however, it helps to understand the options available to you. You’ll want to make good decisions so that you maximize the impact you want to make in the world. No worries, either, about how much — or how little — money you have. All you need is a vision and a plan.

What Is Philanthropy?

A philanthropist is an entity, either a person or a corporation, that provides time, money, or resources — and perhaps all three — to people or nonprofits in need of assistance. The overarching goal is to make lives better for others (or the world we inhabit). Philanthropy is often associated with large sums of money and wealthy people. But, as mentioned, philanthropists can be any person or entity. Even a tiny business can be philanthropic.Some philanthropists rise to rockstar status and are known for their generosity. For example, Warren Buffett, Melinda Gates and Oprah Winfrey are just a few among the mega-rich who have given large sums and had an impact on important social and environmental issues. But you don’t have to be a millionaire, and indeed - many nonprofits are supported by hundreds of thousands of people who give modestly. Even a relatively small donation - alongside hundreds of others who also are giving a small amount - can add up to hugely impactful levels of support for nonprofits working to support communities in need.

What Philanthropy Looks Like

Philanthropy can take a number of forms. These include, for example:Money: Donations may be one time only or on a regular basis. Philanthropists may also bequest money after death or establish a trust.Time: Those who don’t have money to donate or prefer to contribute in other ways can donate time and labor. Examples include volunteering at a homeless shelter or tutoring students after school. As with monetary donations, these can be one-time, yearly or more frequent contributions. Many small, community-based nonprofits are dependent upon the generosity of their volunteers’ time to extend the impact of their mission.Resources: These donations, known often as “in-kind,” include furniture, vehicles, food, clothing, toys, computers, etc.

Benefits of Changing the World With Philanthropy

It may seem to be a cliche, but the benefits of philanthropy are immeasurable for those donating time, money or other resources:

Lends perspective: Philanthropy heightens your sense of connectivity to the world and the things that really matter.
Better health: Your mental health and physical wellbeing both improve when you give back.
Lower stress levels: Volunteering has been proven to lower stress and enhance feelings of well-being by releasing dopamine.
Tax reductions: Donations may be written off on personal taxes.
Social interaction: Volunteering can offer opportunities to network and meet others who are committed to similar causes, and connections can be formed among a group of donors providing financial support.
Improved skill set: As a volunteer or a donor who has researched the causes that nonprofits are working on, you will learn new skills, both hard and soft, and improve your leadership acumen.

How To Become a Philanthropist

As with any good strategy, you’ll need a road map to get to your final destination. Follow these seven steps to become a philanthropist:

1. Clarify Your Goals

Before you decide where to put your time and effort, you’ll need to understand what’s most important to you. What do you value? Where can you make a difference? What would feel good to do? Include your personal or professional goals such as expanding your network. Whether it’s working for climate change or helping your community’s underserved population get the resources they lack, make sure that you feel passionate about the issue.

2. Determine Your Commitment

Before you decide what to do, you need to determine how to do it. Do you want to give money or time? If it’s money, what can you afford? If you plan to volunteer, how much time do you have? When can you volunteer?

3. Choose Your Organization

Once you know the type of commitment you can make, research and vet organizations. Do they align with your mission and values? Where do they work? If you know you want to focus on homelessness in your community, determine if the organization is serving the homeless population in your city. Most organizations share information about their programs, their leadership and how they use their charitable donations. If you have questions, ask. The organization should be transparent and credible.

4. Check With Your Company

Before you completely nail down a target nonprofit, check out the support your company may offer – whether that be a match or volunteer opportunities.

5. Establish a Plan

Based on the causes you care about, the resources you want to commit to and the organizations you want to support, determine your giving cadence. For many, setting up recurring, monthly donations means you can ‘set it and forget it.’ But you might also want to consider setting aside some funds for donating during an emergency - whether it's a hurricane on the Gulf Coast, the war in Ukraine, or a social justice issue.

6. Stay Engaged and Curious

Find your community, and learn about other organizations that are doing important work in support of the causes you care about. You might find that in order to tackle an issue that you’re passionate about, multiple organizations are needed to make change. You can create social connections in-person or online to discover more organizations.

7. Trumpet the Cause

Now that you’re a practicing philanthropist, tell others about the organizations you support and why. They may be inspired to help or to find a cause of their own.

Have Fun With It!

Philanthropy is something anyone can do. Whether you donate time or money, it offers great benefits and improves the lives of others. Find the organization or cause you want to support and go for it. It’s a fun and easy way to give back to the community and expand your horizons.If you would like to know more about a corporate giving program, contact Groundswell. We can help turn philanthropic giving into an essential employee benefit.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Donor-Advised Fund vs. Private Foundation: What's the Difference?

Donating directly to a charitable organization might be the simplest way to give, but there are also various philanthropic vehicles available for minimizing taxes and maximizing impact. Two of the better known structures are donor-advised funds (DAF) and private foundations.

Donor-Advised Fund vs. Private Foundation

While there are 1.4 million registered public charities in the United States, less than 1% are donor-advised funds. Likewise, private foundation numbers, at around 90,000, are relatively modest. The impact of these nonprofit organizations, on the other hand, can be considerable. Here are the key differences between donor-advised funds and private foundations.

What Is a Donor-Advised Fund?

The donor-advised fund (DAF) is a tax-advantaged personal giving account established at a public nonprofit sponsor organization. The account is opened in the donor’s name and contributions are made to the organization(s) chosen by the donor. That might be a charity, but it could also be a university, religious foundation or financial institution. DAFs are enjoying unprecedented popularity with donations jumping by 27% since 2019. Giving from DAFs topped $34.67 billion in 2020, with the five largest — Fidelity, National Philanthropic Trust, Schwab, Vanguard and Silicon Valley Community — accounting for $24.5 billion alone. That said, the size of the average fund is a lot less, at around $150,000. Donors can gift cash, stock, real estate or other assets to a donor-advised fund. Traditionally, DAFs have been viewed as a tax-efficient way to give over a longer period of time without any annual obligation to distribute funds (thus the nickname “zombie philanthropy”), but now Groundswell is empowering corporations to unlock the advantages through our Philanthropy-as-a-Service platform. Whereas DAFs have conventionally been the preserve of the ultra-rich and brokerages, we’re offering access starting at $1 million (the lowest minimum contribution in the industry) to help employees with meaningful giving that benefits communities.

What Is a Private Foundation?

A private foundation, on the other hand, is a legal entity established solely for charitable purposes. Usually launched as a family or organization’s legacy initiative, the private foundation is a long-term project whose influence can spread worldwide. That’s certainly true of three of the biggest three: the Bill and Melinda Gates, Ford and Getty foundations. Private foundations are administered by a board of directors and can receive funds via real estate, investment assets or charitable donations. Unlike public charities, however, they usually derive their financial support from a single source, whether it’s a person, family or organization.

Key Differences Between Donor-Advised Fund vs. Private Foundation

There are a few important distinctions to note between the two, particularly when it comes to the overarching mission and vision.

Longevity

Most donor-advised funds are intended to support charitable giving during the philanthropist’s lifetime, although some do extend to a further generation or two. One of the criticisms of DAFs is that rather than distributing donations to non-profit organizations in need, they are used by the rich to “park” private wealth in a tax deductible fund. That’s not the Groundswell approach. Our platform is designed to establish a minimum annual distribution for DAFs to bring communities to life, not mothball zombie philanthropy funds. Private foundations, by contrast, focus firmly on the future legacy, and most are established as permanent entities that will outlive the founder.

Control

The board of directors (which can include the founder) manages a private foundation. For a DAF, the sponsor organization has control, although the donor may give their recommendation or advice on how grants are distributed.

Profile

Private foundations often celebrate a particular goal or set of values, so concealing the founder’s identity is rarely a concern. DAFs do offer confidentiality, so they are a useful vehicle for benefactors who want to support a charitable organization anonymously.

Establishment

There is a lower barrier to entry for donor-advised funds, some of which can be set up with as little as $5,000, although upwards of $100,000 is more common. Because all legal formalities are covered by the parent organization, DAFs are relatively easy to set up. By contrast, private foundations take longer to establish, and the legal, administrative and tax affairs require professional support. Private foundations usually start with funds of $10 million or more.

Tax Matters

Arguably the biggest difference between the two is in terms of tax regulation. For private foundations, the IRS dictates that a 5% minimum of net investment assets must be distributed annually in the form of grants or administrative expenses. To set up a private foundation, the founder(s) must apply for recognition of exemption under Section 501(c)(3) with the IRS, and will subsequently need to file detailed tax returns on board members’ compensation, fees and grants. All are a matter of public record. Donor-advised funds, on the other hand, do not require any annual grants to be administered but do offer immediate tax advantages, particularly if the donor is receiving a windfall, inheritance or revenue from a business or property sale. Neither do DAF donors have to file tax returns to the IRS, not least because ultimate control of the DAF is with the sponsor nonprofit organization.

We’re Here To Support Your Giving Efforts

Despite the “zombie” tag, DAFs are by no means evil by nature. In fact, they can be an effective way to drive meaningful giving that brings communities to life. To find out how we’re raising zombie philanthropy from the dead with an employee benefit that benefits the world, get in touch with us today.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Anna Malaika Tubbs: On Celebrating Black Motherhood, and Creating a Social Justice-Driven Portfolio

At Groundswell, we are privileged to talk to a wide range of individuals about philanthropy in all its forms. That is why we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with New York Times best-selling author of The Three Mothers, Anna Malaika Tubbs. The Three Mothers shines a light on mothers Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin, who raised and shaped Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X., and James Baldwin. The book celebrates their legacy and Black motherhood which has shaped much of American history. Anna believes in supporting philanthropic organizations that recognize the importance of motherhood, particularly for black women in America.

Thanks for joining us, Anna. It’s an honor to speak with you. You begin your book by outlining your personal tie to three very incredible mothers — Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin — and how their history spans over the past century. That’s incredible. What ultimately led you to exploring these three incredible women in particular?

It was done out of curiosity, and it was a sort of elimination process, in the sense that I knew I wanted to do a project like Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly's book. I wanted to be a person who discovered other hidden figures; other black women whose tales we should have known all along but had been lost, erased, or hidden.

I had an amazing mother who was always talking about the significance of celebrating mothers and paying more attention to the crucial role that moms play in our society.

So I've always had this idea in my head that I'm going to do something about black mothers who should have been known.I wanted to focus on the civil rights movement because it comes up so frequently in our policy debates and other discussions. I whittled it down to these three since they were born within six years of each other, and their famous kids were born within five years of each other. This brought them together over time without reducing their complexity and diversity, while celebrating their differences; each chapter covers ten years of their lives.

What I think is so great about your book is your approach to research, and how you were so honest about what information you could find and what you could not. The absence of history is equally as important. That said, you talk about the erasure of Black Women in history, especially through the eyes of Alberta, Louise, and Berdis. Even through your initial research it was hard to nail down exact details like birthdays, and you say Berdis’s name wasn’t even listed in the US. Census. For those who are unaware, can you outline why this Is so important to explore this history and how it better informs us today?

The research process was really difficult, and I'd like to point out that this was also the subject of my PhD dissertation, so this is completely original research.

I needed to dig for every single detail that I uncovered, and even if I found a small nugget of information, I needed to push further to understand the context behind it.

Also, I needed to remember that a lot of what I was finding had been filtered via men, typically white men, who recounted these stories quite differently from how I would. So it was highly complicated, requiring a variety of procedures such as contacting local historians, searching census data, locating land deed, birth certificates, death certificates, and interviewing family members. I'm doing my best to fill in the blanks with information from documents I discover. But it is a reminder to us, first and foremost, of how we value various lives in different ways.

I like to speak about each of our lives as if they are puzzles, and certain puzzles we put together, frame, and hang, either on a mantel or on a wall, to treasure, marvel at, celebrate, and honor.

Then there are the puzzles that we just leave on the ground; every time we move, we leave some pieces in one house, we may throw them away, or the dog may chew on them; no one is ensuring that we retain this information, notice it, or care about it. So I was there, putting the puzzle pieces together.

What I believe is important is that we do this for more people; each story does matter, especially when we see how black women have contributed everything they could to the progression of this nation.

Unfortunately, we continue to disregard their lives, saying, your history doesn't matter, your contributions don't matter. As a result, we've arrived at a point where we don't understand what's going on in our country. We believe that all of these instances of sexism and racism, the intersectionality of the two, as well as the many other isms with which it intersects, occur at random or independently of one another, rather than as a product of years and years of devaluing lives.It's done through systems, regulations, and extremely strategic tactics to eliminate people in order to keep those puzzle parts scattered and concealed. So I simply want more of us to take on that project. I don't want this to be the only book about the three of them. I was declaring that they are worthy of study, worthy of celebration, and worthy of being on the cover of a book. Because what they deserve, in my opinion, was to be seen, celebrated, and honored.

Speaking especially of Alberta, Louise, and Berdis' stories, what surprised you when writing your book, and what was left out of their history?

When I first came up with the idea, I merely wanted to recognize them as individuals with their own interesting lives. I knew they'd be not just intriguing, but also valuable to our society in the ways they were generating life beyond their children through activism and creativity. I wasn't trying to argue that since Alberta [King] did this, Martin [Luther King] did this—I wasn't trying to emphasize the sons in that way. But every piece of information madethe relationship and connections so evident, they’re undeniable.Even if I didn't tell you their names and only described the women based on their passions and approach to fighting for freedom, you'd be able to connect them with their sons. Even if you only know a little bit about the sons.Those are the instances where it's surprising we didn't already know their names.

Moms affect their children in a variety of ways, and you can't dispute it in these three cases.

Because you almost had to work at separating them, it made the erasure even more infuriating. You must purposefully leave out the fact that they are linked. During the course of writing this book, I discovered that the sons did give credit to their mothers. So it's not really their fault; rather, it's those of us who have researched them and determined that they don't fit our racist patriarchal view of who matters. Those who have said, we'll leave that as a footnote but we're not going to center it in the way you believe it should be centered in the record.

You talk about how the media played a role in the erasure of these women’s stories, which essentially shaped what the narratives would become. How does this affect those that are intentionally being erased?

This is a fantastic segue for me to speak about my TED talk, because it's all about storytelling and how we follow the stories that we’re told and how our policy reflects that. In the TED talk, I address the way we talk about moms in the stories we share, not only on an interpersonal level, but in media and in literature. We thank moms for being selfless and putting everyone else's needs ahead of their own.

Moms themselves then believe they should be individuals who don't have their own needs and don't have their own identities.

That can be excruciatingly painful, frustrating, and confusing. It also expands on the stories we're telling in the media that don't highlight the contributions of mothers. We as a society believe that mothers are exclusively important in the domestic sphere, or we take those contributions for granted, or employers will try to fire mothers because they believe they are distracted, even though there is no evidence to support this.Then we see that when it comes to voting for policies that could actually help moms and provide them the support and resources they need for their important job, we can't get them passed because people don't seem to believe they're required. So, if you don't believe the role is important, or that it is easy, you're not going to vote for things like parental leave.We live in a country that does not value motherhood; we do not have affordable childcare, universal preschool, or even universal health care, all of which overlap with the role of motherhood. During the pandemic, we saw many women, particularly moms of color, leave their work because they had no other option. I do believe that a lot of that stems from our cultural understanding of motherhood; if more of us understood the essential nature of the job, stay-at-home moms, for example, what they do for all of us, not just for their children, but for all of us day in and day out, it would be easy for us to say, "Yeah, let's vote for those things. We need that," so I want us to see more stories that represent mothers accurately and their role more appropriately.

Out of curiosity, are you aware of any other cultures outside of America that properly values motherhood?

We've seen these rankings in terms of maternal health and motherhood happiness in the United States, which is really low when compared to other countries. We have a maternal health problem that is disproportionately affecting black women and women of color, but it also affects all women; women are dying at higher rates in this country. That is something that we should all be very concerned about.

Mothers are reporting higher levels of postpartum depression, they're burning out, they're exhausted.

They feel like there's something wrong with them, because they've been told they're supposed to take care of all of this, and then not be thanked for it. As if it's okay to be invisible.Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, for example, have models and policies that we may replicate in the United States. Scandinavia has a more homogeneous culture than the United States; we have a lot more diversity here. However, this does not preclude the adoption of universal parental leave or the distribution of baby boxes in the United States. In Sweden, for example, parents receive a package including the fundamental necessities that they will require when raising a child. That is something we could do in the United States. We could create daycare centers in companies so that if parents do return to work outside the home, they may bring their children with them to the same location, which would increase production for the entire company.

There are many bits and pieces and policies from other countries that I believe we can still apply to the United States, despite the fact that our population is considerably more diverse than that of most other countries.

What organizations would you include now in your own giving portfolio for advocacy work, particularly around motherhood?

The first one I think of is Black Mama's Matter. In the United States, black women, particularly black moms, are still considered as less than human beings. Their effort to build this alliance of people with diverse knowledge, backgrounds, and experiences to address the core causes of black maternal health and the black mother’s experience in the United States is critical.

I wanted to write about black mothers because the dehumanization is evident when you look at the relationship between our country and black mothers in the United States – mothers being refused basic treatment, denied human respect, and being treated with a lack of basic decency.

I also really love the work of the Young Women's Freedom Center. It's in San Francisco, and it works with women who have been impacted by various systems, such as incarceration or juvie. All of these other things that have locked our young women of color away and then blamed them for their experiences, rather than the systems that have pushed them to the margins and forgotten about them and tried to ignore them. Through working with the center, they can reclaim their identity and use their voice.Essie Justice Group is another. It is led by a friend of mine. We see that the cost of having a loved one in prison is quite high, and black women are spending a lot of their money paying into this mass incarceration system in the United States. Instead of addressing the various issues that lead to them being taken away and locked up, we continue to place that burden on the shoulders of black women. So anything that relieves that weight, anything that reminds us that this isn't just a black woman's problem to fix, but that it will affect our entire nation is work that I support and a message that I try to elevate.

If we can come together and really focus on the experience of black women, it will be beneficial to us all.

All of those organizations sound incredible. What is your process of finding which organizations to support around a cause?

I like to begin by asking why we want to talk about black women, and by discussing the legislation that has existed from the beginning of slavery and states that black women are the producers of property rather than the producers of life. It is important to understand that from the start, the idea that a black person's life begins as property is key to understanding the ills of our nation.That is what we want to examine, as well as how this concept about the life of a black person has permeated so many different systems. Then we'd want to know who the organizations are that are dealing with those various systems. So whether that's through tackling mass incarceration – which continues to say that these people are objects and not people, and we can control their lives and their lives matter less than other people's lives – or through thinking about the American gynecological system, and how it's based on experimenting on the bodies of enslaved black women.I’d ask: How is all that still playing out today? Who are the organizations that recognize black women as having been viewed as less than human? What are they doing now to fight for humanity? That's how I'd organize a portfolio.

For our last question, what advice would you give to someone who wishes to be a true ally, especially after reading your book?

That's a great question. When the topic of allyship comes up, I remember my mother, a white woman with black children.

She would approach me and say, "In this world, I have no idea what it's like to be a black girl or a black woman. And I'm not going to pretend I know; I'm not going to claim to understand your experiences. But what I can say is that I believe you are worthy of the same respect and dignity that everyone else is, and I will walk with you, learn with you, and do my best to make this world a better place for you."

I'm paraphrasing; these are not exact words; they are a compilation of lessons learned throughout the last 29 years of my life. But this was her general approach to things, and that's exactly what we're looking for in allies.We're not expecting somebody to say, "I know what it's like to be a black woman," because that's not the correct thing to say. Don't say anything like that. It's fine to recognize that your and mine experiences will differ in this regard. You may say "I feel you are entitled to be regarded as a human being and to have access to the same resources as I do. And I will do my part to help with that. And I will walk beside you and learn alongside you. And it shouldn't be much more complicated than that as a result of that mindset, there will be sacrifices. And I'm not going to pretend that I understand what it's like to be you." I believe it is an accurate summary. And perhaps, more individuals will feel at ease embracing that charge.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Night of the Living DAF: How Groundswell is Raising Zombie Philanthropy From the Dead

No one likes zombies. They’re noisy. They’re disgusting. Worst of all, they try to eat your brain.But perhaps the spookiest thing about them? They’re mindless. Zombies are automatons who amble along without thinking. Left to their own devices, they would go on like that, mindlessly, forever. Never changing, never helping, never improving.It is this critique of the undead that gets levelled at a form of charity dubbed zombie philanthropy. In this critique, the drivers of zombie philanthropy are Donor-Advised Funds (DAF)s. To quote The Washington Post:This is problematic. We’re in a world where there is no time to waste. There are too many crises facing our country and global community and it serves no one to have money sitting on the sidelines. At Groundswell we’re going to change that by building a platform that will better facilitate these funds and empower donors to make an impact quickly.

WTF is a DAF and who contributes to them?!

A Donor Advised Fund allows donors to put all of their charitable dollars into one single fund, receive an immediate tax deduction, grow those assets over time, and distribute assets to nonprofits of their choice at any given time. It was established in the 1930’s to handle charitable donor-advised fund contributions on behalf of organizations, private individuals, and families. Since then, DAFs have been primarily utilized by the ultra-wealthy. According to the 2020 Donor-Advised Fund Report, grants to qualified organizations from DAF accounts totaled $27.37 billion in 2019, up 15.4% from $23.72 billion in 2018. But considering there are over $140 billion in total assets squirreled away in DAFs, $27 billion is merely a fraction of the impact potential they represent.

Why Do DAFs (Sometimes) Become Zombies?

Donor Advised Funds are popular due to their ease of use. Donors typically struggle with deciding where to direct their philanthropic contributions, especially when large sums of low-value assets are contributed. Managing several beneficiaries while meeting a deadline might be difficult. As a result, one-stop-shop giving simplifies the philanthropic process.Why have DAFs become the target of “zombie philanthropy” accusations? The critiques typically go like this:

Unlike with private foundations, there is no requirement for minimum distributions from Donor Advised Funds. As a result, investors routinely deposit significant amounts of equity or cash in those accounts with no need to distribute them right away. This means that a DAF’s capital can sit static for years or decades, and never actually reach a nonprofit.
This is particularly worrisome at a time when nonprofits need funds urgently, not in a distant future.
Some individuals use DAFs primarily for income tax reductions, balancing their tax bill with their giving, so that the upside, like capital gains, is neutralized. Others use DAFs to pass on money to their offspring, once again with minimal taxes.

With DAFs, people can sidestep learning about the best causes in place of simply dumping the money in a pot on the advice of someone else.We recognize these critiques. Any tax instrument can be manipulated depending on a user’s intentions (we’re looking at you, Peter Thiel). However, we don’t believe DAFs are inherently evil and are instead breathing new life into the zombie philanthropy model.Groundswell reaps the benefits of DAFs without the downsides. And we believe that this approach can be scaled to reach any prospective donor, not just the ultra-rich.

How Groundswell is Raising Zombie Philanthropy From the Dead

Groundswell is built differently.Legacy DAF providers also happen to be massive asset managers. No wonder their platforms are designed to keep money in the DAF, and not move it out to charity. In fact, it’s in their best interest for it to play out that way.However, Groundswell is built to move money as efficiently as possible out of the system and into the hands of charities.The objectives of our platform are aligned directly with the goals of charities – including the goal of disbursing as much money as possible into the community. That’s probably because we were founded by a former nonprofit executive, a key difference in Groundswell vs. the competition.We have no beef with DAFs and not every DAF fund is a zombie. The fact is, when funds are transferred to a DAF, they will eventually finance a program sponsored by the donor, though it may be slow and delayed funding means delayed impact.As we already mentioned, we believe that Donor Advised Funds are not inherently evil – even if they are exploited by a large number of ultra-wealthy individuals and fail to generate as much good as intended. In principle, DAFs can be powerful but, like everything else, they must evolve.That’s why Groundswell is supportive of recent talks aimed at reforming Donor Advised Funds to include, among other things, a minimum annual distribution. DAFs, built and leveraged appropriately, can bring massive efficiencies to the nonprofit sector and the giving of ordinary Americans.So instead of allowing these legacy Donor Advised Funds to shuffle around mindlessly like zombies, let's build an alternative like Groundswell that breathes life back into the Donor Advised Fund and democratizes philanthropy for the 99%.

6 mins read

Blog Post

12 Employee Benefits Survey Questions Modern Companies Should Ask

Scroll down for a free survey template below.

Let's dive in to the importance of asking the following questions.

Is our workforce satisfied with the current employee benefits package?

How comprehensive are the employee benefits we offer?

Are we showing true commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion through our benefits?

Do our benefits reflect our company culture and values?

The question, "do you feel our benefits package supports our cultural values?" will highlight any potential discrepancies in practicing what you're preaching.

Did you know? Two-thirds of employees say it’s important for a company to align to their values.

Are we catering to the needs of a remote or multi-location workforce?

With remote work on the rise, is the company adapting its benefits accordingly? It's essential to find out if employees feel supported, regardless of their work setting.

Would employees recommend the company based on our benefits?

How do specific benefit categories fare?

What additional benefits do employees desire?

If your workforce desires a more meaningful benefit, see why decentralizing your corporate philanthropy strategy can achieve greater impact at scale.

How often should I send an employee survey about our benefits?

While every business has their own set of unique needs, conducing a quarterly employee survey at minimum can help you get a pulse check.

What are some affordable benefit options we can provide employees?

Request a demo

[Free Template] Employee Benefits Survey Questions

How satisfied are you with our company’s benefits package?
Do you feel our benefits package is comprehensive in its offering?
Do you feel our benefits package supports our cultural values?
Do you feel our benefits package supports our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion?
Do you feel our benefits package supports our remote or multi-location workforce?
How likely are you to recommend applying based on our benefits package?
How satisfied are you with our physical health benefits (i.e. health care, sick leave, etc)?
How satisfied are you with our social impact benefits (i.e. corporate matching, volunteering, etc)?
How satisfied are you with our mental health benefits (i.e. vacation time, EAP, etc)?
How satisfied are you with our financial health benefits? (i.e. retirement, student loan assistance, etc)
How satisfied are you with our fringe benefits and perks? (i.e. fitness subsidies, stipends, etc)
If you could choose one benefit not currently offered, what would it be?

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Guide to Being a Modern Philanthropist: Elevate Your Impact With Groundswell

Six Tips to Becoming a Modern Philanthropist

Summary

Pick causes and charities that align with your values: When deciding what you want to support, start by taking into consideration the people, places, or problems that you care about most.
Understand impact through the lens of size & geography: The geographic reach of different charities' programs, and how large or small they are, can help as you determine what to support.
Evaluate best in class charities: Learn how to assess not only the financial health of an organization, but also what questions to ask when looking at other impact metrics.
Set a giving goal: Decide how much you want to give annually through Groundswell, and follow the simple steps to set up contributions to achieve that goal.
Maximize impact through recurring donations: Simplify your giving and provide nonprofits with a steady stream of revenue through monthly, recurring donations.
Optimize your giving through tax-efficient strategies: Leverage the versatility of Groundswell to reduce your tax burden through payroll giving, stocks contributions, and bunching.

1. Pick Causes & Charities that Align with Your Values

2. Understand Impact: Size & Geography

Where to donate

Does size matter?

3. Evaluate "Best in Class" Charities

Programmatic Impact: Understanding a nonprofit’s impact - through its programs and the populations that it serves - is an important way to evaluate its effectiveness in tackling the causes you care about. Many nonprofits provide details about programming approaches on their websites, including testimonials, photos, and reports detailing specific results. Keep in mind that understanding and assessing impact is highly qualitative - there is no clear ‘score’ - especially because what or who is being impacted varies across the thousands of nonprofits.

Financial Management: Nonprofits, especially larger ones, are required to disclose details related to their financial performance annually – to include assets, revenue and breakdown of expenses in forms submitted to the IRS. Many nonprofits are proactively transparent about their finances and post audited financial statements and other reports on their websites. But financial data does not always tell a complete story. There may be important investments in fundraising staff, which two years later yield a windfall in donations that can be put towards programs.

Advisories: Sometimes there are advisories based on pending or ongoing legal action. Groundswell works to monitor these advisories and remove any charities that it believes are acting improperly or mismanaging donor funds. We also remove any charities that have had their nonprofit status revoked by the IRS.

Groundswell-curated Featured Causes: While many donors might want to do their own research, sometimes it’s far easier (and efficient) to put your trust in others. Groundswell’s impact team provides donors with additional inspiration, and has done the vetting work to determine cause-specific organizations that are well run and most importantly having a strong impact.

4. Aim High with a Giving Goal

Your giving goal can help fund recurring donations, as well as account for unexpected events that you may want to donate to.

5. Level Up with Recurring Donations

Recurring donations can be a great component of your philanthropic strategy. As a bonus, there are benefits for both donors as well as nonprofits.

For donors, setting recurring donations to autopilot every month or quarter means you don’t have to think about it or go through the steps to do it on a regular basis.

6. Optimize Your Tax-Efficient Giving

You can leverage the versatility of your Groundswell Personal Giving Account, which is underpinned by a Donor-Advised Fund, to be strategic and reduce your tax burden.

Donate appreciated stock

Plus, you'll be eligible for a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock at the time of contribution into your Groundswell account.

Give with payroll

Bundle contributions

Want access to other toolkits like this?

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Unleash the Power of Your Employee Giving Program: Best Practices Guide

Your Best Practices Guide for Maximizing Your Employee Giving Participation

This guide provides you with tools and tips to maximize employee participation in your giving program, not just when the program launches but throughout the entire year.

Leveraging our expertise in the social impact and nonprofit sectors, Groundswell is here to support you and your employees on your impact journey.

Overview

6 Tips for Maximizing Participation in Your Employee Giving Program

1. Communicate Early and with Intention

Program Launch Communications:

Keep it short, and emphasize that the intent is to center employees in corporate philanthropy and make it as easy as possible for employees to give.
If the Giving Program is new: Why now? How does it align with your company’s values? Why is Groundswell a good fit for the company?
If the program is replacing an existing program: Why now? What’s different (and better) from the previous program? New matching or gifting features? It may also be helpful to highlight the tax effectiveness of the donor-advised fund model.

Monthly Program Communications

Monthly Cause Spotlights

Start off the month by highlighting some timely causes - make sure to link to Groundswell-curated “Featured Cause” Portfolios that Groundswell uploads to the dashboard every month for a hand-off approach to spotlighting.
Share “Cause of the Month” information with employees, leveraging the toolkits found in Groundswell’s Resource Center.

Engagement & Impact Reporting

Utilize the data that you can find on your company Dashboard or download via CSV to highlight some of your company’s collective impact - including a percentage of employees enrolled, the total dollar amount that has been donated, as well as top nonprofit donation recipients and/or cause areas.
This helps employees see how their individual donations are having a larger impact as part of your company’s collective giving program.

2. Drive Early Adoption through Gifts

Gifts can be a terrific way to get employees to sign up and start using the Groundswell platform immediately. Here are a few tips on how to drive early adoption using the Gifting feature:

Launch with a one-time gift into employees’ Giving Accounts that will show up as soon as employees enroll. This can be a great way to create buzz about the program and empower employees to donate and make an impact immediately - even before they contribute their own funds to their Groundswell account.
Throughout the year, provide unexpected, ad hoc gifts into employees’ accounts - for work anniversaries, milestones, great performance, etc.
A way to make it fun is to do a lottery at All Hands meetings by randomly selecting an employee to receive $25 in their Groundswell account. Follow this link or reach out to the Groundswell Customer Success team to learn more.

3. Inspire Engagement through Matching

Set up a matching program that immediately doubles the impact when an employee puts funds into their Groundswell Giving Account. This creates a feeling of “we’re in this together” - and drives home the message about an equitable approach to corporate philanthropy.
A match program can run for an entire year, or be tailored to specific months.
With the Groundswell match happening at the point of contributing funds to the Groundswell account, employees can tangibly see and feel what it means to double the impact for the charities and causes that matter most to them.

4. Leverage Cause Campaigns & Respond to the Emergent Events

Planned Campaigns:

Utilize a Social Impact Cause Calendar to plan monthly or bi-monthly communications to employees highlighting specific causes - with resources to educate employees about the cause, and a curated list of nonprofits most relevant to the cause. You can refer to Groundswell’s monthly cause portfolios that are updated to reflect timely causes and issues.
Tip: Plan your annual budget to launch match campaigns focused on specific charities or cause areas throughout the year.

Unforeseen Events:

Utilize Groundswell’s curated list of best-in-class nonprofits responding to disasters in the United States or globally. Being able to quickly and confidently point your employees to vetted nonprofits to donate to shows that you are responsive as a company and empowering employees to take action in moments of crisis.
Tip: Keep a portion of your annual budget in reserve so that you can match employee donations and/or provide gifts to employees to expand the impact in response to the unforeseen emergency.

5. Engage Employee Resource Groups

ERGs can take the opportunity to recommend nonprofits that they think are most effective and related to the cause, and share their commitment to specific causes with the tag-line “My cause is ____ “
Tip: Solicit recommendations from the Employee Resource Group for books to read, films, and documentaries to watch, and podcasts to listen to. This can generate a deeper understanding of causes and lead to engagement via donations to support the causes.

6. Lean Into End-of-Year Giving Spirit

You can leverage Groundswell's Giving Tuesday resources to launch an end-of-year donation campaign, featuring specific cause areas and nonprofits.

Tip: Set a budget aside for a surprise end-of-year gift - leveraging the fact that a large percentage of people prefer to donate at the end of the year.

Read related articles

Groundswell is your ally in corporate philanthropy.

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Complete Handbook to Corporate Grants

Corporate grants are financial support provided by a business to a nonprofit organization, educational institution, or another type of community group.

These grants can be used to fund a wide range of projects, including programs and initiatives that align with the values and mission of the funding organization.

In this ultimate guide, we will explore the various types of corporate grants available, how to find and apply for these grants, and tips for success in securing funding.

Types of Corporate Grants

There are several types of corporate grants that organizations can apply for, depending on their needs and the focus of the funding organization. Some common types of corporate grants include:

General Operating Support: These grants provide funding for the general operations and administration of an organization, including salaries, rent, and other overhead costs.

Project-Specific Grants: These grants are provided to fund a specific project or initiative, such as a research project, community development program, or arts and culture event.

Capital Grants: These grants are provided to fund the purchase of long-term assets, such as equipment, real estate, or vehicles.

Sponsorship Grants: These grants provide financial support for a specific event or activity, such as a charity fundraiser or sporting event.

Matching Grants: These grants require the recipient organization raises a certain amount of funds on their own, which is then matched by the funding organization.

How to Find Corporate Grants

There are a few different ways to find corporate grants that may be a good fit for your organization. Here are some tips:

Research funding organizations: Many businesses have corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that provide grants to nonprofit organizations. Research the CSR programs of businesses in your industry or local area to see if they offer grants.

Use grant databases: There are many online databases that list corporate grants, such as Grants.gov and the Candid, formally known as Foundation Center. These databases allow you to search for grants based on your organization's location, mission, and area of focus.

Join grant-seeking networks: There are many online networks and forums for grant seekers, such as Candid, formally known as GrantSpace, and the Grant Professionals Association. These communities can be a valuable resource for finding corporate grants and learning about the grant-seeking process.

How to Apply for Corporate Grants

Once you have identified a corporate grant that is a good fit for your organization, the next step is to prepare and submit a grant proposal. Here are some tips for success:

Follow the application instructions carefully: Each grant program will have its own application requirements and guidelines, so it is important to follow these instructions carefully. Be sure to complete all required forms and provide any supporting documents that are requested.

Clearly articulate your needs and objectives: In your grant proposal, be sure to clearly explain your organization's needs and the specific objectives that you hope to achieve with the funding. Use specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals to demonstrate the impact that the grant will have.

Demonstrate your organization's capacity to deliver: In addition to outlining your needs and objectives, it is important to demonstrate your organization's capacity to deliver on its proposed project or initiative. This may include information about your staff, volunteers, resources, and past successes.

Proofread and edit: A well-written and well-organized grant proposal is more likely to be successful. Be sure to proofread your proposal carefully and have at least one other person review it before submitting it.

Tips for Success in Securing Corporate Grants

Start early: Many corporate grant programs have deadlines that are several months in advance of the funding period. It is important to start researching and preparing your grant proposal as early as possible to allow sufficient time for revisions and any additional information that may be requested by the funding organization.

Build relationships with funders: Building relationships with potential funders can be a valuable asset in the grant-seeking process. Attend events and networking opportunities where you can meet with representatives from funding organizations, and consider reaching out to them directly to introduce your organization and its work.

Be persistent: Securing corporate grants can be competitive, and it is not uncommon to be rejected on the first try. Don't be discouraged by rejection – use it as an opportunity to learn and improve your grant proposal for the next round of funding.

In conclusion, corporate grants can be a valuable source of funding for nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and community groups. By researching and identifying appropriate grant programs, preparing a strong grant proposal, and building relationships with potential funders, your organization can increase its chances of success in securing corporate grants.

More about Groundswell

Groundswell is an affordable workplace giving program built for modern businesses. We give organizations the infrastructure and tools to make it easy to empower employees to support the causes they care about during moments that matter most.

Subscribe to our newsletter and reach out to our team to learn more about Groundswell.io.

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Workplace Giving Handbook: Everything You Need to Know

Workplace giving programs offer employees an important benefit.

It gives employees a way to support the causes they care about and trust that their support is actually doing good in the world.

It's not news that people are skeptical of corporate charity — it's why words like pink-washing and greenwashing have entered the public vocabulary. Workplace giving programs offer a way to combat that skepticism and give employees a reason to feel good about the places where they work.

But what exactly is workplace giving, and how do you set up an employee-powered giving program at your company?

What is Workplace Giving?

Workplace giving is any organized program that collects employee donations for charitable causes through payroll deductions and/or one-time donations. The company then disburses those donations to nonprofits.

Over the years, the term has evolved to include volunteer giving programs, and other forms of employee giving programs. These giving programs take many forms today, including payroll deductions, donation match programs, and volunteer giving programs.

Matching Gift Programs

Donation match programs are among the most popular types of workplace giving programs, offered at nearly 65% of Fortune 500 companies, and accounting for $2 billion to $3 billion in donations annually.

The concept is simple in theory: an employee donates to a qualified nonprofit, and the company then makes a matching donation to the same nonprofit.

In practice, matching gift programs can be cumbersome and difficult to manage. In fact, for every dollar donated through matching gift programs, more than $2 goes unclaimed.

Volunteer Programs

In addition to typical volunteer programs — serving dinners at a local shelter or reading to school kids, for example — many companies create or participate in volunteer fundraising events, such as walk-a-thons or charity 5k runs.

Employees participate as a team, and the money raised is donated to the specific non-profit named. These campaigns can be great for team building and bonding, not to mention providing high-profile PR opportunities for the company.

Volunteer Grants

Many companies offer grants to organizations where their employees volunteer. This kind of program ensures that the company is helping to support genuine community organizations that their employees care about. They help deepen the ties between the company and the community and send the message to your employees that you care about the things that are important to them.

Volunteer Hours Matching

The third iteration of volunteer donation programs rewards your employees with the extra cash they can donate to others based on hours that they spend volunteering with community organizations.

Giving employees paid time off for volunteering can make it difficult for workers to keep up with their workload and make more work for nonprofits. Some companies have found ways to reimburse employees for their time working in their communities.

One way is to deposit the equivalent of their salary for hours spent into a Groundswell Personal Giving Account. From there, the employee can direct the donation to their chosen cause, effectively doubling their impact on the ground.

Donations Through Payroll Deduction

Many companies offer employees the opportunity to make giving easy by enrolling in an automatic payroll deduction for a chosen charity. Payroll deductions allow employees to essentially budget their charitable contributions over the course of the year.

However, the choice of charities to support is usually very narrow — often only one or two charities are chosen by the board.

A growing number of CEOs are moving away from the top-down approach to corporate giving, and moving to a model that puts the choice in the hands of their employees.

What Is a Workplace Giving Campaign?

Workplace giving campaigns are typically annual events companies hold to encourage employee donations to a cause.

They're often held in the fall, to coordinate with the holiday season — and of course, the end of the tax year. They can, however, take place at any time. Their purpose is to publicize and raise awareness of any company-sponsored employee giving programs, and get more people involved in them.

Campaigns may also revolve around a specific need or event. These campaigns include disaster relief campaigns, or campaigns to support specific needs in the local community — supporting the unhoused, or providing funds for meals during a pandemic, for example.

How Does Workplace Giving Work?

The nuts and bolts of employee giving programs are rapidly evolving. Legacy workplace giving programs collected donations from employees then combined them and funneled them to one or two charities chosen by the board of directors or the CEO. Historically, there are two major models for doing this.

Payroll Deduction

Programs that collect charitable donations through payroll deductions are the most common workplace giving programs, accounting for nearly 75% of all employee giving annually. Payroll deductions make charitable giving easy on employees — they fill out a payroll deduction form once, and HR/Payroll does the rest. It's so easy, in fact, that when Google implemented a pilot payroll giving program, it increased the likelihood of donations to a promoted charity by 50% without reducing the average amount donated.

In addition, each participating employee has a running record of their deductions on their pay stub, with the current and year-to-date donations recorded. That's a big boon at tax time — their pay stub serves as proof of their donation, so they don't have to scrounge around looking for acknowledgment letters from the nonprofits they donate to.

Nonprofits also benefit from this type of workplace giving program in several ways: they get predictable, sustainable donations, and often get more donations. Just as important, a payroll deduction model reduces the amount of work that falls on their shoulders by transferring much of it to the company's payroll department. Managing a workplace giving campaign is a complex undertaking involving multiple steps and responsibilities.

The company creates a campaign to engage and encourage employees to sign up for the giving program. This is no small undertaking — entire toolkits are devoted to teaching employees and volunteers to run successful campaigns.
The employee fills out a pledge card, designating the amount of the donation and/or the amount to be deducted each pay period. If the company allows it, they may also choose one of several pre-approved nonprofits to receive their donation.
The payroll department — or the company's payroll provider — sets up the recurring deduction for each employee.
If the company also operates a matching donation program, HR processes all donations to set up the matching donation.
Each pay period, the payroll department deducts and deposits the funds from each employee into a central account, then sends the final donation amount to the paying agent, such as the United Way.
The paying agent distributes the funds to the designated organizations.

Donation Matching Programs

Donation match programs can also be time-consuming and difficult to navigate — so much so, that billions of dollars in matching funds go unclaimed every year. A typical donation match program works like this:

The company determines which organizations will qualify for a matching gift and makes the list of qualifying organizations available to employees, and creates rules to determine the amount of the match. There may be differing amounts depending on the employee's position or other criteria. For example, all full-time employees may qualify for 100% matching, while managers qualify for 200% matching.
The employee makes a donation to the charity of their choice.
After determining that their chosen organization qualifies for a match, the employee fills out and submits a request to HR for their employer to match their donation.
HR processes the request and determines the match amount based on the rules.
The company sends a check for the matching amount to the qualifying organization.

Emerging Trends in Workplace Giving

Since the early 2000s, there's been a growing movement to allow employees more choices of donors. Many donation match programs, for example, will match employee donations to any 501(c)3 charity. New platforms are streamlining corporate and employee giving, reducing the amount of work and time that goes into managing workplace giving campaigns and employee giving programs in general.

The newest trends in corporate giving include making charitable giving part of the employee's benefits package and providing granular control and choice on when and where to donate their funds.

Advances in technology provided new tools — yes, there's an app for that — to help companies manage and deploy their corporate giving programs in ways that make sense for their workforces. As the workplace and trends in giving continue to evolve, employee giving programs will also evolve to keep pace and provide the most seamless, empowering giving experience.

Benefits of Workplace Giving Programs

Employee giving programs are not just good for the causes that get the donations. They provide important positives for employees, the company, and the community. These are a few of the most important.

Improved Employee Recruitment: 55% of employees — including 75% of Millennials — would choose to work for a socially responsible company, even if they got paid less.
Increased Employee Engagement: Employees are more engaged at work when they feel their employer aligns with their values.
Increased Profitability: Companies with the most engaged workers are 21% more profitable.
Better Public Image: People think more positively about businesses that give back to the community.
Deeper Community Connections: A well-planned employee giving program helps the business connect and cement relationships with organizations in the community.
Increased Employee Loyalty: Employees are more likely to recommend businesses that support them and their interests.
Higher Retention Rates: Employees who take advantage of employee giving programs stay with the company 75% longer.

What Employees Care About

According to a recent Deloitte Workplace Giving survey, 37% of workers donated to charity through a workplace giving program, but — and this is a big but — when they looked at Millennial and Gen Z employees, that percentage skyrocketed to 58%.

Younger workers, those destined for leadership positions in future companies, care deeply about doing good in the world, and they reflect it in their behavior. They donate because they are connected to a cause or charity, because they want to support their community, and because giving makes them feel good.

When you make it easy for them to plant a tree, buy a kid a desk, or adopt sheltered puppies, your company is showing them that they respect and support the people that they are, not just the work that they do for your business.

Why Is Employee Giving Important?

In addition to the benefits to your employees and your business bottom line, employee giving also brings an immense benefit to the community.

In 2021, workplace giving programs raised more than $5 billion, with about 50% of that coming from matching gift programs. Those donations went to

Education-related causes: 29%
Health and wellness causes: 25%
Community and economic development causes: 15%

Employees who donated through workplace giving programs reported that they donated to

Hunger and homelessness relief: 47%
Education: 23%
Social and racial equity causes: 20%

The right workplace giving program empowers your employees to support the causes closest to their hearts, without judgment and with the confidence that their employer trusts them to put their money where it will matter the most.

How to Set Up a Workplace Giving Program

If this is your first time setting up a workplace giving program, there are some important steps to consider. You want a program that reflects your company's mission and core philosophy, one that your employees will embrace and be proud to use. These are some key principles to keep in mind and some action steps to get you started.

Evaluate Your Company's Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. If You Don't Have One, This Is A Good Time To Brainstorm.

Create a vision for your CSR that balances your responsibilities to your shareholders/owners, your employees, the community, the planet, and any other stakeholders.
Evaluate your current activities in light of community service. Do you partner with local organizations? Host volunteer activities? Make donations to local charities? Any of these would fit under the umbrella of CSR.
Establish a corporate code of ethics detailing how your company will treat employees, customers, the environment, and competitors in all your dealings.
Get strategic with your giving program to ensure that it aligns with your company's values and ethics.

Set a Budget for Your Giving Program.

The amount you budget for corporate giving should be no more than you can afford to give without affecting the cash flow you need to operate your business.
Many large companies earmark 1% - 5% of their pre-tax earnings for charitable giving. Small companies often donate 6% or more to charity.
Consider designating profits from one particular product for giving.
Use the Sabsevitz Ante-Up Formula — multiply last year's pre-tax net income by 1.2% to come up with a donation budget.
Check out more suggestions for setting your budget in this blog post.

Set Up Guidelines for Your Program

Employees: will all employees be included in your benefits program? Will they all be level-funded, or will some positions qualify for a higher workplace giving benefit?
Moments That Matter: Can you make donations more meaningful by tying deposit amounts to specific events in the lives for your employees?
Decide which charities/causes your company will support. Will you restrict employee giving to designated nonprofits? How expansive will your list of eligible organizations be?

Establish A Process For Collecting, Matching, And Donating Contributions.

See the section on How Does Workplace Giving Work?
(Hint: Groundswell takes the stress out of this step.)

Publicize The Program.

The key to a successful workplace giving program is awareness. Your employees can't use a benefit they don't know about, and your company won't reap the benefits if your customers and employees don't know what you're doing. These are a few suggestions for raising awareness of your new employee giving program.

List it as a benefit in your recruitment materials.
Provide an easy — and very visible — way to access your program's front end on your employee website, Discord, or other communication software.
Highlight your program in the company newsletter.
Create and distribute flyers explaining the program, its benefits, and how to use it to your employees.
If you offer donation matches, make sure that local nonprofits are aware of it.
Partner with local nonprofits and community organizations when it makes sense.

Is Workplace Giving Tax Deductible?

The simple answer is yes, in most cases, workplace giving is tax deductible, and has been since 1935 when Congress passed a law allowing corporations to deduct up to 10% of their pretax income on their tax returns. That limit was raised to 25% to encourage more giving during the pandemic.

Maximizing Tax Benefits for Workplace Giving

It's important to understand how tax-deductible donations work in order to maximize the benefits of a workplace giving program.

Some types of corporate giving offer more benefits than others.

DAFs offer unique tax benefits, but until recently, they've been reserved for high-dollar donors. Briefly, a DAF allows your company to make a donation at the most advantageous time — before the end of the tax year, for example — and take the deduction immediately, and decide when and where that money should be donated to nonprofits. In addition, DAFs make it more efficient to donate non-cash assets, such as stock and real estate, to charity, without incurring an additional tax burden.

Workplace Giving with Groundswell

Groundswell's innovative Philanthropy as a Service model democratizes workplace giving by setting up a Personal Giving Account — an individual DAF — for each employee, effectively putting the power of a DAF in the palm of their hand.

The company can make donations into each Personal Giving Account as part of an overall corporate giving strategy, timing the donations to provide the most benefit. The employee then decides when and where to make donations to the causes that are most important to them.

If you're ready to increase the impact of your workplace giving programs, contact us to learn more about how Groundswell can empower you and your employees to do more good and make the changes they want to see in the world.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Disability Pride Month: Nonprofits Advocating for Accessibility

Disability Pride Month is a celebration held annually in July to honor and empower individuals with disabilities. It aims to raise awareness about disability rights, inclusion, and challenges faced by the disabled community.

The month-long observance encourages self-acceptance, promotes positive representations, and highlights the achievements of people with disabilities. It fosters a sense of pride in one's identity and promotes a more inclusive society that recognizes and appreciates the diverse abilities and contributions of individuals with disabilities.

Disability Pride Month is an opportunity to advocate for equality, accessibility, and to challenge stigmas associated with disabilities.

In support of Disability Pride Month, here’s a list of nonprofits at the forefront of offering aid to those with hindrances in accessibility.

RespectAbility

RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization in the United States that focuses on empowering and advocating for people with disabilities. The organization was founded in 2013 and has since become a leading voice in promoting inclusion and opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

The mission of RespectAbility is to fight stigmas and advance opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in all aspects of a society fully. They achieve this by promoting education, employment, and access to various resources and services. RespectAbility strives to ensure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to succeed, live independently, and enjoy a high quality of life.

One of the key areas of focus for RespectAbility is education. They work to improve educational opportunities for students with disabilities and ensure that they receive the support and accommodations they need to succeed in school and beyond. They also collaborate with educational institutions to create inclusive learning environments and promote the inclusion of disability-related issues in the curriculum.

Employment is another important aspect of RespectAbility's work. They advocate for policies and practices that promote the hiring, retention, and advancement of individuals with disabilities in the workforce. RespectAbility also provides training, resources, and mentorship programs to help individuals with disabilities build the skills and confidence necessary to enter and thrive in the job market.

Young Adult Institute Inc.

Young Adults Institute Inc. (YAI) is a non-profit organization that provides support and services to individuals with developmental and learning disabilities and their families. Founded in 1957, YAI has been dedicated to empowering people with disabilities and promoting their inclusion in society.

YAI offers a wide range of programs and services designed to meet the unique needs and goals of young adults with disabilities. These services include residential programs, employment and vocational training, educational support, clinical services, and recreational activities. YAI aims to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and promote their independence, self-confidence, and community engagement.

Residential programs provided by YAI offer various living arrangements, such as group homes, supportive apartments, and intermediate care facilities. These programs provide a safe and supportive environment where individuals can live, receive personal care assistance, and develop independent living skills.

YAI's employment and vocational training programs focus on helping young adults with disabilities gain the necessary skills and competencies to enter the workforce. These programs provide vocational assessments, job placement services, job coaching, and ongoing support to ensure successful integration into the workplace.

Regarding educational support, YAI offers various services to help individuals with disabilities succeed academically. This includes tutoring, educational advocacy, specialized instruction, and assistance with transitioning to higher education or vocational training.

YAI's clinical services encompass a multidisciplinary approach to address the medical, behavioral, and mental health needs of individuals with disabilities. These services may include medical evaluations, psychological assessments, counseling, and access to specialized therapies.

The Arc

The Arc is a prominent nonprofit organization working tirelessly to promote and protect the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) for over 70 years. It has significantly advocated for inclusivity, equality, and full participation in society for people with IDD.

The organization was established in 1950 by parents who wanted to ensure their children with IDD could live fulfilling lives and receive the necessary support and services. Originally known as the Association for Retarded Citizens, The Arc has since evolved into a leading voice in the disability rights movement, advocating for changes in policies, attitudes, and systems that affect individuals with IDD and their families.

The Arc operates nationally and locally, with a network of more than 600 chapters across the United States. These local chapters provide various services and support to individuals with IDD and their families, such as information and referral services, advocacy, employment assistance, housing support, and educational programs. The organization also offers resources and training to professionals working in IDD.

One of the core principles of The Arc is the belief in the inherent dignity and worth of every individual. The organization ensures that people with IDD have the same opportunities as others to lead self-determined lives, make choices, pursue education and employment, live in inclusive communities, and access quality healthcare.

Easterseals

Easterseals is a non-profit organization that provides a wide range of services to individuals with disabilities and special needs. The organization was founded in 1919 by Edgar Allen to address the needs of children affected by polio. Originally known as the National Society for Crippled Children, it later became known as Easterseals about the image of a seal used on its fundraising materials.

Easterseals' mission is to empower people with disabilities and their families to live full, independent lives and reach their highest potential. They offer various programs and services to support individuals with disabilities across the lifespan, from infants to seniors. Some of the key services provided by Easterseals include:

Early Intervention: Easterseals offers early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities. These programs focus on improving developmental skills and providing support to families.
Medical Rehabilitation: Easterseals provides rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language therapy. These services aim to enhance mobility, communication, and overall independence.
Autism Services: Easterseals offers various services for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including diagnostic evaluations, behavioral therapies, social skills training, and family support.
Employment and Training: Easterseals assists individuals with disabilities in finding and maintaining meaningful employment. They provide job training, job placement services, and work readiness programs to enhance employment opportunities.
Adult and Senior Services: Easterseals supports adults and seniors with disabilities through programs such as day services, community integration, respite care, and independent living assistance. These services aim to promote community participation and enhance quality of life.
Military and Veteran Services: Easterseals offers specialized programs to support military service members, veterans, and their families. These programs include mental health services, caregiver support, employment assistance, and adaptive recreational activities.

Special Olympics

The Special Olympics is a global non-profit organization that provides sports training and competition opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy, the Special Olympics has grown into a movement that reaches millions of athletes in over 190 countries.

The mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in various Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The organization aims to promote inclusion, improve physical fitness, develop self-confidence, and enhance social skills among its participants through these activities.

Here are some key features and programs associated with the Special Olympics:

Sports Training and Competition: The Special Olympics offers various sports and competitions, including athletics, aquatics, basketball, soccer, tennis, gymnastics, and many others. These sports are adapted to accommodate the abilities of athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Unified Sports: Unified Sports is a program that brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete on the same team. This program promotes inclusion and fosters friendships and understanding between individuals with and without disabilities.
Healthy Athletes: The Special Olympics recognizes the importance of overall health and well-being. The Healthy Athletes program provides free health screenings and education in vision, dental care, hearing, and physical fitness. It aims to improve access to quality healthcare for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Young Athletes: The Young Athletes program is designed for children with intellectual disabilities aged 2 to 7 years. It focuses on developing motor skills, coordination, and socialization through play and sports-related activities. The program introduces children to the world of sports in a fun and inclusive environment.
Global Impact: The Special Olympics has a significant global presence, organizing regional, national, and international competitions, including the Special Olympics World Games. These events bring athletes from different countries together to showcase their skills and celebrate the spirit of sportsmanship and inclusion.

Best Buddies International

Best Buddies International is a global non-profit organization that focuses on creating opportunities for friendship, employment, and leadership development for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The organization was founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, to foster inclusion and break down barriers for people with IDD.

Best Buddies aims to enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities by providing them with meaningful relationships, integrated employment opportunities, and leadership development. The organization operates through a network of chapters in schools, colleges, and communities worldwide. Best Buddies programs span various age groups and focus on different aspects of inclusion and empowerment. Here are some key programs offered by Best Buddies International:

Best Buddies Friendship Program: This program pairs individuals with IDD in one-to-one friendships with their peers without disabilities. The goal is to develop genuine friendships and promote social inclusion.
Best Buddies Jobs Program: The Jobs Program helps individuals with IDD secure and maintain employment in the mainstream job market. Best Buddies provides support and job coaching to both employees and employers to ensure successful integration and workplace inclusion.
Best Buddies Ambassadors: The Ambassadors program focuses on leadership development and public speaking skills for individuals with IDD. Ambassadors receive training to become advocates for themselves and others, promoting disability rights and inclusion in their communities.
Best Buddies College Program: This program operates in universities and colleges, fostering one-to-one friendships between students with and without disabilities. It aims to create an inclusive campus environment and provide social opportunities for college students with IDD.
Best Buddies Citizens Program: The Citizens program connects individuals with IDD to members of their local community, promoting socialization, civic engagement, and integration into community activities.

Divas with Disabilities

Divas with Disabilities is a movement and platform that celebrates and empowers women with disabilities. It was founded by Vilissa Thompson in 2012 to highlight the experiences, achievements, and perspectives of women with disabilities and challenging societal norms and stereotypes.

Divas with Disabilities allows women with disabilities to share their stories, advocate for disability rights, and inspire others. The platform embraces the concept of "disability pride" and promotes self-acceptance, self-love, and self-advocacy among women with disabilities.

The movement utilizes various channels, including social media, blogs, podcasts, and public speaking engagements, to amplify the voices and experiences of women with disabilities. Through these platforms, Divas with Disabilities addresses various issues such as disability rights, accessibility, healthcare, employment, relationships, fashion, and beauty.

One of the key goals of Divas with Disabilities is to challenge societal beauty standards and redefine what it means to be beautiful and confident. The movement promotes diverse representations of beauty and emphasizes that disability is a natural and valuable part of human diversity.

Disability Rights International

Disability Rights International (DRI) is a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights and full inclusion of people with disabilities worldwide. The organization was founded in 1993 by Eric Rosenthal and Laurie Ahern, and it operates on the principle that all individuals, regardless of their disabilities, have the right to live in the community with dignity, freedom, and independence.

DRI focuses on promoting and protecting the human rights of people with disabilities, particularly those who are institutionalized or living in marginalized and vulnerable situations. The organization conducts investigations, research, and advocacy to expose and address human rights violations against individuals with disabilities. DRI's work encompasses a wide range of issues related to disability rights, including:

Ending Institutionalization: DRI works to end the practice of institutionalizing people with disabilities and advocates for developing community-based support systems. They expose the abuses and inadequate conditions often present in institutions and work towards transitioning individuals with disabilities to community settings.
Advocacy for Legal and Policy Reforms: DRI advocates for legal and policy reforms at the national and international levels to protect disability rights. They engage with governments, international organizations, and human rights bodies to promote adopting and implementing laws and policies that uphold the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities.
Monitoring and Reporting Human Rights Violations: DRI conducts investigations and research to document human rights violations against individuals with disabilities. They produce reports and evidence-based documentation to expose abuses, raise awareness, and hold responsible parties accountable.
Capacity Building and Training: DRI provides training and capacity-building initiatives to disability rights advocates, organizations, and governments. These programs aim to strengthen the knowledge and skills necessary for effective advocacy and implementation of disability rights standards.
International Advocacy: DRI actively engages in international human rights forums and mechanisms to promote disability rights. They participate in United Nations meetings, treaty monitoring bodies, and other international platforms to advocate for including disability rights in global policies and frameworks.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Nonprofits Championing Voter Rights on Independence Day

Independence Day is a shining testament to the indomitable human spirit, reminding us of the sacrifices and progress.

On this occasion, we commemorate the bravery, determination, and unwavering spirit of those who fought tirelessly for freedom and the right to self-governance.

One crucial aspect of a vibrant democracy lies in safeguarding the rights of every citizen, particularly their right to vote.

Recently, the issue of voter rights has gained significant attention, highlighting the importance of preserving this fundamental pillar of democracy. Nonprofit organizations nationwide have emerged as powerful advocates, tirelessly working to protect and expand voter rights for all individuals. Their dedication and relentless efforts aim to create a society where every voice is heard, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic background, or any other factor that may seek to silence or disenfranchise.

Armed with a deep sense of purpose and a passion for justice, these nonprofits stand as beacons of hope and catalysts for change. Their tireless work empowers individuals, educates communities, and advocates for policies that foster a more inclusive and participatory democracy.

Here is a list of nonprofit organizations supporting Independence Day by fighting for voter rights:

Brennan Center for Justice

The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute based in the United States. It was founded in 1995 at the New York University School of Law and named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., a champion of individual rights and civil liberties. The center's mission is to develop and implement innovative reforms in the areas of democracy, justice, and liberty.

The Brennan Center engages in research, advocacy, and litigation to advance its goals. It focuses on a wide range of issues related to democracy and voting rights, criminal justice reform, fair and impartial courts, and protecting privacy and civil liberties in the face of new technologies. The center aims to address systemic problems and promote policies that enhance the fairness, inclusivity, and integrity of American democracy.

In the realm of voting rights, the Brennan Center advocates for policies that make voting more accessible, such as automatic voter registration, expanded early voting, and the restoration of voting rights for formerly incarcerated individuals. The center conducts research and produces reports on voting laws and practices, and it provides legal assistance and expertise in voting rights cases.

Regarding criminal justice reform, the Brennan Center seeks to reduce mass incarceration, promote fair sentencing practices, and improve the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system. It advocates for reforms such as bail reform, alternatives to incarceration, and the elimination of racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system.

The Brennan Center also focuses on the importance of fair and impartial courts, working to ensure that judicial selection processes are transparent and free from undue political influence. It supports policies that promote diversity on the bench and defends judicial independence.

Furthermore, the center addresses the challenges posed by new technologies and their impact on civil liberties and privacy. It examines issues related to government surveillance, data privacy, and the use of artificial intelligence and algorithms in criminal justice systems.

The Brennan Center's work encompasses research and analysis, public education and awareness campaigns, advocacy at the state and federal levels, and litigation through its own attorneys or by providing assistance to other organizations involved in legal challenges.

Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia is a nonprofit online encyclopedia that provides information on American politics, elections, and public policy. It serves as a comprehensive resource for voters, journalists, researchers, and anyone interested in understanding and engaging with the political process in the United States.

Ballotpedia was launched in 2007 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in government by providing accurate and unbiased information. It covers a wide range of topics, including federal, state, and local elections, ballot measures, elected officials, political parties, and key policy issues.

One of the primary features of Ballotpedia is its coverage of elections and candidates. It provides detailed profiles of political candidates running for various offices, including their background, positions on key issues, campaign finance information, and endorsements. The website also tracks election results and provides analysis and historical data on past elections.

In addition to election-related information, Ballotpedia offers comprehensive coverage of ballot measures. It provides details on the initiatives, referendums, and other measures that appear on the ballots in different states and localities. This includes explanations of the measures, arguments from both proponents and opponents, and information on campaign spending.

Ballotpedia is known for its commitment to neutrality and accuracy. Its content is written and edited by a team of researchers, writers, and editors who strive to provide unbiased information based on reliable sources. The website cites all sources and encourages users to verify the information independently.

Over the years, Ballotpedia has become a trusted resource for those seeking reliable information on American politics. It has gained recognition for its comprehensive coverage and user-friendly interface. The website is free to access, and its content is regularly updated to provide the most current information on political events and developments.

Rock the Vote

Rock the Vote is a non-profit organization in the United States that focuses on engaging young people in politics and encouraging them to participate in the electoral process. The organization was founded in 1990 by Jeff Ayeroff, a music executive, and Steve Barr, a political activist.

The main goal of Rock the Vote is to increase the political power and influence of young people by registering them to vote and educating them about the importance of civic engagement. The organization targets individuals between the ages of 18 and 29, a demographic that historically has had lower voter turnout compared to other age groups.

Rock the Vote uses various strategies to reach out to young people and promote their involvement in the political process. One of their primary activities is voter registration drives, both online and offline, to ensure that young people are registered to vote and have the necessary information to participate in elections. They provide resources and tools on their website, such as voter registration forms and information about candidates and issues, to make the process easier for young voters.

In addition to voter registration, Rock the Vote also focuses on youth outreach and education. They collaborate with musicians, celebrities, and other influential figures to raise awareness about the importance of voting and political participation. Rock the Vote has organized concerts, music tours, and other events to engage young people and encourage them to get involved in politics. They also use social media platforms and digital campaigns to reach a wider audience and promote their message.

Over the years, Rock the Vote has played a significant role in increasing youth voter turnout in the United States. They have successfully registered millions of young voters and provided them with the tools and information they need to make informed decisions at the ballot box. The organization has been involved in numerous advocacy efforts, including campaigns for voting rights, increased access to the polls, and youth-friendly policies.

Rock the Vote is a non-partisan organization, meaning they do not endorse specific candidates or political parties. Their primary focus is on encouraging young people to participate in the democratic process and make their voices heard through voting.

Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, bigotry, and all forms of discrimination and hate. Founded in 1913, the ADL's mission is to secure justice and fair treatment for all individuals, promote understanding and respect among diverse communities, and advocate for the protection of civil rights.

The ADL was initially established in the United States in response to the rampant anti-Semitism and discrimination faced by Jewish immigrants. Over time, the organization expanded its focus to address a wide range of prejudices and injustices targeting various religious, ethnic, and social groups. While its roots are in combating anti-Semitism, the ADL has become a prominent voice against bigotry and intolerance in general.

The ADL engages in various activities to fulfill its mission. These include:

Education and Awareness: The ADL provides educational resources, training programs, and initiatives to promote tolerance, combat bias, and foster understanding among different communities. They work with schools, community organizations, and law enforcement agencies to promote inclusive and respectful environments.
Advocacy and Legislation: The ADL actively engages in advocacy efforts to shape public policy and legislation that promotes equality, civil rights, and the elimination of hate crimes. They work closely with lawmakers, government officials, and other organizations to address issues related to discrimination and bias.
Research and Monitoring: The ADL conducts research and monitors hate groups, extremist activities, and online hate speech. They publish reports and provide analysis on trends in anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia, and other forms of prejudice, aiming to raise awareness and promote informed action.
Combating Cyberhate: With the rise of the internet and social media, the ADL recognizes the need to address online hate speech and harassment. They work to identify and expose online hate, collaborate with technology companies to develop policies against hate speech, and provide resources for individuals and communities to combat cyberbullying and online discrimination.
Interfaith and Intergroup Relations: The ADL fosters relationships and dialogue among different religious, ethnic, and cultural communities to promote mutual understanding and respect. They facilitate interfaith programs, organize conferences, and participate in initiatives aimed at building bridges and countering prejudice.

The ADL has gained recognition and support globally for its work in combating hate and promoting social justice. While it originated in the United States, it has expanded its presence and partnerships worldwide, collaborating with organizations and governments to address discrimination and hate on an international scale.

APIA Vote

APIA Vote, also known as Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization in the United States that aims to increase the civic engagement and political participation of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other underrepresented communities. The organization was founded in 2008 in response to the growing need for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voices to be heard in the political process.

APIA Vote focuses on several key areas to fulfill its mission:

Voter Mobilization: APIA Vote conducts voter registration drives, education campaigns, and outreach efforts to encourage AAPI individuals to register to vote and actively participate in elections. They work to raise awareness about the importance of voting and provide resources to help community members navigate the electoral process.
Civic Engagement: The organization strives to empower AAPI communities by promoting civic engagement beyond voting. They encourage community members to get involved in grassroots organizing, advocacy, and community leadership to address issues that affect their lives.
Research and Data: APIA Vote conducts research and collects data on AAPI demographics, voting patterns, and political issues to better understand the needs and concerns of the community. This information helps inform their strategies and policy recommendations.
Policy Advocacy: APIA Vote engages in policy advocacy at the local, state, and national levels to promote policies that address the unique challenges and aspirations of AAPI communities. They work with lawmakers, government agencies, and other organizations to advocate for policies that advance social justice, civil rights, and equity.
Coalition Building: APIA Vote collaborates with other community-based organizations, civil rights groups, and allies to build coalitions and amplify AAPI voices. By fostering partnerships and alliances, they strive to create a broader impact and work towards shared goals.

APIA Vote has been instrumental in increasing AAPI voter turnout and raising awareness about the importance of AAPI political participation. They have played a significant role in mobilizing AAPI voters, particularly in key battleground states during elections, and have advocated for policies that address issues such as immigration, language access, education, and healthcare.

NALEO Educational Fund

The NALEO Educational Fund, also known as the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, is a non-profit organization in the United States that focuses on increasing civic engagement and political participation among Latino communities. Established in 1981, NALEO Educational Fund seeks to empower Latinos to fully participate in the democratic process, advocate for policies that address their needs, and promote Latino leadership and representation in government.

NALEO Educational Fund carries out its mission through various initiatives and programs:

Voter Engagement: The organization conducts voter registration drives, voter education campaigns, and Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) efforts to encourage eligible Latinos to register to vote and participate in elections. They provide resources and information in both English and Spanish to ensure that Latino voters are well-informed about the electoral process and their rights.
Leadership Development: NALEO Educational Fund offers leadership development programs and training opportunities for emerging Latino leaders. These programs aim to strengthen the skills and knowledge of individuals interested in public service, equipping them with the tools necessary to run for office, serve their communities, and effect change.
Policy Research and Advocacy: The organization conducts research and analysis on issues that impact Latino communities and advocates for policies that address their needs. They work to ensure that the concerns and perspectives of Latinos are taken into account when formulating policies related to immigration, education, healthcare, economic opportunity, and other key areas.
Census and Redistricting: NALEO Educational Fund actively engages in efforts to promote the accurate counting of Latinos in the decennial census and advocates for fair and equitable redistricting processes. They provide resources and information to encourage Latino participation in the census, which plays a crucial role in determining political representation and the allocation of resources.
Technical Assistance and Training: The organization offers technical assistance and training to elected officials, community leaders, and organizations serving Latino communities. They provide guidance on effective governance, policy development, community engagement, and other aspects related to leadership and public service.

NALEO Educational Fund works collaboratively with various partners, including elected officials, community organizations, and academic institutions, to advance its goals and support the Latino community. Through their efforts, they aim to create a more inclusive and equitable democracy that reflects the diversity and interests of all Americans.

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes and protects civil rights and combating racial discrimination. Established in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy, the Lawyers' Committee operates with the goal of ensuring equal justice and equal opportunity for all.

The Lawyers' Committee engages in various activities and initiatives to advance its mission:

Legal Advocacy: The organization provides pro bono legal representation to individuals and groups facing discrimination and civil rights violations. They handle cases across various issues, including voting rights, educational equity, employment discrimination, fair housing, criminal justice reform, and hate crimes. The Lawyers' Committee litigates cases in federal and state courts to protect and enforce civil rights laws.
Election Protection: The Lawyers' Committee leads the Election Protection program, which is the nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition. Through this program, they work to ensure that all eligible voters have access to the polls, and that their votes are counted accurately. They provide voter education, voter assistance hotlines, and on-the-ground monitoring during elections to address voting rights violations and voter suppression.
Policy Advocacy: The Lawyers' Committee advocates for policies that promote civil rights and racial justice. They engage with policymakers, legislators, and government agencies to shape and influence legislation and policies that impact marginalized communities. They also provide expertise and analysis on civil rights issues to inform public discourse and decision-making processes.
Community Outreach and Education: The Lawyers' Committee conducts community outreach and education programs to empower individuals and communities with knowledge about their rights and how to address discrimination. They organize workshops, trainings, and educational campaigns to raise awareness about civil rights issues, promote civic engagement, and build partnerships with community organizations.
Research and Publications: The Lawyers' Committee conducts research, produces reports, and publishes resources that highlight the challenges faced by marginalized communities and offer recommendations for policy reform. Their publications provide data, analysis, and legal insights on racial profiling, criminal justice disparities, voting rights, and fair housing.

The Lawyers' Committee collaborates with a network of lawyers, law firms, and civil rights organizations to amplify their impact and extend their reach. They work on both national and local levels to address systemic inequalities and advocate for the rights of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups.

Arab American Institute

The Arab American Institute (AAI) is a non-profit organization based in the United States that focuses on representing and advocating for the Arab American community. Founded in 1985 by James Zogby, the AAI works to empower Arab Americans, promote their inclusion and integration into American society, and advocate for policies that address their concerns and interests.

The Arab American Institute engages in various activities to fulfill its mission:

Advocacy and Policy: AAI advocates for policies at the national level that advance the rights and interests of Arab Americans. They work with lawmakers, government agencies, and other organizations to promote policies related to civil rights, immigration, hate crimes, discrimination, education, and foreign policy issues affecting the Arab world.
Research and Publications: The AAI conducts research, produces reports, and publishes resources that provide insights into the experiences, challenges, and contributions of Arab Americans. They aim to provide accurate and nuanced information about the Arab American community to policymakers, the media, and the general public.
Leadership Development: The AAI works to foster leadership within the Arab American community by providing training and resources to individuals interested in public service, community organizing, and advocacy. They aim to empower Arab Americans to participate actively in political, civic, and community affairs.
Voter Mobilization and Engagement: The AAI conducts voter registration drives, educational campaigns, and outreach efforts to encourage Arab Americans to participate in the electoral process. They provide resources and information to ensure that Arab American voters are well-informed about the issues and candidates.
Public Education and Awareness: AAI conducts public education campaigns to raise awareness and promote understanding of the Arab American community and its contributions to American society. They strive to challenge stereotypes, combat discrimination, and promote a more inclusive and tolerant society.

The Arab American Institute also collaborates with other organizations, both within the Arab American community and across diverse communities, to advance common goals and address issues of mutual concern.

League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan political organization in the United States that was founded in 1920, just months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The LWV was initially formed to help women exercise their newly acquired voting rights, and it has since expanded its mission to promote active and informed participation in democracy for all citizens.

The League of Women Voters operates at the local, state, and national levels, with chapters across the country. Its activities and initiatives revolve around several key areas:

Voter Education: The LWV provides nonpartisan information and resources to educate voters about the electoral process, candidates, and issues. They organize candidate forums, publish voter guides, and conduct voter registration drives to ensure that citizens have the information they need to make informed decisions at the polls.
Advocacy and Policy Positions: The LWV takes positions on various policy issues based on thorough study and member consensus. These positions form the basis for the organization's advocacy efforts at all levels of government. The LWV advocates for policies that promote voter rights, social justice, environmental sustainability, healthcare access, education, and other issues aligned with its mission.
Voter Protection: The LWV is committed to protecting the voting rights of all citizens and works to combat voter suppression, promote fair redistricting processes, and ensure accessibility and integrity in elections. They monitor elections, provide resources on voting rights, and advocate for reforms that enhance the democratic process.
Civic Engagement: The LWV encourages citizens to engage in the democratic process beyond voting. They promote participation in community and public policy discussions, support grassroots organizing, and provide resources for individuals to become active in their local communities and government.
Public Education: The LWV conducts educational programs and events to inform the public about important issues, such as voter rights, redistricting, and government processes. They aim to empower citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to engage in democracy effectively.

The League of Women Voters is known for its nonpartisan approach, focusing on providing unbiased information and fostering civil discourse. While it does not endorse or support specific candidates or political parties, the LWV is actively engaged in promoting democracy and citizen participation.

ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that works to protect and defend individual civil liberties and constitutional rights. Founded in 1920, the ACLU has played a significant role in landmark legal cases and advocacy efforts that have shaped civil liberties and civil rights in the country.

The ACLU operates through a national office and affiliates across the United States. Its work focuses on various areas:

Litigation: The ACLU engages in litigation to protect civil liberties and constitutional rights. They often provide legal representation to individuals or groups whose rights have been violated and take on cases that have the potential to set legal precedents in areas such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant rights, privacy rights, and criminal justice reform.
Advocacy and Policy Reform: The ACLU advocates for policy reforms at the local, state, and federal levels. They lobby lawmakers, engage in public education campaigns, and work with grassroots organizations to shape legislation and policies that protect civil liberties and promote social justice. The ACLU also provides analysis and expertise on civil liberties issues to inform public discourse and policy debates.
Public Education and Awareness: The ACLU works to educate the public about civil liberties and constitutional rights. They provide resources, conduct public forums, publish reports, and organize events to raise awareness about issues such as voting rights, racial inequality, reproductive freedom, gender equality, surveillance, and other topics related to civil liberties and civil rights.
Community Engagement: The ACLU actively engages with communities, supporting and partnering with local organizations to address civil liberties issues at the grassroots level. They provide resources and assistance to individuals and groups seeking to protect their rights and organize campaigns that empower communities to take action.

The ACLU is committed to defending the principles of equality, justice, and freedom, and it takes on cases and initiatives regardless of political affiliation or ideology. Its work has had a significant impact on shaping constitutional law and protecting individual rights throughout the history of the United States.

State Voices

State Voices is a national nonprofit organization based in the United States that focuses on empowering grassroots organizations and building networks to enhance civic engagement and promote social and racial justice. Founded in 2008, State Voices works to strengthen democracy by connecting and supporting community-based organizations in states across the country.

State Voices carries out its mission through several key strategies and initiatives:

Coalition Building and Support: State Voices helps foster collaboration among diverse organizations, including community-based groups, advocacy organizations, and civic engagement entities. They provide support, resources, and technical assistance to these organizations to enhance their capacity for effective community organizing, voter engagement, and policy advocacy.
Civic Engagement: State Voices promotes civic engagement through voter registration, voter education, and Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) efforts. They work to increase voter turnout and ensure that all eligible individuals have access to the tools and information necessary to participate in the electoral process.
Data and Technology: State Voices provides data and technology tools to organizations in their network to support their work in civic engagement and community organizing. These tools help organizations streamline their efforts, target resources effectively, and analyze data for better decision-making.
Policy Advocacy: State Voices supports organizations in their advocacy efforts to address issues related to racial and social justice, voting rights, economic equity, and other key areas. They provide training, resources, and coordination to help organizations effectively advocate for policies that advance their communities' interests.
Leadership Development: State Voices invests in leadership development programs and training for emerging leaders from underrepresented communities. They provide opportunities for skill-building, strategic thinking, and collaboration, aiming to cultivate a diverse and inclusive pipeline of leaders who can drive change at local, state, and national levels.

State Voices operates in partnership with state-based tables, which are collaborative networks of organizations working together to achieve common goals. These state tables serve as hubs for coordination, information-sharing, and collaboration among diverse stakeholders within a particular state.

Fair Vote

FairVote is a nonprofit organization in the United States that advocates for electoral reforms to promote fair and representative democracy. Founded in 1992, FairVote focuses on advancing ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and other innovative electoral systems that aim to improve representation and voter engagement.

FairVote works towards its mission through several strategies and initiatives:

Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV): FairVote promotes the adoption of ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, in elections. RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, ensuring that winners are elected with majority support. This system eliminates the need for separate runoff elections and encourages candidates to appeal to a broader base of voters.
Proportional Representation (PR): FairVote advocates for proportional representation systems in legislative bodies. PR systems aim to allocate seats proportionally to the percentage of votes received by each political party or group, ensuring fair representation for diverse viewpoints. FairVote supports the use of multi-member districts, party-list systems, and other PR methods to achieve more accurate representation.
Redistricting Reform: FairVote works to address issues related to gerrymandering, the manipulation of district boundaries to favor a particular political party. They advocate for redistricting reforms that promote fairness, transparency, and citizen participation in the drawing of electoral districts. FairVote supports independent redistricting commissions and other mechanisms to mitigate partisan manipulation.
Public Education and Research: FairVote conducts research, produces reports, and provides educational resources to raise awareness about electoral systems and their impact on representation. They aim to educate policymakers, the media, and the public about the benefits of ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and other reforms that enhance democracy.
Advocacy and Partnerships: FairVote collaborates with grassroots organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advocate for electoral reforms. They engage in legislative advocacy, provide technical expertise, and build coalitions to advance their goals at the local, state, and national levels.

Spread the Vote

Spread the Vote is a nonprofit organization in the United States that focuses on helping individuals obtain the identification necessary to exercise their right to vote and access essential services. Founded in 2017, Spread the Vote operates with the belief that identification is a fundamental tool for empowerment and access to various opportunities.

Spread the Vote carries out its mission through several key initiatives and programs:

Voter ID Assistance: Spread the Vote helps eligible individuals navigate the often complex process of obtaining voter identification. They provide direct support by assisting individuals in gathering the required documentation, filling out application forms, and covering the costs associated with obtaining identification documents, such as birth certificates or state IDs.
Mobile Registration and Outreach: Spread the Vote operates mobile registration units that travel to communities, events, and locations where individuals may need assistance with voter registration and identification. Through these mobile units, they provide on-the-spot support, information, and resources to help individuals overcome barriers to obtaining identification and registering to vote.
Voter Education and Advocacy: Spread the Vote conducts voter education campaigns to raise awareness about voter ID laws, voter registration deadlines, and the importance of voting. They work to debunk myths and provide accurate information to combat voter suppression and ensure that all eligible individuals are informed about their rights and the steps required to participate in the electoral process.
ID Assistance for Essential Needs: Spread the Vote recognizes that identification is crucial for accessing essential services beyond voting, such as obtaining employment, housing, healthcare, and social services. They assist individuals in obtaining IDs that can help break down barriers to employment, housing stability, and accessing public benefits.
Volunteer and Community Engagement: Spread the Vote actively engages volunteers in their efforts to assist individuals with obtaining identification and voter registration. They provide training and support for volunteers who want to contribute their time and skills to help expand access to identification and promote voter participation. Spread the Vote also collaborates with local organizations and community leaders to reach individuals who may face challenges in obtaining identification.

Asian American Advancing Justice

Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice) is a national nonprofit organization based in the United States that focuses on civil rights advocacy and empowerment for Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders (AAPI), and other underserved communities. Advancing Justice works to address systemic discrimination, promote social justice, and ensure equal access to opportunities and resources.

Advancing Justice operates through five independent but affiliated organizations:

Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; AAJC: The Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; AAJC (AAJC) is based in Washington, D.C., and primarily focuses on policy advocacy, litigation, and community education. They work on a wide range of issues affecting AAPI communities, including voting rights, immigration, criminal justice reform, hate crimes, economic justice, and education.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Los Angeles: Based in Los Angeles, California, Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Los Angeles (Advancing Justice - LA) provides direct legal services, community education, and advocacy on civil rights issues. They address immigration, labor and employment, language access, housing, and other areas impacting AAPI communities in the greater Los Angeles area.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Atlanta: Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Atlanta (Advancing Justice - Atlanta) focuses on advocacy, civic engagement, and legal services for the AAPI community in the Southeastern United States. They work to address issues such as immigrant rights, voter protection, language access, and racial equity.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Chicago: Based in Chicago, Illinois, Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Chicago (Advancing Justice - Chicago) provides legal services, advocacy, and community education on various civil rights issues. They focus on immigrant rights, language access, hate crimes, and other issues impacting AAPI communities in the Midwest.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Asian Law Caucus: The Asian Americans Advancing Justice ; Asian Law Caucus (Advancing Justice - ALC) is based in San Francisco, California, and primarily focuses on legal services, community organizing, and policy advocacy. They address issues such as immigration, racial profiling, criminal justice reform, worker rights, and education equity.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Plastic Free July: Nonprofits Dedicated to Reducing Plastic Waste

This month is Plastic Free July, a global movement that began in 2011.

The event invites individuals and communities worldwide to take part in a challenge: to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics and make more sustainable choices throughout the month of July.

By participating in Plastic Free July, you are joining millions of people who are committed to creating a cleaner, healthier planet by tackling the pervasive issue of plastic pollution. This is an opportunity to raise awareness, inspire change, and discover creative alternatives to single-use plastics.

As part of the effort to reduce plastic waste, here is a list of nonprofits at the forefront of combatting the problems with the use of plastic.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is a non-profit organization launched in January 2019 to eliminate plastic waste and promote a circular economy for plastics. It is a global alliance of nearly 50 member companies across the plastics value chain, including chemical and plastic manufacturers, consumer goods companies, retailers, and waste management companies.

The alliance recognizes plastic waste as a pressing environmental issue requiring various stakeholders' collaborative action. Its members are committed to investing in and implementing solutions to help end plastic waste, particularly in the areas where it is most prevalent, such as in developing countries where waste management infrastructure may be lacking.

The alliance focuses on four strategic areas:

Infrastructure: The alliance aims to support the development of waste management systems and infrastructure in regions that are heavily affected by plastic waste. This includes promoting the collection, recycling, and proper disposal of plastic waste.
Innovation: The alliance seeks to facilitate the development of new technologies, business models, and materials that can help reduce plastic waste and enable the transition to a circular economy. This involves supporting research and development efforts and promoting collaboration among members and external partners.
Education and Engagement: The alliance recognizes the importance of raising awareness and changing behaviors to address the plastic waste issue. It supports educational initiatives and engages with governments, communities, and other stakeholders to promote responsible plastic use and waste management practices.
Clean-up: The alliance is committed to supporting and participating in projects and initiatives that aim to remove plastic waste from the environment. This includes beach clean-ups, river clean-ups, and other activities aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in oceans and waterways.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has committed over $1.5 billion to its mission over a period of five years (2019-2023). It collaborates with governments, NGOs, and other organizations to maximize its impact and drive systemic change in how plastics are used and managed worldwide.

The Story of Stuff Project

The Story of Stuff Project is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that aims to raise awareness and inspire action on consumption, sustainability, and social and environmental justice issues. The organization was founded by Annie Leonard in 2007, following the success of her viral online video called "The Story of Stuff," which explored the lifecycle of material goods and their impact on the planet.

The Story of Stuff Project uses storytelling, multimedia, and educational resources to engage and inform people about the environmental and social impacts of our consumption patterns. They believe that understanding the interconnectedness of systems, such as production, consumption, and waste, is crucial for creating a more sustainable and just society.

The organization focuses on various thematic areas, including:

Consumerism: The Story of Stuff Project examines the negative consequences of excessive consumerism, such as overconsumption, waste generation, and depletion of natural resources. They encourage individuals to rethink their consumption habits and make more sustainable choices.
Plastics and Pollution: The organization addresses the issue of plastic pollution and its impact on the environment and human health. They advocate for reducing single-use plastics, promoting recycling and waste management practices, and supporting policies prioritizing environmental sustainability.
Climate Change: The Story of Stuff Project highlights the connection between our consumption patterns and climate change. They aim to educate people about the carbon footprint of different products and advocate for systemic changes that prioritize renewable energy and sustainable practices.
Social and Environmental Justice: The organization emphasizes the importance of social and environmental justice in achieving a sustainable future. They explore issues such as fair trade, workers' rights, environmental racism, and the impacts of extractive industries on marginalized communities.

The Story of Stuff Project provides educational materials, including videos, lesson plans, and guides for free on their website. They also engage in advocacy efforts, collaborate with other organizations, and promote grassroots initiatives that align with their mission.

Plastic Oceans International

Plastic Oceans International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans and working towards finding solutions to address this global problem.

The organization was founded in 2009 by Jo Ruxton and Craig Leeson, following the production of their award-winning documentary film, "A Plastic Ocean."

Plastic Oceans International focuses on the following key areas:

Education and Advocacy: The organization aims to educate individuals, communities, and decision-makers about the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems and human health. They engage in advocacy efforts to promote policy changes and initiatives that reduce plastic waste and promote sustainable practices.
Scientific Research: Plastic Oceans International supports and conducts scientific research to better understand the extent and consequences of plastic pollution in the world's oceans. They collaborate with scientists, universities, and research institutions to gather data and provide evidence-based solutions.
Film and Media: Building on their documentary film, Plastic Oceans International uses film and media as powerful tools to raise awareness and inspire action. They produce films, documentaries, and short videos that highlight the issue of plastic pollution and its impact on marine life and ecosystems.
Youth Engagement: The organization recognizes the importance of involving and empowering young people in the fight against plastic pollution. They develop educational programs and initiatives that engage students and youth organizations to create awareness, inspire behavioral change, and foster future environmental leaders.
Corporate Engagement: Plastic Oceans International works with businesses and corporations to promote sustainable practices, reduce plastic waste in their operations, and support the development of innovative solutions. They collaborate with companies to raise awareness and develop sustainable business models that minimize plastic pollution.

Through its various initiatives and partnerships, Plastic Oceans International seeks to inspire individuals, organizations, and governments to take action and implement long-term solutions to reduce and ultimately eliminate plastic pollution.

Ocean Blue Project

The Ocean Blue Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the health of the world's oceans and waterways.

Founded in 2012 by Richard and Shelly Timeus, the organization is based in the United States and operates globally.

The Ocean Blue Project focuses on several key areas:

Beach and River Cleanup: The organization organizes and leads beach and river cleanup events to remove trash and debris from coastal areas and waterways. They engage volunteers in these cleanup efforts, raising awareness about the impact of marine pollution and promoting responsible waste management practices.
Ecological Restoration: The Ocean Blue Project implements projects to restore and rehabilitate coastal ecosystems, such as dunes, wetlands, and estuaries. By undertaking habitat restoration initiatives, they aim to improve the health and resilience of marine ecosystems and promote biodiversity.
Water Quality Monitoring: The organization conducts water quality testing and monitoring programs to assess various water bodies' health and pollution levels. This data helps identify areas of concern and supports advocacy efforts for improved water quality standards and pollution prevention.
Education and Outreach: The Ocean Blue Project strongly emphasizes education and community outreach. They develop educational programs, workshops, and presentations to raise awareness about the importance of ocean conservation and sustainable practices. They also collaborate with schools and community organizations to engage and inspire future generations to become ocean stewards.
Research and Innovation: The organization supports initiatives to understand and address ocean health challenges. They collaborate with scientists and researchers to develop innovative solutions and technologies that promote conservation and restoration efforts.

The Ocean Blue Project relies on volunteers, partnerships, and donations to accomplish its mission. They encourage individuals and communities to get involved through volunteering, participating in cleanup events, and supporting their initiatives.

The Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup is a nonprofit organization founded in 2013 by Dutch inventor and entrepreneur Boyan Slat. The organization aims to develop advanced technologies to remove plastic pollution from the world's oceans.

The Ocean Cleanup focuses on the following key areas:

System Development: The organization designs and develops systems and technologies to remove ocean plastic waste. Their flagship project, "System 001," also known as "The Interceptor," is an autonomous floating device that uses the ocean's natural currents to collect and concentrate plastic debris for extraction.
Research and Development: The Ocean Cleanup invests in research and development efforts to continually improve its systems and technologies. They collaborate with scientists, engineers, and oceanographers to better understand the dynamics of plastic pollution and develop innovative solutions.
Deployment and Cleanup Operations: The organization conducts deployment and cleanup operations in areas heavily affected by plastic pollution. They target oceanic gyres, where plastic debris accumulates due to ocean currents. By strategically deploying their systems, they aim to intercept and remove large amounts of plastic waste.
Recycling and Sustainability: The Ocean Cleanup recognizes the importance of recycling and sustainable waste management practices. They explore ways to efficiently process and recycle the collected plastic waste to prevent it from re-entering the ocean. They also advocate for sustainable practices, raise awareness about the need to reduce single-use plastics and promote a circular economy.

The Ocean Cleanup's work has gained significant attention and support globally. They rely on a combination of private donations, corporate sponsorships, and partnerships to fund their operations and research efforts. They aim to clean up existing plastic pollution and contribute to long-term solutions that prevent further accumulation of plastic waste in the oceans.

Plastic Tides

Plastic Tides is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about plastic pollution and promotes solutions through adventure, education, and community engagement.

The organization was founded in 2013 by Christian Shaw and Gordon Middleton, two outdoor enthusiasts who were inspired to take action after witnessing the extent of plastic pollution during a stand-up paddleboarding expedition.

Plastic Tides focuses on three primary areas:

Adventure: The organization uses stand-up paddleboarding and other adventure-based activities as a platform to explore, document, and raise awareness about plastic pollution in waterways. They embark on expeditions in various locations, showcasing plastic pollution's environmental and human health impacts.
Education: Plastic Tides is committed to educating communities, schools, and individuals about the issue of plastic pollution and the importance of adopting sustainable practices. They offer educational programs, workshops, and presentations focusing on plastic pollution prevention, waste reduction, and promoting a circular economy.
Community Engagement: The organization emphasizes the power of community action in addressing plastic pollution. They collaborate with local communities, businesses, and organizations to organize clean-up events, promote sustainable practices, and inspire collective efforts to reduce plastic waste. Plastic Tides also encourages individuals to become "Plastic Tides Ambassadors" who champion the cause in their own communities.

Through their programs and initiatives, Plastic Tides aims to inspire behavior change, promote eco-conscious lifestyles, and drive advocacy for policy changes related to plastic waste management and pollution prevention. They work closely with partners and volunteers to amplify their impact and reach a broader audience.

Post Landfill Action Network

The Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that empowers students and campuses to create zero-waste communities.

Founded in 2013 by Alex Freid, PLAN's mission is to catalyze a student-led movement that prevents waste generation, promotes sustainable consumption, and encourages the reuse and recycling of materials.

PLAN operates through three core strategies:

Student Empowerment: The organization provides resources, training, and support to student leaders on college campuses to help them implement sustainable waste management practices. They offer guidance on waste reduction, recycling, composting, and establishing student-run enterprises that promote reuse and repair.
Networking and Collaboration: PLAN connects student leaders, campuses, and sustainability organizations to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. They organize conferences, workshops, and networking events where students and sustainability professionals can exchange ideas, learn from each other's experiences, and develop strategies for waste reduction and sustainability initiatives.
Campaigns and Advocacy: PLAN runs various campaigns to raise awareness and advocate for systemic change related to waste reduction and sustainable practices. They work on single-use plastics, food waste, and the circular economy. Their campaigns aim to engage and mobilize students and communities to drive policy changes and influence industry practices.

PLAN's efforts have resulted in the creation of student-led initiatives and programs on campuses across the United States and beyond. These initiatives include zero-waste programs, sustainable move-out programs, thrift stores, and campus composting systems.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Juneteenth: Nonprofits Celebrating Freedom and Embracing Unity

Each year on June 19th, a significant celebration takes place across the United States, commemorating a pivotal moment in the nation's history and the ongoing pursuit of freedom and equality.

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, marks the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and stands as a testament to the resilience and strength of a community that has faced centuries of adversity.

Juneteenth serves as a potent reminder of the long journey toward freedom and the unyielding spirit of African Americans throughout history. It is a day to honor the strength and resilience of those who endured the harsh realities of bondage while also recognizing the progress made since that momentous day in Texas. Today, Juneteenth has expanded beyond its regional origins to become a nationally recognized holiday, symbolizing the ongoing struggle for civil rights and equality for all.

As we commemorate Juneteenth, it is crucial to recognize its historical significance and acknowledge the ongoing work needed to dismantle systemic racism.

Join us as we support the nonprofits and organizations that champion Juneteenth, honoring the struggles, triumphs, and resilience of African Americans and their unwavering commitment to freedom.

Equal Justice Initiative

The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a nonprofit legal organization that seeks to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, challenge racial and economic injustice and protect basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in society. EJI was founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights lawyer who has dedicated his career to fighting for justice for the poor and the marginalized.

EJI Programs and Initiatives

Direct representation: EJI lawyers represent people on death row, in death penalty cases, and in other criminal cases. EJI also provides legal representation to people who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
Investigations: EJI conducts investigations into racial and economic injustice, including the legacy of slavery and segregation, the death penalty, and mass incarceration. EJI's investigations have led to the closure of death row in Alabama and the release of dozens of people who were wrongfully convicted.
Public education: EJI works to educate the public about the issues of mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial and economic injustice. EJI publishes reports, articles, and books on these issues, and it also offers training and workshops to lawyers, law students, and other professionals.
Policy advocacy: EJI advocates for reforms to the criminal justice system. EJI has worked to pass legislation that would end the death penalty, reform the bail system, and reduce the number of people in prison.

EJI has been recognized for its work with numerous awards, including the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" and the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Award. EJI is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, and it has offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and New York City.

EJI's accomplishments

EJI has won over 200 exonerations of people who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
EJI has helped to close death row in Alabama.
EJI has helped to pass legislation that would end the death penalty, reform the bail system, and reduce the number of people in prison.
EJI has educated the public about the issues of mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial and economic injustice.

EJI is a leading voice in the fight for justice for the poor and the marginalized. EJI's work is making a real difference in the lives of people who have been affected by mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial and economic injustice.

The Juneteenth Foundation

The Juneteenth Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 2020 to build a movement to recognize Juneteenth and celebrate the excellence of Black culture and freedom. The foundation's mission is to "create a platform for the nation to come together to celebrate Juneteenth and host one of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in America."

The Juneteenth Foundation hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including the Juneteenth Honors, an upscale awards show that brings together African American culture's biggest names in music, sports, film, and philanthropy; the Juneteenth Celebrity Golf Tournament, which raises funds for scholarships and youth STEM programming; and the Juneteenth Freedom Festival, a week-long celebration of Juneteenth that includes concerts, speeches, and educational events.

The Juneteenth Foundation also works to educate the public about the history and significance of Juneteenth. The foundation's website provides information about the history of Juneteenth, as well as resources for teaching about Juneteenth in schools.

The Juneteenth Foundation is a valuable resource for those who want to learn more about Juneteenth and celebrate the excellence of Black culture and freedom. The foundation's work is helping to ensure that Juneteenth is recognized and celebrated as a national holiday.

The Juneteenth Foundation Accomplishments

In 2021, Juneteenth was nationally recognized and celebrated for the first time ever as a federal holiday in the United States and around the world.
The foundation has hosted a number of successful events, including the Juneteenth Honors, the Juneteenth Celebrity Golf Tournament, and the Juneteenth Freedom Festival.
The foundation has worked to educate the public about the history and significance of Juneteenth.
The foundation has raised funds for scholarships and youth STEM programming.

The Juneteenth Foundation is a valuable organization that is making a positive impact on the lives of Black Americans. The foundation's work is helping to ensure that Juneteenth is recognized and celebrated as a national holiday, and that the history and significance of Juneteenth is known by all.

Emancipation Park Conservancy

The Emancipation Park Conservancy is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2014 to restore, manage, and enhance Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. The park is a historic site that was founded in 1872 by freed slaves. It is the oldest public park in Houston and is one of the most important cultural landmarks in the city.

Emancipation Park Conservancy Goals

To restore the park's historic structures and grounds.
To create a safe and welcoming environment for all park visitors.
To provide educational programs and events that celebrate the park's history and culture.
To raise funds to support the park's ongoing maintenance and operations.

The Conservancy has made significant progress in achieving its goals. The park's historic structures have been restored, and the grounds have been improved. The park is now a safe and welcoming environment for all visitors, and it hosts a variety of educational programs and events throughout the year. The Conservancy has also raised significant funds to support the park's ongoing maintenance and operations.

The Emancipation Park Conservancy is a valuable asset to the Houston community. The park is a beautiful and historic place that is important to the city's history and culture. The Conservancy is working hard to preserve the park and make it a vibrant and welcoming space for all.

Emancipation Park Conservancy's Accomplishments

Restored the park's historic structures, including the Emancipation Oak, the Freedman's Hall, and the Emancipation Monument.
Improved the park's grounds, including the installation of new playground equipment, a walking trail, and a picnic area.
Created a safe and welcoming environment for all park visitors, including the installation of security cameras and the hiring of security guards.
Provided educational programs and events that celebrate the park's history and culture, including the Juneteenth Freedom Festival and the Emancipation Park Lecture Series.
Raised significant funds to support the park's ongoing maintenance and operations.

The Emancipation Park Conservancy is a vital organization that is making a real difference in the lives of Houstonians. The Conservancy's work is helping to preserve a historic landmark, create a safe and welcoming space for all, and celebrate the city's rich history and culture.

Advancement Project

Advancement Project is a non-profit civil rights organization that works to dismantle systemic racism in the United States. The organization was founded in 1999 by Constance L. Rice, Penda Hair, and Wade Henderson.

Advancement Project Programs and Initiatives

Voting rights: Advancement Project works to protect the right to vote for all Americans, particularly people of color. The organization has challenged voter ID laws, fought to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions, and worked to increase voter turnout among minority communities.
Education: Advancement Project works to ensure that all children have access to a quality education, regardless of their race or zip code. The organization has challenged school funding inequities, fought to end the school-to-prison pipeline, and worked to improve teacher quality in minority schools.
Criminal justice: Advancement Project works to reform the criminal justice system, which disproportionately incarcerates people of color. The organization has challenged mass incarceration, fought against racial profiling, and worked to reform the bail system.
Economic justice: Advancement Project works to promote economic opportunity for all Americans, particularly people of color. The organization has challenged discriminatory lending practices, fought for fair wages, and worked to increase access to affordable housing.

Advancement Project has been successful in achieving a number of its goals. For example, the organization played a key role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 2006, which expanded the right to vote for millions of Americans. Advancement Project has also won a number of landmark cases in the areas of education, criminal justice, and economic justice.

Advancement Project is a leading voice in the fight for racial justice in the United States. The organization's work is making a real difference in the lives of people of color.

National Black Women’s Justice Institute

The National Black Women's Justice Institute (NBWJI) is a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of Black women and girls through advocacy, research, and public education. The organization was founded in 1998 by Nkechi Taifa and Kimberlé Crenshaw.

NBWJI Programs and Initiatives

Advocacy: NBWJI advocates for policies that improve the lives of Black women and girls. The organization has worked to pass legislation that would reform the criminal justice system, expand access to healthcare, and increase economic opportunities for Black women.
Research: NBWJI conducts research on the issues that impact Black women and girls. The organization has published reports on topics such as mass incarceration, domestic violence, and economic inequality.
Public education: NBWJI educates the public about the issues that impact Black women and girls. The organization offers trainings and workshops to lawyers, policymakers, and the general public.

NBWJI has been successful in achieving a number of its goals. For example, the organization played a key role in the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, which expanded protections for victims of domestic violence. NBWJI has also published a number of groundbreaking reports on the issues that impact Black women and girls.

NBWJI is a leading voice in the fight for justice for Black women and girls. The organization's work is making a real difference in the lives of Black women and girls.

NBWJI's accomplishments

Played a key role in the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, which expanded protections for victims of domestic violence.
Published a number of groundbreaking reports on the issues that impact Black women and girls, including "Black Women in the Criminal Justice System: A National Overview" and "Black Women's Lives Matter: The Criminalization of Black Women."
Conducted research on the issues that impact Black women and girls, including mass incarceration, domestic violence, and economic inequality.
Educated the public about the issues that impact Black women and girls, offering trainings and workshops to lawyers, policymakers, and the general public.

NBWJI is a vital organization that is making a real difference in the lives of Black women and girls. The organization's work is helping to improve the lives of Black women and girls in a number of ways, including by advocating for policies that improve their lives, conducting research on the issues that impact them, and educating the public about the issues that impact them.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas, and grew up in Los Angeles. He began dancing at a young age and studied with Lester Horton, Martha Graham, and other leading choreographers. In 1958, he founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater with a group of dancers from the New York City Ballet. The company quickly became one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world, and Ailey himself became one of the most celebrated choreographers of his generation.

Ailey's choreography was deeply rooted in the African-American experience, but it also spoke to a universal audience. His works were often based on African-American spirituals and folk tales, but they also explored themes of love, loss, and hope. Ailey's choreography was also known for its athleticism and its use of jazz and blues music.

In addition to his work as a choreographer, Ailey was also a passionate advocate for the arts. He founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in 1969 to provide training for young dancers, and he also established the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (now Ailey II) in 1974 to give opportunities to emerging dancers.

Ailey died in 1989 at the age of 58. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to tour the world, and it remains one of the most important dance companies in the world.

Ailey's Most Famous Works

Revelations (1960): This iconic work is a celebration of the African-American experience. It is set to spirituals and gospel music and is full of powerful imagery.
Cry (1971): This work is a solo for a female dancer. It is set to music by Duke Ellington and is a powerful exploration of the pain and joy of the African-American experience.
Night Creature (1975): This work is a celebration of the beauty of the African-American body. It is set to music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and is full of vibrant movement.

Ailey's work has had a profound impact on the world of dance. He was a pioneer in the field of modern dance, and his work helped to bring African-American dance to the forefront of the American cultural landscape. His legacy continues to inspire dancers and audiences around the world.

National Coalition on Black Civic Participation

The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to increase civic engagement and voter participation among African Americans. The NCBCP was founded in 1970 by a group of civil rights leaders, including the late Congressman John Lewis.

NCBCP Programs and Initiatives

Voter registration: The NCBCP works to register African Americans to vote. The organization has registered millions of African Americans to vote since its founding.
Voter education: The NCBCP provides voter education to African Americans. The organization offers training and workshops on how to register to vote, how to vote, and how to make informed voting decisions.
Voter mobilization: The NCBCP mobilizes African Americans to vote. The organization works to get African Americans to the polls on Election Day.
Research: The NCBCP conducts research on the issues that impact African American voter participation. The organization's research helps to inform the organization's work and the work of other organizations that are working to increase African American voter participation.
Advocacy: The NCBCP advocates for policies that make it easier for African Americans to vote. The organization works to pass legislation that would expand early voting, same-day registration, and automatic voter registration.

The NCBCP has been successful in increasing African American voter participation. In the 2020 presidential election, African American voter turnout reached a record high of 66%. The NCBCP's work is helping to ensure that African Americans have a voice in the political process.

NCBCP's Accomplishments

Registered millions of African Americans to vote.
Provided voter education to millions of African Americans.
Mobilized millions of African Americans to vote.
Conducted research on the issues that impact African American voter participation.
Advocated for policies that make it easier for African Americans to vote.

The NCBCP is a leading voice in the fight for African American voter participation. The organization's work is making a real difference in the lives of African Americans.

Race Forward

Race Forward is a non-profit organization that works to advance racial justice. The organization was founded in 1981 by Gary Delgado and is headquartered in Oakland, California.

Race Forward Programs and Initiatives

Reporting and analysis: Race Forward produces reports and analyses on racial justice issues. The organization's reports are used by policymakers, journalists, and activists to inform their work.
Training and education: Race Forward provides training and education on racial justice issues. The organization's training are designed to help people understand the history of racism in the United States and how to work for racial justice.
Advocacy: Race Forward advocates for policies that advance racial justice. The organization works to pass legislation that would address racial disparities in areas such as education, housing, and criminal justice.

Race Forward has been successful in advancing racial justice. The organization has played a key role in the passage of legislation that would address racial disparities in areas such as education, housing, and criminal justice. Race Forward's work has also helped to raise awareness of racial justice issues and to build a movement for racial justice.

Race Forward's Accomplishments

Played a key role in the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity between the sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses.
Published the report "The War on Drugs by the Numbers," which documented the disproportionate impact of the war on drugs on communities of color.
Organized the "Black Lives Matter" movement, which has raised awareness of police violence against Black people.

Race Forward is a leading voice in the fight for racial justice. The organization's work is making a real difference in the lives of people of color.

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a non-profit legal advocacy organization that specializes in civil rights and public interest litigation. The SPLC was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees, Joseph Levin, and Julian Bond.

SPLC Programs and Initiatives

Legal advocacy: The SPLC litigates cases that challenge discrimination and hate crimes. The organization has won a number of landmark cases, including the case that led to the desegregation of public schools in Alabama.
Public education: The SPLC educates the public about the dangers of hate and extremism. The organization publishes reports, articles, and educational materials on a variety of topics, including white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.
Training and support: The SPLC provides training and support to individuals and organizations that are working to fight hate and extremism. The organization offers trainings on a variety of topics, including how to respond to hate crimes, how to build a community of resistance, and how to use social media to fight hate.

The SPLC has been successful in challenging discrimination and hate crimes. The organization has won a number of landmark cases, and its work has helped to raise awareness of the dangers of hate and extremism.

SPLC's Accomplishments

Won the case that led to the desegregation of public schools in Alabama.
Exposed the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.
Helped to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Educated the public about the dangers of hate and extremism.
Provided training and support to individuals and organizations that are working to fight hate and extremism.

The SPLC is a leading voice in the fight against hate and extremism. The organization's work is making a real difference in the lives of people who are targeted by hate and extremism.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Embracing Humanity: World Refugee Day Nonprofits to Support

As the world continues to grapple with a myriad of challenges, one issue stands as a constant reminder of the fragility and strength of the human spirit: the global refugee crisis.

On World Refugee Day, marked annually on June 20th, we pause to acknowledge the millions of individuals who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, or violence. It is a day that both commemorates the resilience of those who have sought refuge and encourages us to come together as a global community to address their plight.

In recent years, the world has witnessed an alarming increase in forced displacement, with the number of refugees reaching a staggering record of more than 82 million people by the end of 2020. This crisis knows no boundaries and affects every corner of the globe, demanding urgent attention and compassion from governments, organizations, and individuals alike.

However, amidst the enormity of the challenge, there is a silver lining: the countless acts of kindness, generosity, and solidarity that have emerged from communities around the world. World Refugee Day is an occasion to celebrate the inspiring resilience of refugees while acknowledging the collective efforts made to support and integrate them into new societies.

World Refugee Day calls upon us to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and build bridges of empathy and understanding. It prompts us to reflect on the shared values that connect us all as human beings and compels us to take action towards creating a world that offers safety, dignity, and opportunities for those in need.

Join us in this exploration of compassion, resilience, and the power of human connection as we come together to observe World Refugee Day and work towards a more inclusive and just world.

Check out these nonprofits at the forefront of helping refugees receive life-changing provisions and shelter.

International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a renowned global humanitarian organization dedicated to providing emergency aid, relief, and long-term support to individuals and communities affected by conflict, persecution, and natural disasters. Established in 1933 at the request of renowned physicist Albert Einstein, the IRC has been at the forefront of responding to humanitarian crises worldwide, helping millions of people rebuild their lives and regain their independence.

The IRC operates in over 40 countries, offering a wide range of services that address the immediate needs of affected populations while also focusing on sustainable solutions and empowerment.

International Rescue Committee Key Areas

Emergency Response: The IRC swiftly responds to crises, delivering life-saving assistance such as emergency shelter, clean water, healthcare, and protection to those affected by conflict or natural disasters.
Health and Nutrition: The IRC provides critical healthcare services, including primary healthcare, reproductive health, nutrition programs, and the prevention and treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria.
Education: Recognizing the transformative power of education, the IRC establishes safe learning environments, supports access to quality education, and offers innovative programs to help children and youth affected by crises regain a sense of normalcy and hope for the future.
Economic Empowerment: The IRC promotes economic self-reliance through various initiatives, including vocational training, entrepreneurship programs, and support for small businesses, aiming to rebuild livelihoods and enhance the economic well-being of individuals and communities.
Women's Protection and Empowerment: The IRC is committed to addressing gender-based violence, promoting gender equality, and empowering women and girls in crisis-affected areas. They provide safe spaces, counseling, legal assistance, and economic support to survivors of violence.
Advocacy and Policy: In addition to its direct service provision, the IRC advocates for policies and practices that protect the rights and well-being of refugees and displaced persons. They work with governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to influence positive change on a global scale.

The IRC's impact is felt across the globe, providing essential support to refugees, internally displaced persons, and host communities. By prioritizing collaboration, innovation, and long-term solutions, the IRC strives to create lasting change and enable individuals and communities to rebuild their lives and achieve self-sufficiency.

USAHello

USAHello, formerly known as The Welcome to America Project, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers in the United States. Founded in 2001, USAHello provides online resources, education, and community support to help newcomers successfully integrate into American society and thrive.

The organization recognizes the unique challenges faced by refugees and immigrants as they navigate the complex process of resettlement and cultural adaptation. USAHello aims to bridge the gaps in knowledge, resources, and opportunities by offering a comprehensive range of multilingual and culturally sensitive services.

One of the primary offerings of USAHello is their online platform, which serves as a central hub for information and tools tailored to the needs of newcomers.

The USAHello platform provides a wealth of resources, including:

language courses
educational materials
employment guidance
legal support
health information

USAHello's educational initiatives play a crucial role in empowering refugees and immigrants to succeed in their new environment. They offer English language courses that cater to different proficiency levels, helping individuals improve their language skills and enhance their communication abilities. Additionally, USAHello provides comprehensive educational resources for children, adults, and educators, fostering learning opportunities and facilitating academic integration.

Recognizing the importance of community support, USAHello actively connects newcomers with local communities and volunteers through their online platform. They facilitate mentorship programs, cultural exchange events, and networking opportunities, promoting social connections and fostering a sense of belonging.

Save the Children

Save the Children is a renowned nonprofit organization that has been dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide for over 100 years.

Founded in 1919, in the aftermath of World War I, Save the Children's mission is to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow up healthy, educated, and safe.

The organization operates in over 100 countries, working tirelessly to address the unique needs and challenges faced by children living in poverty, conflict zones, and areas affected by natural disasters. Save the Children believes that every child deserves the right to survival, protection, development, and participation, and they strive to uphold these rights in all their programs and advocacy efforts.

Save the Children's Areas of Focus

Child Survival and Health: The organization provides life-saving interventions to reduce child mortality and improve the overall health and well-being of children. They focus on essential healthcare services, nutrition programs, immunizations, and maternal and newborn care.
Education and Child Development: Save the Children recognizes the transformative power of education and invests in initiatives that ensure access to quality education for all children. They establish schools, support early childhood development, promote literacy, and advocate for inclusive and equitable education systems.
Child Protection: Save the Children is committed to safeguarding children from all forms of abuse, exploitation, and violence. They work to prevent and respond to child trafficking, child marriage, child labor, and other violations of children's rights, while also promoting child-friendly justice systems.
Emergency Response: When disasters strike, Save the Children is at the forefront of emergency response efforts. They provide immediate assistance, including food, shelter, healthcare, and protection services, to children and families affected by conflicts, natural disasters, and other humanitarian crises.
Advocacy and Policy: Save the Children advocates for policies and practices that prioritize children's rights and well-being at local, national, and international levels. They collaborate with governments, civil society organizations, and communities to shape policies, raise awareness, and promote positive change for children.

The organization's work is guided by the principles of accountability, transparency, and efficiency, ensuring that resources are utilized effectively to maximize impact. Save the Children also actively collaborates with local partners and communities, recognizing the importance of local knowledge and ownership in creating sustainable change.

Save the Children's commitment to the world's most vulnerable children continues to drive their efforts to build a better future. By advocating for children's rights, providing vital services, and empowering communities, they strive to create a world where every child can thrive, regardless of their circumstances.

Lutheran Services in America

Lutheran Services in America (LSA) is a network of Lutheran social ministry organizations dedicated to serving individuals, families, and communities across the United States.

LSA represents over 300 member organizations, including health care providers, senior services, child welfare agencies, disability support services, and other nonprofit entities. These organizations collectively provide a wide range of social services and support to millions of people in need.

The roots of Lutheran social ministry in the United States can be traced back to the mid-19th century when Lutheran churches established orphanages, hospitals, and other charitable institutions to care for the vulnerable and underserved. Over time, these individual efforts grew into a network of organizations working under the umbrella of LSA.

LSA member organizations are guided by Lutheran values, including a commitment to compassion, justice, and service. They strive to address the holistic needs of individuals and communities, providing support in areas such as healthcare, education, employment, housing, refugee resettlement, disaster response, and more.

LSA's collective impact spans across diverse populations, including children, youth, families, older adults, individuals with disabilities, refugees and immigrants, and those experiencing poverty or homelessness.

In addition to direct service provision, LSA serves as a platform for collaboration, learning, and advocacy. The organization facilitates knowledge sharing among its members, fostering innovation and best practices in the field of social ministry. LSA also advocates for policies and funding that promote social justice and strengthen the social safety net, ensuring that the needs of vulnerable populations are recognized and addressed at local, state, and national levels.

LSA is committed to promoting inclusivity and diversity within its network and its service delivery. It embraces the richness of different cultures, perspectives, and experiences, recognizing that diversity strengthens its collective ability to make a positive impact.

Home for Refugees

Home for Refugees USA is a faith-based nonprofit organization that advocates for resettlement assistance and creates community relationships for ongoing support to help alleviate our worldwide displacement crisis. They are an independent organization, financially supported by private community donations.

Home for Refugees USA works with refugee resettlement agencies to provide refugees with the support they need to rebuild their lives in the United States. This includes providing financial assistance, help with finding housing and employment, and access to healthcare and education. Home for Refugees USA also works to build community relationships with refugees and their families, and to educate the public about the refugee crisis.

In addition to their resettlement work, Home for Refugees USA also advocates for policies that will help refugees and asylum seekers. They work to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and to urge the government to increase the number of refugees admitted to the United States each year.

Home for Refugees USA is committed to providing refugees with the support they need to rebuild their lives in the United States. They believe that refugees are an asset to our country, and they are working to create a more welcoming and inclusive society for all.

Ways you can help Home for Refugees USA:

Donate money to support their work
Volunteer your time to help refugees
Advocate for policies that will help refugees and asylum seekers
Educate yourself and others about the refugee crisis

Home for Refugees USA is making a difference in the lives of refugees around the world. With your help, they can continue to provide the support that refugees need to rebuild their lives.

Islamic Relief USA

Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) is a prominent humanitarian organization that operates in the United States, providing assistance and support to individuals and communities affected by poverty, disasters, and emergencies, both domestically and internationally.

Established in 1993, Islamic Relief USA is an independent, nonprofit organization that is part of the global Islamic Relief Worldwide network.

The mission of Islamic Relief USA is to alleviate suffering, promote sustainable development, and empower individuals and communities to overcome challenges and improve their well-being. The organization's work is guided by Islamic values of compassion, service, and social justice, while also embracing principles of accountability, transparency, and collaboration.

IRUSA programs and initiatives

Emergency Relief: Islamic Relief USA responds swiftly to emergencies and disasters, providing life-saving assistance such as food, clean water, shelter, healthcare, and essential supplies to affected populations. They work to restore dignity and rebuild lives in the aftermath of crises.
Development Projects: IRUSA implements sustainable development projects aimed at eradicating poverty and empowering communities. These initiatives focus on areas such as education, healthcare, livelihoods, water and sanitation, and infrastructure development. The organization places a strong emphasis on long-term solutions that create lasting positive change.
Orphan Support: Islamic Relief USA supports vulnerable orphans by providing access to education, healthcare, and essential support services. Through their orphan sponsorship program, they offer financial assistance and guidance to ensure that children in need have the opportunity to grow and thrive.
Refugee Assistance: IRUSA is committed to supporting refugees and displaced persons, both internationally and within the United States. They provide essential services, including healthcare, education, livelihood support, and psychosocial care, helping refugees rebuild their lives and integrate into new communities.
Advocacy and Education: Islamic Relief USA engages in advocacy efforts to raise awareness about global humanitarian issues, promote social justice, and advocate for policies that address the root causes of poverty and inequality. They also organize educational programs and campaigns to foster understanding, empathy, and compassion within communities.

US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and well-being of refugees, immigrants, and other vulnerable populations in the United States.

Founded in 1911, USCRI has a long history of providing support, protection, and opportunities for those fleeing persecution, violence, and hardships around the world.

US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Key Areas

Refugee Resettlement: USCRI is actively involved in the resettlement process of refugees arriving in the United States. The organization works with government agencies, communities, and local partners to provide essential services such as housing, employment support, language training, cultural orientation, and access to healthcare, helping refugees rebuild their lives and achieve self-sufficiency.
Immigrant Integration: USCRI recognizes the importance of immigrant integration and supports initiatives that promote successful integration into American society. This includes providing language classes, employment assistance, education programs, and social services to immigrants, enabling them to fully participate in their communities and realize their potential.
Child and Family Services: USCRI prioritizes the well-being and protection of children and families. The organization offers a range of services that address the unique needs of refugee and immigrant children, including foster care, adoption, family reunification, and support for unaccompanied minors. USCRI advocates for policies that safeguard the rights and best interests of children in migration.
Policy Advocacy and Research: USCRI plays an active role in advocating for policies that promote refugee and immigrant rights, fairness, and inclusivity. The organization conducts research, produces reports, and engages with policymakers and stakeholders to influence positive change in immigration and refugee-related policies at the national and local levels.
Anti-Trafficking Efforts: USCRI works to combat human trafficking by raising awareness, providing support services to survivors, and advocating for stronger anti-trafficking policies and practices. The organization collaborates with law enforcement, service providers, and communities to prevent trafficking and protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation.

USCRI recognizes the value and contributions that refugees and immigrants bring to American society and strives to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. By providing critical support, advocating for policy reforms, and promoting social cohesion, USCRI works towards a more compassionate and equitable society that embraces and supports refugees and immigrants.

No One Left Behind (NOLB)

No One Left Behind (NOLB) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that is dedicated to assisting and advocating for Afghan and Iraqi wartime allies who have served alongside the U.S. military and government in various capacities.

The organization was founded in 2013 with the mission of ensuring that no ally is left behind in the countries they have served.

NOLB focuses on providing critical support and resources to these wartime allies, who often face threats and persecution in their home countries due to their association with the United States. These individuals, including interpreters, translators, cultural advisors, and support staff, have risked their lives to assist American troops and contribute to the mission's success.

The primary goal of No One Left Behind is to facilitate the resettlement and integration of these wartime allies and their families into the United States. The organization works to navigate the often complex and lengthy visa application processes, providing legal assistance, guidance, and advocacy to ensure that these deserving individuals can access the protection and opportunities they need.

In addition to visa support, NOLB offers a range of services to assist with the transition and integration of these individuals and their families. This includes practical support such as housing, employment assistance, education resources, healthcare access, and other essential needs.

Furthermore, No One Left Behind recognizes the importance of advocacy and raising awareness about the challenges faced by wartime allies. The organization actively engages in advocacy efforts to ensure that their contributions are recognized and that policies and resources are in place to support their successful resettlement and long-term well-being.

No One Left Behind collaborates with government agencies, community partners, and like-minded organizations to maximize its impact and expand its reach.

HIAS

HIAS, formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is a global nonprofit organization that is dedicated to providing humanitarian aid, protection, and assistance to refugees and displaced persons. Founded in 1881, HIAS has a rich history of helping refugees and immigrants of all backgrounds and beliefs, guided by the values of welcome, safety, and inclusion.

Originally established to assist Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution and violence in Eastern Europe, HIAS has expanded its mission over the years to support refugees and displaced persons worldwide, regardless of their nationality, religion, or ethnicity. The organization operates in more than a dozen countries and has offices across the United States.

HIAS services and programs

Resettlement Services: HIAS works with governments and communities to resettle refugees, providing them with essential support and resources as they rebuild their lives in a new country. This includes assistance with housing, employment, language and cultural orientation, education, and access to healthcare.
Legal Services: HIAS provides legal aid and representation to refugees and asylum seekers, helping them navigate complex immigration processes, understand their rights, and access legal protections. They advocate for fair and just immigration policies that uphold the rights and dignity of individuals forced to flee their homes.
Protection and Advocacy: HIAS is committed to protecting the rights of refugees and displaced persons. The organization advocates for policies and practices that ensure the safety, well-being, and inclusion of refugees in their host countries. They work to combat xenophobia, discrimination, and other challenges faced by displaced populations.
Refugee Integration: HIAS promotes the successful integration of refugees into their new communities. They provide support services that facilitate social and economic integration, including language and vocational training, mentorship programs, and community engagement initiatives. HIAS recognizes the contributions that refugees can make to their host societies and strives to foster inclusive environments where refugees can thrive.
Global Humanitarian Response: HIAS responds to humanitarian crises around the world, providing emergency assistance, protection, and support to displaced populations. They work in partnership with local communities, organizations, and governments to deliver life-saving aid, address immediate needs, and advocate for long-term solutions.

HIAS also engages in advocacy efforts to raise awareness about the challenges faced by refugees, promote policies that protect their rights, and build public support for a compassionate and inclusive approach to refugee issues.

TENT Partnership for Refugees

The TENT Partnership for Refugees is a global network of companies that are committed to supporting refugees and forcibly displaced people.

Founded in 2016 by Hamdi Ulukaya, the CEO of Chobani, TENT aims to mobilize the private sector's resources, expertise, and influence to create opportunities for refugees and help them integrate into local economies.

TENT believes that businesses have a crucial role to play in addressing the challenges faced by refugees and unlocking their potential. By engaging companies of all sizes and sectors, TENT strives to harness their unique capabilities, including job creation, skills development, entrepreneurship, and access to markets, to generate sustainable solutions for refugees.

The partnership works with its member companies to develop innovative initiatives and programs that can make a positive impact on the lives of refugees. These initiatives often focus on areas such as employment, vocational training, entrepreneurship, supply chain integration, and market access. TENT supports its members by providing expertise, resources, and best practices to guide their efforts in creating inclusive and supportive environments for refugees.

TENT also advocates for policies that encourage refugee entrepreneurship, facilitate labor market integration, and foster inclusive business practices. By collaborating with governments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders, TENT aims to shape policy discussions and promote favorable conditions for refugees to thrive.

In addition to its corporate engagement, TENT engages in research and knowledge-sharing activities to better understand the economic potential of refugees and the most effective approaches for their inclusion. The partnership facilitates learning exchanges, conferences, and workshops where companies, experts, and stakeholders can share insights, experiences, and strategies for refugee support.

The TENT Partnership for Refugees has grown to include a diverse and global network of companies committed to making a positive difference in the lives of refugees. By leveraging the power of the private sector, TENT aims to change the narrative around refugees and demonstrate that their inclusion is not only a humanitarian imperative but also an economic opportunity.

6 mins read

Blog Post

The Guide to Being a Modern Philanthropist: Elevate Your Impact With Groundswell

Six Tips to Becoming a Modern Philanthropist

Summary

Pick causes and charities that align with your values: When deciding what you want to support, start by taking into consideration the people, places, or problems that you care about most.
Understand impact through the lens of size & geography: The geographic reach of different charities' programs, and how large or small they are, can help as you determine what to support.
Evaluate best in class charities: Learn how to assess not only the financial health of an organization, but also what questions to ask when looking at other impact metrics.
Set a giving goal: Decide how much you want to give annually through Groundswell, and follow the simple steps to set up contributions to achieve that goal.
Maximize impact through recurring donations: Simplify your giving and provide nonprofits with a steady stream of revenue through monthly, recurring donations.
Optimize your giving through tax-efficient strategies: Leverage the versatility of Groundswell to reduce your tax burden through payroll giving, stocks contributions, and bunching.

1. Pick Causes & Charities that Align with Your Values

2. Understand Impact: Size & Geography

Where to donate

Does size matter?

3. Evaluate "Best in Class" Charities

Programmatic Impact: Understanding a nonprofit’s impact - through its programs and the populations that it serves - is an important way to evaluate its effectiveness in tackling the causes you care about. Many nonprofits provide details about programming approaches on their websites, including testimonials, photos, and reports detailing specific results. Keep in mind that understanding and assessing impact is highly qualitative - there is no clear ‘score’ - especially because what or who is being impacted varies across the thousands of nonprofits.

Financial Management: Nonprofits, especially larger ones, are required to disclose details related to their financial performance annually – to include assets, revenue and breakdown of expenses in forms submitted to the IRS. Many nonprofits are proactively transparent about their finances and post audited financial statements and other reports on their websites. But financial data does not always tell a complete story. There may be important investments in fundraising staff, which two years later yield a windfall in donations that can be put towards programs.

Advisories: Sometimes there are advisories based on pending or ongoing legal action. Groundswell works to monitor these advisories and remove any charities that it believes are acting improperly or mismanaging donor funds. We also remove any charities that have had their nonprofit status revoked by the IRS.

Groundswell-curated Featured Causes: While many donors might want to do their own research, sometimes it’s far easier (and efficient) to put your trust in others. Groundswell’s impact team provides donors with additional inspiration, and has done the vetting work to determine cause-specific organizations that are well run and most importantly having a strong impact.

4. Aim High with a Giving Goal

Your giving goal can help fund recurring donations, as well as account for unexpected events that you may want to donate to.

5. Level Up with Recurring Donations

Recurring donations can be a great component of your philanthropic strategy. As a bonus, there are benefits for both donors as well as nonprofits.

For donors, setting recurring donations to autopilot every month or quarter means you don’t have to think about it or go through the steps to do it on a regular basis.

6. Optimize Your Tax-Efficient Giving

You can leverage the versatility of your Groundswell Personal Giving Account, which is underpinned by a Donor-Advised Fund, to be strategic and reduce your tax burden.

Donate appreciated stock

Plus, you'll be eligible for a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock at the time of contribution into your Groundswell account.

Give with payroll

Bundle contributions

Want access to other toolkits like this?

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Unleash the Power of Your Employee Giving Program: Best Practices Guide

Your Best Practices Guide for Maximizing Your Employee Giving Participation

This guide provides you with tools and tips to maximize employee participation in your giving program, not just when the program launches but throughout the entire year.

Leveraging our expertise in the social impact and nonprofit sectors, Groundswell is here to support you and your employees on your impact journey.

Overview

6 Tips for Maximizing Participation in Your Employee Giving Program

1. Communicate Early and with Intention

Program Launch Communications:

Keep it short, and emphasize that the intent is to center employees in corporate philanthropy and make it as easy as possible for employees to give.
If the Giving Program is new: Why now? How does it align with your company’s values? Why is Groundswell a good fit for the company?
If the program is replacing an existing program: Why now? What’s different (and better) from the previous program? New matching or gifting features? It may also be helpful to highlight the tax effectiveness of the donor-advised fund model.

Monthly Program Communications

Monthly Cause Spotlights

Start off the month by highlighting some timely causes - make sure to link to Groundswell-curated “Featured Cause” Portfolios that Groundswell uploads to the dashboard every month for a hand-off approach to spotlighting.
Share “Cause of the Month” information with employees, leveraging the toolkits found in Groundswell’s Resource Center.

Engagement & Impact Reporting

Utilize the data that you can find on your company Dashboard or download via CSV to highlight some of your company’s collective impact - including a percentage of employees enrolled, the total dollar amount that has been donated, as well as top nonprofit donation recipients and/or cause areas.
This helps employees see how their individual donations are having a larger impact as part of your company’s collective giving program.

2. Drive Early Adoption through Gifts

Gifts can be a terrific way to get employees to sign up and start using the Groundswell platform immediately. Here are a few tips on how to drive early adoption using the Gifting feature:

Launch with a one-time gift into employees’ Giving Accounts that will show up as soon as employees enroll. This can be a great way to create buzz about the program and empower employees to donate and make an impact immediately - even before they contribute their own funds to their Groundswell account.
Throughout the year, provide unexpected, ad hoc gifts into employees’ accounts - for work anniversaries, milestones, great performance, etc.
A way to make it fun is to do a lottery at All Hands meetings by randomly selecting an employee to receive $25 in their Groundswell account. Follow this link or reach out to the Groundswell Customer Success team to learn more.

3. Inspire Engagement through Matching

Set up a matching program that immediately doubles the impact when an employee puts funds into their Groundswell Giving Account. This creates a feeling of “we’re in this together” - and drives home the message about an equitable approach to corporate philanthropy.
A match program can run for an entire year, or be tailored to specific months.
With the Groundswell match happening at the point of contributing funds to the Groundswell account, employees can tangibly see and feel what it means to double the impact for the charities and causes that matter most to them.

4. Leverage Cause Campaigns & Respond to the Emergent Events

Planned Campaigns:

Utilize a Social Impact Cause Calendar to plan monthly or bi-monthly communications to employees highlighting specific causes - with resources to educate employees about the cause, and a curated list of nonprofits most relevant to the cause. You can refer to Groundswell’s monthly cause portfolios that are updated to reflect timely causes and issues.
Tip: Plan your annual budget to launch match campaigns focused on specific charities or cause areas throughout the year.

Unforeseen Events:

Utilize Groundswell’s curated list of best-in-class nonprofits responding to disasters in the United States or globally. Being able to quickly and confidently point your employees to vetted nonprofits to donate to shows that you are responsive as a company and empowering employees to take action in moments of crisis.
Tip: Keep a portion of your annual budget in reserve so that you can match employee donations and/or provide gifts to employees to expand the impact in response to the unforeseen emergency.

5. Engage Employee Resource Groups

ERGs can take the opportunity to recommend nonprofits that they think are most effective and related to the cause, and share their commitment to specific causes with the tag-line “My cause is ____ “
Tip: Solicit recommendations from the Employee Resource Group for books to read, films, and documentaries to watch, and podcasts to listen to. This can generate a deeper understanding of causes and lead to engagement via donations to support the causes.

6. Lean Into End-of-Year Giving Spirit

You can leverage Groundswell's Giving Tuesday resources to launch an end-of-year donation campaign, featuring specific cause areas and nonprofits.

Tip: Set a budget aside for a surprise end-of-year gift - leveraging the fact that a large percentage of people prefer to donate at the end of the year.

Read related articles

Groundswell is your ally in corporate philanthropy.

Groundswell enables companies to lay the foundation for their employees to adopt a generous giving attitude towards charities and world-shaping efforts.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Celebrating the Majesty of Our Oceans: Dive into World Oceans Day with These Nonprofits

World Oceans Day, observed every year on June 8th, serves as a global reminder of the vital role our oceans play in sustaining life on Earth. It is a day when people from all walks of life come together to acknowledge the significance of our oceans and take action to protect and preserve them for future generations.

The oceans face numerous challenges, such as plastic pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and the impacts of climate change. As we delve into these pressing issues, we shed light on the importance of sustainable practices, responsible consumption, and the collective efforts needed to protect and restore the health of our oceans.

This World Oceans Day, let us be inspired to take action. Together, we can make a difference by raising awareness, supporting conservation initiatives, and making conscious choices that contribute to the well-being of our oceans. Join us on this incredible journey as we celebrate the interconnectedness of all life on Earth and strive to create a brighter future for our oceans and the countless creatures that call them home.

These nonprofits are spearheading the preservation and clean up of our oceans.

Surfrider Foundation

The Surfrider Foundation is a prominent nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the world's oceans, waves, and beaches.

Established in 1984 by a group of passionate surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation has since grown into a global network of activists, volunteers, and supporters who work tirelessly to safeguard coastal ecosystems.

Surfrider Foundation Mission

The mission of the Surfrider Foundation is to ensure the enjoyment and protection of the ocean and coastal areas for present and future generations. They focus on five main areas of environmental concern: clean water, coastal preservation, ocean protection, beach access, and plastic pollution. By addressing these key issues, the Surfrider Foundation strives to maintain the health and integrity of coastal ecosystems while promoting a sustainable relationship between humans and the ocean.

One of the primary objectives of the Surfrider Foundation is to safeguard water quality and promote clean beaches. They actively monitor water pollution, advocate for stronger water quality standards, and engage in campaigns to reduce and eliminate sources of contamination. Through their efforts, they aim to protect the health of beachgoers, marine life, and the overall ecological balance of coastal areas.

Coastal Preservation and Ocean Protection Advocacy

Coastal preservation is another critical aspect of the Surfrider Foundation's work. They advocate for responsible land-use practices, oppose coastal development that threatens natural habitats, and promote the conservation of sensitive ecosystems such as dunes, wetlands, and mangroves. By safeguarding these areas, the foundation helps maintain biodiversity, protect wildlife habitats, and preserve the natural beauty of our coastlines.

The Surfrider Foundation also plays a vital role in ocean protection by advocating for the creation and enforcement of marine protected areas (MPAs). These protected areas help restore and preserve marine biodiversity, enhance fisheries, and support ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. Through their advocacy and education efforts, the foundation works to raise awareness about the importance of these protected areas and their positive impacts on ocean health.

In addition to conservation efforts, the Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to ensuring beach access for all. They work to preserve and expand public access to beaches, challenge privatization attempts, and advocate for policies that guarantee the public's right to enjoy coastal areas. By protecting beach access, the foundation promotes inclusivity and the opportunity for everyone to experience the beauty and serenity of the shoreline.

Finally, the Surfrider Foundation actively addresses the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. They organize beach cleanups, raise awareness about the impacts of single-use plastics, and advocate for policies and initiatives to reduce plastic waste. Through their campaigns and educational programs, they strive to inspire individuals, businesses, and governments to adopt sustainable practices and reduce plastic pollution at its source.

The Ocean Foundation

The Ocean Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving and protecting the world's oceans and coastal communities.

Established in 2002, The Ocean Foundation serves as a philanthropic organization that supports and empowers initiatives aimed at promoting ocean conservation, research, and sustainable practices.

The Ocean Foundation Mission

The primary mission of The Ocean Foundation is to support, strengthen, and promote organizations and individuals working towards ocean conservation and restoration. They provide grant funding, strategic advice, and administrative support to a wide range of projects and programs focused on marine conservation, sustainable fisheries, marine biodiversity, and community engagement.

One of the key areas of focus for The Ocean Foundation is promoting marine conservation and restoration efforts. They collaborate with local communities, scientists, and conservation organizations to develop and implement projects that restore degraded habitats, protect vulnerable marine species, and preserve biodiversity. Through their support, they aim to improve the health and resilience of marine ecosystems around the world.

Sustainable Fisheries Practices and Scientific Research

The organization also places a strong emphasis on promoting sustainable fisheries practices. They work with fishermen, seafood businesses, and policymakers to encourage sustainable fishing methods that minimize environmental impacts and preserve fish stocks for future generations. By promoting sustainable fisheries, The Ocean Foundation aims to protect the delicate balance of marine ecosystems while ensuring the livelihoods and food security of coastal communities.

Another important aspect of The Ocean Foundation's work is conducting and supporting scientific research. They fund research projects that advance our understanding of ocean processes, climate change impacts, and the interconnectedness of marine ecosystems. By supporting scientific endeavors, they aim to inform evidence-based decision-making and develop effective conservation strategies.

In addition to funding and supporting projects, The Ocean Foundation engages in policy advocacy and public outreach. They work to raise awareness about the importance of ocean conservation and advocate for policies that protect marine environments, reduce pollution, and promote sustainable practices. By collaborating with governments, businesses, and the public, they strive to create a collective impact and drive positive change for the oceans.

Oceana

Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation.

Founded in 2001, Oceana focuses on promoting policies and initiatives that protect and restore the world's oceans. Through science-based campaigns, legal advocacy, and grassroots mobilization, Oceana works to address major threats to marine ecosystems, promote sustainable fishing practices, and ensure the health and abundance of ocean life.

Oceana’s Mission

The core mission of Oceana is to achieve measurable change in ocean conservation by combining sound science and policy expertise with public outreach and engagement. Their campaigns are designed to tackle pressing issues such as overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and the impacts of climate change on the oceans. By addressing these challenges, Oceana aims to restore the biodiversity and productivity of marine ecosystems and protect the livelihoods of those who depend on them.

One of Oceana's primary focuses is advocating for sustainable fisheries management. They work to end overfishing and implement science-based policies that ensure the long-term health and resilience of fish populations. Through their campaigns, Oceana strives to promote sustainable fishing practices, protect essential fish habitats, and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

Protecting and Preserving Marine Habitats and Species

Oceana also plays a crucial role in protecting and preserving marine habitats and vulnerable species. They work to establish marine protected areas (MPAs), advocate for stronger habitat protections, and support efforts to reduce destructive fishing practices. By safeguarding these critical habitats and advocating for their restoration, Oceana helps to maintain the ecological balance and biodiversity of our oceans.

Another important aspect of Oceana's work is addressing the issue of pollution in the oceans. They campaign to reduce plastic pollution, advocate for policies that minimize pollution from land-based sources, and promote innovative solutions to mitigate the impacts of pollution on marine ecosystems. Oceana's efforts aim to protect marine life, reduce the threat of marine debris, and raise awareness about the importance of responsible waste management.

In addition to their advocacy and policy work, Oceana conducts scientific research to inform their campaigns and policy recommendations. They collaborate with experts and utilize cutting-edge technologies to gather data on marine ecosystems, fish populations, and the impacts of human activities on the oceans. By leveraging scientific evidence, Oceana strengthens their advocacy efforts and drives evidence-based decision-making.

The Ocean Conservancy

The Ocean Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of ocean ecosystems.

Established in 1972, The Ocean Conservancy works collaboratively with scientists, policymakers, businesses, and individuals to find innovative solutions and advocate for policies that promote healthy oceans and a sustainable future.

Ocean Conservancy’s Mission

The mission of The Ocean Conservancy is to create science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the well-being of coastal communities. They tackle a wide range of issues affecting the oceans, including marine pollution, ocean acidification, climate change, overfishing, and habitat degradation. By addressing these challenges, The Ocean Conservancy strives to safeguard marine biodiversity, support sustainable fisheries, and ensure the resilience of coastal ecosystems.

One of the key areas of focus for The Ocean Conservancy is marine debris and ocean pollution. They lead the International Coastal Cleanup, the world's largest volunteer effort for ocean health, where thousands of volunteers gather annually to remove trash and debris from beaches and waterways. The organization also works on initiatives to reduce plastic waste and improve waste management practices to prevent pollution from entering the ocean.

Ocean Conservancy Advocacy and Raising Awareness

The Ocean Conservancy also advocates for science-based policies and legislation that promote sustainable fishing practices and protect marine habitats. They collaborate with stakeholders and policymakers to develop and implement effective fisheries management plans, advocate for the establishment of marine protected areas, and work towards ending overfishing and destructive fishing practices. By promoting sustainable fisheries, The Ocean Conservancy aims to protect marine biodiversity, maintain the health of fish stocks, and support the livelihoods of coastal communities.

Additionally, The Ocean Conservancy focuses on the impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems. They work to raise awareness about the links between the health of the ocean and climate change, advocate for reducing carbon emissions, and support initiatives that enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems in the face of climate-related challenges. Through their efforts, they strive to protect vulnerable coastal communities and ensure the long-term health of the ocean.

The organization also conducts scientific research and analysis to inform their conservation strategies and policy recommendations. They work with experts and partner with research institutions to gather data, assess the state of marine ecosystems, and identify areas in need of protection or restoration. By utilizing scientific evidence, The Ocean Conservancy strengthens their advocacy efforts and contributes to evidence-based decision-making.

The Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup is a nonprofit organization that aims to develop and deploy advanced technologies to remove plastic pollution from the world's oceans.

Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, a young inventor and entrepreneur, The Ocean Cleanup is dedicated to tackling the global problem of marine debris and working towards a cleaner, healthier ocean.

The Ocean Cleanup’s Missions and Goals

The primary goal of The Ocean Cleanup is to develop scalable and efficient systems to extract plastic waste from the ocean. Their flagship project involves the deployment of large floating devices known as "cleanup systems" or "interceptors." These systems utilize ocean currents to passively collect and concentrate plastic debris, enabling its extraction for proper disposal or recycling.

The concept behind The Ocean Cleanup's technology is to create floating barriers that passively capture and concentrate plastic debris as it moves with the currents. By leveraging natural oceanic forces, the organization aims to remove significant amounts of plastic waste from the surface of the ocean, with the ultimate goal of reducing the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and other accumulation zones.

The Ocean Cleanup Research and Development

The Ocean Cleanup conducts extensive research and development to continually refine and improve their technology. They collaborate with scientists, engineers, and experts to ensure the effectiveness, efficiency, and environmental sustainability of their cleanup systems. Through rigorous testing and iterations, they work to optimize the performance of their devices and minimize potential impacts on marine life.

In addition to cleanup efforts, The Ocean Cleanup recognizes the importance of prevention and aims to raise awareness about the need to reduce plastic pollution at its source. They conduct scientific studies, publish reports, and engage in educational outreach to highlight the impacts of plastic waste on marine ecosystems, wildlife, and human health. By raising awareness and promoting sustainable practices, they strive to inspire global action and drive systemic change.

The Ocean Cleanup's work is supported by a combination of public and private funding, including donations, partnerships, and sponsorships. They collaborate with governments, businesses, research institutions, and nonprofits to maximize their impact and create a global movement dedicated to ocean conservation.

While The Ocean Cleanup's efforts are ambitious and have garnered significant attention, it's important to note that cleaning up the ocean's plastic pollution is a complex challenge with various factors to consider. While their technology holds promise, it is not a standalone solution to the plastic pollution crisis. Addressing plastic waste requires a comprehensive approach that includes reduction, proper waste management, policy changes, and a shift towards a circular economy.

Nevertheless, The Ocean Cleanup has made significant strides in advancing the conversation around plastic pollution and taking tangible action to remove debris from the oceans. Their dedication to innovation, research, and collaboration has positioned them as a prominent organization in the fight against marine plastic pollution, inspiring individuals, businesses, and governments to work towards a cleaner and more sustainable future for our oceans.

Coral Reef Alliance

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and restoration of coral reefs around the world.

Founded in 1994, CORAL works with local communities, governments, and organizations to develop sustainable solutions that protect coral reefs, enhance their resilience, and promote the well-being of coastal communities that depend on these vital ecosystems.

CORAL Empowering Communities

CORAL's approach is centered on the belief that the key to successful coral reef conservation lies in engaging and empowering local communities. They work closely with communities living near coral reefs, collaborating with them to develop and implement conservation strategies that align with their cultural values and socioeconomic needs. By involving local stakeholders in decision-making processes, CORAL fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, ensuring long-term sustainability of conservation efforts.

One of CORAL's primary focus areas is the establishment and management of marine protected areas (MPAs). They work with governments and local communities to create and manage MPAs that provide refuge for coral reefs, protect critical habitats, and support the recovery of damaged ecosystems. CORAL recognizes the importance of effective governance and community involvement in ensuring the success of MPAs, and they provide support in capacity building, education, and monitoring to enhance the effectiveness of these protected areas.

In addition to MPA establishment, CORAL works to address the root causes of coral reef degradation, such as overfishing, pollution, and climate change. They promote sustainable fishing practices, advocate for improved wastewater management, and support initiatives that mitigate the impacts of climate change on coral reefs. By addressing these threats holistically, CORAL strives to enhance the resilience of coral reefs and promote their long-term survival.

CORAL’s Education and Outreach Initiatives

Education and outreach are also integral to CORAL's work. They engage in public awareness campaigns, provide training programs, and conduct scientific research to raise awareness about the value of coral reefs and the importance of their conservation. By inspiring individuals, communities, and decision-makers, CORAL seeks to create a global movement that values and protects these fragile and essential ecosystems.

CORAL's efforts are grounded in science, collaboration, and a commitment to long-term sustainability. Through their community-centered approach, they aim to create positive change, preserve biodiversity, and improve the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on coral reefs. With a vision of healthy and thriving coral reef ecosystems, CORAL continues to make significant contributions towards the conservation and restoration of these incredible marine habitats.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is a nonprofit marine conservation organization that has gained global recognition for its direct action campaigns to protect marine wildlife and habitats.

Founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd operates on the principle of "aggressive nonviolence" and employs innovative tactics to expose and confront illegal activities threatening the world's oceans.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s Mission

Sea Shepherd's mission is to defend, conserve, and protect marine ecosystems and wildlife through a combination of on-the-ground activism, grassroots movements, and international collaboration. They target issues such as illegal fishing, poaching, habitat destruction, and wildlife trafficking, focusing on areas where immediate action is required to prevent irreparable harm to marine environments.

One of Sea Shepherd's notable campaigns involves taking direct action against illegal fishing practices, particularly those targeting endangered species and marine mammals. They deploy their fleet of vessels to patrol the oceans, document and report illegal activities, and intervene when necessary to disrupt illegal fishing operations. Their efforts have resulted in the seizure of illegal fishing gear, the apprehension of poachers, and the protection of countless marine species.

Sea Shepherd Against Plastic Pollution and Action Campaigns

Sea Shepherd is also actively involved in initiatives to combat the global issue of plastic pollution. They organize beach clean-ups, promote responsible waste management, and conduct campaigns to raise awareness about the devastating impacts of plastic on marine ecosystems. Through these efforts, Sea Shepherd strives to reduce the amount of plastic waste entering the oceans and advocate for systemic changes to address this environmental crisis.

In addition to their direct action campaigns, Sea Shepherd places a strong emphasis on public outreach and education. They work to raise awareness about marine conservation issues through documentaries, media campaigns, and public speaking engagements. By engaging with the public and inspiring individuals to take action, Sea Shepherd aims to foster a global community that values and protects marine life and habitats.

Marine Megafauna Foundation

The Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the research, conservation, and protection of large marine species, often referred to as marine megafauna.

Established in 2009, MMF focuses on understanding the ecology and behavior of these magnificent creatures and works towards securing their long-term survival.

Marine Megafauna Foundation’s Objective and Mission

The primary objective of the Marine Megafauna Foundation is to generate scientific knowledge that can inform conservation strategies and policies for marine megafauna. They conduct research expeditions and fieldwork in collaboration with scientists, universities, and local communities to gather data on species such as whales, dolphins, sharks, rays, and sea turtles. Through their research, MMF aims to uncover critical information about the biology, population dynamics, migratory patterns, and ecological roles of these iconic marine creatures.

MMF's work extends beyond research. They are actively engaged in conservation efforts to protect marine megafauna and their habitats. This includes collaborating with governments, NGOs, and local communities to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) and advocate for the enforcement of regulations that safeguard these vulnerable species. By working at the grassroots level, MMF seeks to involve communities in marine conservation and empower them to become stewards of their local marine resources.

MMF’s Education and Outreach Programs

Education and outreach are integral components of MMF's mission. They strive to raise awareness about the importance of marine megafauna and the need for their protection. Through community-based education programs, workshops, and public events, MMF aims to inspire a sense of stewardship and encourage sustainable practices that minimize human impacts on these species and their habitats.

Furthermore, MMF recognizes the critical role that local communities play in marine conservation. They collaborate with coastal communities to develop sustainable livelihood alternatives, promoting eco-tourism, and supporting initiatives that generate income while protecting marine megafauna.

By highlighting the economic and ecological value of these species, MMF helps foster a sense of shared responsibility and encourages the adoption of practices that benefit both marine life and local communities.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is a global nonprofit organization established in 2019 with the goal of addressing the challenge of plastic waste and pollution in the environment. It brings together companies from across the plastics value chain, including plastic producers, consumer goods manufacturers, waste management companies, and recycling organizations, to work collaboratively towards finding sustainable solutions to end plastic waste.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste Key Pillars of Focus

The Alliance recognizes that plastic waste is a complex issue that requires a multi-faceted approach. Its efforts are centered around four key pillars: infrastructure, innovation, education, and engagement. By focusing on these areas, the Alliance aims to create a circular economy for plastics, where waste is minimized, and plastic materials are reused, recycled, or recovered.

Infrastructure development is a crucial aspect of the Alliance's work. They invest in projects and initiatives that improve waste management systems, including the collection, sorting, and recycling of plastic waste. By enhancing infrastructure in regions with limited waste management capabilities, the Alliance aims to prevent plastic waste from entering the environment and reduce the flow of plastic into rivers and oceans.

Innovation plays a significant role in the Alliance's approach. They support the development and deployment of new technologies, materials, and business models that promote sustainable practices and alternatives to single-use plastics. By fostering innovation, the Alliance aims to accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable and circular plastic economy.

Advocacy and Driving Behavioral Shifts

Education and engagement are essential components of the Alliance's strategy. They collaborate with governments, NGOs, and communities to raise awareness about plastic waste and its impact on the environment. By promoting responsible consumer behavior, advocating for policy changes, and encouraging public participation, the Alliance seeks to drive behavioral shifts and create a global movement committed to reducing plastic waste.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste recognizes the importance of collaboration and partnerships. It works with governments, intergovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders to leverage expertise, share best practices, and mobilize resources for impactful projects. By bringing together different sectors and stakeholders, the Alliance aims to achieve collective action and create systemic change in the way plastic is produced, used, and managed.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, located in Monterey, California, is one of the world's leading public aquariums and a renowned center for marine education, conservation, and research.

Since its opening in 1984, the aquarium has been dedicated to showcasing the diverse marine life of the Monterey Bay region, inspiring visitors to appreciate and protect the oceans.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Experience

Situated on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a captivating experience that allows visitors to explore and learn about the wonders of marine life. Its exhibits feature a wide range of marine species, from vibrant fish and mesmerizing jellyfish to playful sea otters and majestic sharks. Through carefully designed exhibits and interactive displays, the aquarium aims to foster a deep connection between visitors and the ocean, promoting understanding, empathy, and conservation.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is renowned for its pioneering efforts in promoting sustainable seafood practices. The aquarium's Seafood Watch program provides science-based recommendations and resources to help consumers and businesses make choices that support healthy oceans. By raising awareness about sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices, the aquarium plays a crucial role in promoting the long-term health and sustainability of marine ecosystems.

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Mission

Education and conservation are at the core of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's mission. They offer a range of educational programs and initiatives for people of all ages, including school programs, summer camps, and workshops. Through these programs, the aquarium aims to inspire a sense of wonder and curiosity about the ocean, fostering the next generation of marine conservationists and environmental stewards.

The aquarium is actively involved in marine research and conservation efforts. Its scientists conduct studies on various marine species and ecosystems, contributing to our understanding of marine biology and ecology. The aquarium also participates in collaborative research projects and conservation programs aimed at protecting endangered species and habitats, such as the conservation of sea otters and the restoration of kelp forests.

Beyond its physical presence, the Monterey Bay Aquarium reaches a global audience through digital platforms and online initiatives. Their live webcams allow people around the world to observe marine life in real-time, and their website offers resources and information about marine conservation and sustainability.

Project AWARE

Project AWARE is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of ocean ecosystems and the protection of marine life. Established in 1989, Project AWARE works towards its mission through a combination of education, advocacy, and direct action initiatives, engaging divers, activists, and the public to take an active role in ocean conservation.

Project AWARE’s Focus and Key Areas

The organization's name, AWARE, stands for Aquatic World Awareness, Responsibility, and Education. Project AWARE focuses on several key areas of marine conservation, including the reduction of marine debris, the protection of sharks and rays, and the promotion of coral reef conservation.

One of Project AWARE's primary campaigns is focused on tackling the issue of marine debris, particularly plastic pollution. Through their Dive Against Debris program, they mobilize divers and ocean enthusiasts to participate in underwater clean-up activities, collecting data on marine debris and contributing to global efforts to address this significant environmental problem. By raising awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution and promoting responsible waste management, Project AWARE works towards reducing the amount of marine debris that enters our oceans.

Protecting Ocean Wild Life: Sharks and Rays

Project AWARE is also committed to the protection of sharks and rays. Through their Sharks in Peril campaign, they advocate for science-based shark conservation policies, work to strengthen shark fishing regulations, and raise awareness about the importance of these apex predators to the health of marine ecosystems. By dispelling misconceptions and promoting the sustainable management of shark populations, Project AWARE aims to protect these vulnerable species from overfishing and habitat destruction.

Coral reef conservation is another focal point for Project AWARE. Their Coral Conservation campaign emphasizes the importance of preserving and restoring coral reefs, which are critical ecosystems that support a vast array of marine life. Project AWARE engages divers and local communities in coral restoration efforts, conducts research on coral health and resilience, and advocates for the protection of coral reef habitats.

Education and awareness are central to Project AWARE's approach. They develop educational resources, conduct workshops, and collaborate with dive centers and schools to provide training on marine conservation and sustainable diving practices.

By empowering individuals with knowledge and skills, Project AWARE aims to create a global community of ocean advocates who actively contribute to the protection of marine ecosystems.

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of lands and waters for the benefit of nature and people. Founded in 1951, TNC has grown to become one of the largest and most influential environmental organizations in the world, with a presence in more than 70 countries.

The Nature Conservancy employs a science-based and collaborative approach to conservation. They work with governments, local communities, indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders to develop and implement innovative solutions that protect and restore natural ecosystems.

The Nature Conservancy Key Strategies

One of TNC's key conservation strategies is the establishment and management of protected areas. They acquire and manage lands and waters of ecological significance, aiming to preserve critical habitats, safeguard biodiversity, and provide refuge for threatened and endangered species. Through their conservation efforts, TNC has helped protect millions of acres of land and thousands of miles of rivers and coastlines around the world.

TNC also recognizes the importance of sustainable land and water management practices. They work with farmers, ranchers, and other landowners to promote sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries practices that minimize negative environmental impacts while supporting livelihoods. By combining conservation science with economic incentives and market-based approaches, TNC aims to demonstrate that conservation and sustainable development can go hand in hand.

TNC Research and Innovations

In addition to their on-the-ground conservation work, TNC invests in scientific research and innovation. They collaborate with scientists and experts to study ecosystems, develop new conservation strategies, and assess the impacts of climate change on nature and communities. TNC also utilizes advanced mapping and modeling technologies to identify priority areas for conservation and inform decision-making processes.

Climate change is a significant focus for TNC. They work to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by promoting nature-based solutions, such as reforestation, habitat restoration, and sustainable land use practices. TNC also seeks to enhance the resilience of natural systems to climate change, helping ecosystems adapt and communities cope with the impacts of a changing climate.

6 mins read

Blog Post

Embracing Diversity: Celebrating the Colors of PRIDE Month with these Nonprofits

As June approaches, the world gears up to honor and celebrate Pride Month, an annual commemoration that serves as a powerful testament to the vibrant LGBTQ+ community.

Pride Month is a time for reflection, empowerment, and solidarity, as individuals and communities come together to acknowledge the progress made, recognize the ongoing struggles, and champion the principles of love, acceptance, and equality for all.

Since its inception, Pride Month has evolved into a global phenomenon, transcending borders, cultures, and identities. It stands as a poignant reminder of the relentless pursuit of human rights and social justice for the LGBTQ+ community.

Pride Month is not solely about festivities and parades; it is also an opportunity for deep introspection and conversation. It invites us to confront the challenges that the LGBTQ+ community still faces worldwide, such as discrimination, marginalization, and unequal treatment. It is a call to action to advocate for inclusivity, educate ourselves and others, and create safer and more accepting environments where all individuals can thrive authentically.

Here is a list of nonprofits at the forefront of advocating for equal rights and PRIDE culture.

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is a leading organization in the United States that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth. It plays a significant role in supporting the LGBTQ+ community and is closely related to the spirit of PRIDE Month.

The organization was founded in 1998 by James Lecesne, Peggy Rajski, and Randy Stone. It was named after the Academy Award-winning short film "Trevor," which tells the story of a gay teenager who attempts suicide due to rejection and bullying. The Trevor Project aims to prevent such tragedies by providing a safe and supportive space for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis.

The Trevor Project Services

The Trevor Project operates various programs and services to support LGBTQ+ youth. Its most well-known service is the Trevor Lifeline, a 24/7 crisis intervention hotline that offers immediate assistance and support to individuals in distress. The hotline is staffed by trained counselors who are knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ issues and can provide confidential counseling, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention services.

In addition to the Trevor Lifeline, the organization offers other resources, including:

TrevorChat, a confidential instant messaging service
TrevorText, a text-based crisis support service

The Trevor Project also focuses on raising awareness about LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention and promoting a positive and accepting environment for all young people. It provides educational resources, training programs, and workshops for schools, educators, parents, and other professionals to help them better support LGBTQ+ youth and create inclusive environments.

The Trevor Project’s Mission

The mission of The Trevor Project aligns closely with the values of PRIDE Month, as both aim to promote respect, acceptance, and support for the LGBTQ+ community. PRIDE Month celebrates the diversity and resilience of LGBTQ+ individuals, while The Trevor Project addresses the specific challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth and works to prevent self-harm and suicide.

During PRIDE Month, The Trevor Project often collaborates with other organizations and participates in events and initiatives that raise awareness about LGBTQ+ rights, mental health, and suicide prevention. It emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive spaces and fostering a sense of belonging for LGBTQ+ youth, as their well-being and mental health are crucial aspects of the broader LGBTQ+ rights movement.

The Point Foundation

The Point Foundation is a nonprofit organization in the United States that provides scholarships, mentorship, and support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) students. It was established in 2001 and has since become the largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ+ students in the country.

The foundation was founded by philanthropists and entrepreneurs Bruce Lindstrom and Carl Strickland, who sought to address the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ students in pursuing higher education. The Point Foundation aims to empower LGBTQ+ individuals by providing financial assistance and support to help them achieve their educational and career goals.

The Point Foundation Scholarship Program and Mentorship

The scholarship program offered by The Point Foundation is highly competitive, and applicants go through a rigorous selection process. The foundation evaluates candidates based on their academic achievements, leadership potential, involvement in the LGBTQ+ community, and financial need. Successful scholars receive financial support to cover their tuition fees, books, supplies, and living expenses while pursuing their education.

However, the support provided by The Point Foundation goes beyond just financial aid. Scholars are also paired with mentors who are professionals in their fields, offering guidance, support, and networking opportunities. Additionally, the foundation provides various resources and programs to help scholars develop leadership skills, connect with other LGBTQ+ students, and navigate the challenges they may face in their educational journey.

The Point Foundation’s Impact

Through its work, The Point Foundation strives to create a more inclusive and accepting society by empowering LGBTQ+ students and helping them become future leaders in their respective fields. The foundation has had a significant impact on the lives of numerous individuals, providing them with opportunities and support that may not have been otherwise accessible to them.

Family Equality Council

Family Equality Council is a prominent nonprofit organization in the United States that advocates for the rights and well-being of LGBTQ+ families. The organization was founded in 1979 under the name "Family Pride Coalition" and later rebranded as "Family Equality Council" in 2007 to better reflect its mission and goals.

Work by Family Equality Council

The primary focus of Family Equality Council is to ensure that LGBTQ+ families have the same legal rights, protections, and opportunities as their heterosexual counterparts. The organization works on various fronts, including policy advocacy, public education, and community support.

Family Equality Council engages in advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal levels to advance legislation and policies that protect and support LGBTQ+ families. They work to promote nondiscrimination laws, marriage equality, adoption and foster care rights, and access to assisted reproductive technologies. The organization also works to address the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth in the foster care system.

Family Equality Council Resources

In addition to advocacy, Family Equality Council provides resources, support, and community-building opportunities for LGBTQ+ families. They offer programs such as support groups, online communities, educational materials, and social events to help LGBTQ+ parents and their children connect with each other and navigate the complexities of family life.

The organization also organizes events and campaigns to raise awareness about the diversity and experiences of LGBTQ+ families. One of their notable initiatives is the annual "Family Week," a week-long gathering in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where LGBTQ+ families come together for networking, workshops, and celebrations.

Through its work, Family Equality Council aims to promote legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families and create a more inclusive society that recognizes and respects the diverse family structures and identities within the LGBTQ+ community.

National Center for Transgender Equality

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a nonprofit advocacy organization based in the United States. It was founded in 2003 with the mission of advocating for policy change and social justice to advance the rights and equality of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.

NCTE works to address the unique challenges faced by transgender people by focusing on policy advocacy, public education, and community empowerment. The organization strives to create a society where transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are able to live with dignity, freedom, and equal opportunity.

NCTE Advocacy and Research

One of the key areas of NCTE's work is policy advocacy. The organization engages in efforts to advance transgender-inclusive policies at the federal, state, and local levels. This includes advocating for legal protections against discrimination, access to healthcare, identification documents that reflect gender identity, fair treatment in the criminal justice system, and other issues that affect the lives of transgender individuals.

NCTE also conducts research and collects data on the experiences and needs of transgender people. They use this information to inform their advocacy efforts, provide evidence-based recommendations, and raise awareness about the challenges faced by the transgender community.

NCTE Resources and Support

In addition, NCTE provides resources and support to transgender individuals and their families. They offer educational materials, toolkits, and guides to help individuals navigate legal and healthcare systems, understand their rights, and access necessary services. The organization also runs a helpline to provide direct assistance and support to transgender individuals.

Through its work, the National Center for Transgender Equality strives to empower transgender individuals, challenge systemic discrimination, and create a more inclusive and equitable society for all. It is an important voice in the fight for transgender rights and has made significant contributions to advancing transgender equality in the United States.

SAGE

SAGE (Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ+ Elders) is a nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to serving and advocating for the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) older adults. It was founded in 1978 and has since become a leading organization focused on LGBTQ+ aging issues.

SAGE’s Mission

The primary mission of SAGE is to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ older adults by providing direct services, conducting research, and advocating for policy changes. The organization recognizes the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ elders, including higher rates of social isolation, healthcare disparities, and discrimination.

SAGE offers a range of services and programs to support LGBTQ+ older adults. These services include support groups, social activities, cultural and educational events, and counseling. SAGE also provides information and referrals to help older adults access LGBTQ+-friendly healthcare, housing options, and legal assistance. Additionally, the organization offers training and resources to service providers and caregivers to enhance their understanding and sensitivity to the needs of LGBTQ+ older adults.

SAGE Advocacy and Research

In terms of advocacy, SAGE works to influence public policy and promote legislation that protects the rights and well-being of LGBTQ+ elders. The organization actively engages with lawmakers and government agencies to advocate for inclusive policies, such as nondiscrimination protections, access to healthcare, and affordable housing options. SAGE also collaborates with other organizations and coalitions to amplify the voices and concerns of LGBTQ+ older adults on a national level.

SAGE conducts research on LGBTQ+ aging to gather data and evidence that inform their advocacy efforts and program development. They aim to highlight the unique experiences and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ older adults, including issues related to healthcare, caregiving, social support, and economic security.

GLSEN

GLSEN (pronounced "glisten") is a nonprofit organization that focuses on creating safe and inclusive K-12 schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) students. Founded in 1990, GLSEN has become a leading organization in the United States advocating for LGBTQ+ youth and working to address issues such as bullying, harassment, and discrimination in educational settings.

GLSEN’s Mission and Work

GLSEN's primary mission is to ensure that every LGBTQ+ student can learn and thrive in a school environment free from bias, violence, and judgment. The organization works to achieve this goal through a combination of research, policy advocacy, educational resources, and youth empowerment programs.

GLSEN conducts research studies to examine the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in schools and to gather data on issues such as harassment, bullying, and school climate. The findings from these studies are used to inform GLSEN's advocacy efforts and shape the development of inclusive policies and programs.

The organization engages in policy advocacy at the local, state, and national levels to promote laws and policies that protect LGBTQ+ students. GLSEN works with policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders to advocate for inclusive anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies, comprehensive sex education that is LGBTQ+ inclusive, and supportive school environments.

GLSEN also develops and provides educational resources and training programs to educators, administrators, and school staff to help them create safe and inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ students. These resources include lesson plans, toolkits, and professional development programs that aim to foster understanding, promote acceptance, and address the unique needs of LGBTQ+ youth.

GLSEN Initiative and Resources

One of GLSEN's notable initiatives is the "Day of Silence," a student-led national event held annually in which participants take a vow of silence to bring attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBTQ+ bullying and harassment in schools. The organization also supports LGBTQ+ student-led clubs, commonly known as Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), providing resources and assistance to help students create and sustain these clubs.

Furthermore, GLSEN has developed the "Safe Space Kit," a resource package that provides guidance on how to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students in schools, including stickers and posters that indicate support for LGBTQ+ inclusion.

GLAAD

GLAAD (formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is a nonprofit organization that works to accelerate acceptance and promote fair and accurate representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people in the media. GLAAD was founded in 1985 and has since become a leading advocate for LGBTQ+ visibility and equality.

The primary mission of GLAAD is to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals are portrayed authentically, fairly, and inclusively in all forms of media, including film, television, news, and digital media. The organization believes that fair and accurate media representations have the power to shape public opinion, challenge stereotypes, and foster understanding and acceptance.

GLAAD Advocacy, Media Monitoring, and Public Education

GLAAD works through a multifaceted approach that includes advocacy, media monitoring, and public education. The organization engages with media professionals, industry leaders, and content creators to encourage accurate and inclusive portrayals of LGBTQ+ people. They provide resources, trainings, and guidelines to help media outlets and content creators navigate LGBTQ+ representation in an informed and responsible manner.

GLAAD also conducts media monitoring to track the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals in the media and assess the quality and accuracy of their portrayals. This includes analyzing news coverage, entertainment programming, and online content to identify instances of bias, stereotypes, or misrepresentation. GLAAD uses this research to advocate for improvements and hold media outlets accountable for fair and accurate representation.

In addition to advocacy and monitoring, GLAAD engages in public education campaigns and initiatives to raise awareness and foster understanding of LGBTQ+ issues. The organization works to amplify the voices and stories of LGBTQ+ individuals, highlighting diverse experiences and advocating for social change. GLAAD also collaborates with other organizations and communities to promote LGBTQ+ visibility and equality in various sectors.

Equality Texas Foundation

The Equality Texas Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Texas, United States, that advocates for the rights and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Texans. The foundation was established in 1989 and works to create a fair and inclusive Texas where all LGBTQ+ individuals can live freely and authentically.

Equality Texas Foundation’s Mission and Advocacy

The primary mission of the Equality Texas Foundation is to advance policy changes, educate the public, and build support for LGBTQ+ equality in Texas. The organization focuses on a range of issues, including nondiscrimination protections, safe schools, healthcare access, family recognition, and transgender rights.

Through policy advocacy, the Equality Texas Foundation engages with lawmakers, policymakers, and government agencies to promote LGBTQ+-inclusive legislation and policies. They work to secure legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ensuring that LGBTQ+ individuals are treated equally in areas such as employment, housing, public accommodations, and healthcare.

Equality Texas Foundation Public Education and Awareness Campaigns

The foundation also conducts public education and awareness campaigns to foster understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ+ issues. They provide educational resources, organize community forums, and engage in public dialogue to challenge misconceptions, combat stereotypes, and promote LGBTQ+ equality. Additionally, they work to build alliances and coalitions with other social justice organizations to amplify their advocacy efforts.

Equality Texas Foundation is committed to creating safe and supportive school environments for LGBTQ+ students. They work to promote comprehensive anti-bullying policies, inclusive sex education, and the establishment of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in schools. The organization provides resources and support to educators, administrators, and students to ensure that LGBTQ+ students can thrive and receive the necessary support in their educational journey.

Furthermore, the Equality Texas Foundation advocates for transgender rights, including access to gender-affirming healthcare, legal recognition of gender identity, and inclusive policies in areas such as identification documents and sports participation.

Center for Constitutional Rights

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization based in the United States. It was founded in 1966 by attorneys committed to using the law as a tool for social justice and advancing constitutional rights. CCR focuses on defending and protecting civil liberties, human rights, and social justice causes through litigation, advocacy, and education.

CCR’s Mission and Strategies

The primary mission of the Center for Constitutional Rights is to challenge government abuses and systemic injustice, both in the United States and internationally. The organization has been involved in landmark legal cases and advocacy efforts on a wide range of issues, including racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant rights, gender equality, government surveillance, and corporate accountability.

CCR utilizes impact litigation as a key strategy to effect systemic change and protect constitutional rights. The organization has litigated cases in various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, to challenge discriminatory laws and policies, combat police misconduct, defend the rights of marginalized communities, and seek accountability for human rights abuses. CCR often represents individuals and grassroots organizations whose rights have been violated and may not have access to legal representation otherwise.

CCR Shaping Public Discourse

In addition to litigation, CCR engages in strategic advocacy and public education to raise awareness and promote understanding of pressing social justice issues. They provide legal and technical support to grassroots organizations, social justice movements, and communities impacted by injustice. CCR also publishes reports, organizes campaigns, and conducts outreach activities to mobilize support and shape public discourse on critical human rights and civil liberties concerns.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has been actively involved in international human rights advocacy. They have worked on cases related to war crimes, torture, unlawful detentions, and other human rights abuses committed by governments and corporations. CCR has sought to hold accountable individuals and institutions responsible for human rights violations, and they have collaborated with international organizations and coalitions to advance global human rights standards.

Transgender Law Center

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that focuses on advancing the rights and well-being of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Founded in 2002, TLC is one of the largest transgender legal organizations in the country and is dedicated to achieving transgender equality through legal advocacy, education, and community empowerment.

Transgender Law Center’s Mission

The primary mission of the Transgender Law Center is to change laws, policies, and systems to ensure that all transgender and gender non-conforming people can live with dignity, respect, and equality. The organization works on a range of issues affecting the transgender community, including healthcare access, employment discrimination, immigration rights, criminal justice reform, education, and identification document changes.

TLC engages in impact litigation to challenge discriminatory laws and practices, seek legal remedies for violations of transgender rights, and establish legal precedents that protect transgender individuals. They provide legal representation to transgender individuals facing discrimination and work to change laws and policies that perpetuate inequality and harm.

The Transgender Law Center also focuses on public education and community empowerment. They provide resources, trainings, and legal clinics to transgender individuals, their families, and service providers to increase understanding of transgender issues and promote legal and social inclusion. TLC also conducts workshops, conferences, and community organizing initiatives to build power within the transgender community and foster collective action for social change.

The Center for Black Equity

The Center for Black Equity (CBE) is a national nonprofit organization in the United States that focuses on promoting health and wellness, economic empowerment, and social justice within the Black LGBTQ+ community. Founded in 1999, CBE works to address the unique challenges and experiences faced by Black LGBTQ+ individuals and advocate for their rights and inclusion.

The primary mission of the Center for Black Equity is to promote equity, access, and acceptance for Black LGBTQ+ individuals across various spheres of life. The organization focuses on several key areas, including health disparities, economic empowerment, political advocacy, and cultural expression.

CBE Community Empowerment

CBE works to address health disparities within the Black LGBTQ+ community by promoting access to healthcare, HIV/AIDS prevention, and other health services. They collaborate with healthcare providers, community organizations, and policymakers to increase awareness, improve healthcare outcomes, and advocate for policies that address the specific needs of Black LGBTQ+ individuals.

In terms of economic empowerment, the Center for Black Equity seeks to enhance economic opportunities for Black LGBTQ+ individuals through entrepreneurship, employment, and financial literacy programs. They provide resources, training, and support to help foster economic self-sufficiency and reduce economic disparities within the community.

CBE Advocacy and Events

CBE also engages in political advocacy to ensure that the voices and concerns of Black LGBTQ+ individuals are represented in policy discussions and decision-making processes. They work to promote laws and policies that protect the rights and dignity of Black LGBTQ+ individuals, fight against discrimination, and advance social justice.

Furthermore, the Center for Black Equity recognizes the importance of cultural expression and celebrates the achievements and contributions of Black LGBTQ+ individuals. They organize and support cultural events, including pride celebrations, film festivals, art exhibits, and other platforms that amplify the voices and experiences of Black LGBTQ+ communities.

The National LGBTQ Task Force

The National LGBTQ Task Force, commonly referred to as the Task Force, is a nonprofit advocacy organization in the United States that focuses on advancing the rights and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals. Founded in 1973, the Task Force is one of the oldest LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations in the country and has played a significant role in shaping LGBTQ+ activism and policy.

The primary mission of the National LGBTQ Task Force is to build power, take collective action, and create change for LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. The organization works on a broad range of issues, including LGBTQ+ rights, social justice, economic justice, racial justice, and healthcare equality.

National LGBTQ Task Force Advocacy

The Task Force engages in policy advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels to promote LGBTQ+ inclusive laws, regulations, and policies. They work to secure legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, advocate for transgender rights, fight against HIV/AIDS stigma, and address other issues affecting LGBTQ+ individuals. The Task Force collaborates with lawmakers, government agencies, and coalitions to influence policy changes and advance equality and justice.

In addition to policy advocacy, the Task Force focuses on grassroots organizing and community mobilization. They support and collaborate with local LGBTQ+ organizations and activists, providing resources, training, and guidance to help build strong and effective advocacy networks. The organization organizes and supports LGBTQ+ conferences, leadership development programs, and grassroots campaigns to empower LGBTQ+ individuals and communities to take action and create change.

Through its work, the National LGBTQ Task Force has contributed to significant advancements in LGBTQ+ rights and social justice. The organization has been at the forefront of advocating for LGBTQ+ equality, supporting grassroots organizing, and fostering a sense of community and empowerment within the LGBTQ+ movement.