These days, kindness and charity are needed more than ever. So December 2, Giving Tuesday, let’s take a day to donate to help those with less to be thankful for. As always, Cutetropolitans are invited to share links to worthy charities in the comments, and learn about charities featured in years past.
Pets
- WeRateDogs 15/10 Foundation
- Edgar’s Mission (AUS)
- The Morris Animal Foundation
- PetSmart Charities
- Best Friends Animal Society
- Cat House on the Kings
- Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society)
- ASPCA
- Veterinary Care Foundation (gives to vets in your area)
- Petfinder Foundation (find local shelters to donate to at Petfinder.com)
Hunger/Poverty/Health
- Meals on Wheels (new)
- Doctors Without Borders (new)
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (new)
- Disabled American Veterans (new)
- St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
- World Central Kitchen
- Find Your Local Food Bank (via Feeding America)
Internet Freedom
Wildlife
- The Wild Animal Sanctuary
- National Audubon Society
- Monkey World (UK)
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
- Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
- Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary
- The Natural Resources Defense Council
- Bat World Sanctuary
- The Peninsula Open Space Trust
- World Wildlife Fund
Human Rights
- United 24 — Ukraine War Relief (new)
- Purple Leash Project
- UNICEF USA
- NAACP
- Planned Parenthood
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Anti-Defamation League
- Council on American–Islamic Relations
- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Four Directions
- Lakota People’s Law Project
To determine which charities will spend your donation most effectively, review their rankings on Charity Navigator.
I am profoundly thankful to you, Mike, and for Cutetropolis and the Cute Community.
I’m not going to add to your list this year, since so many of my current faves are already there. I will say that World Central Kitchen has gotten a lot of attention from me this year. But all are clearly worthy of support, and I pledge to do my best.
I usually do World Central Kitchen. Might do 15/10 this year.
My dad likes Disabled American Veterans.
It’s not a charity by itself, but I just recently learned about this outfit and I think it’s a wonderful idea:
https://www.tisbest.org/
Disclaimer: I haven’t actually purchased any of their gift cards yet, but plan to do so for a couple of especially hard-to-buy-for people on my Christmas list once we’re into December. There are other companies out there who offer similar charity gifting services, but this one gets the best reviews and has the most customization options available from what I can tell. I especially like that it’s the recipient who gets to choose exactly where the money goes, and that my contact info doesn’t get shared directly with any new nonprofits. I’m all for supporting worthy causes, of course, but the cascade of junk mail that tends to build up after even a single donation can get pretty ridiculous, and for the sake of both the environment and my own sanity, I’d just as soon avoid that when possible. (I’ll also recommend CatalogChoice.org as a way to get OFF all those mailing lists; they’ll transmit opt-out requests to many charitable organizations as well as mail-order retailers who send out paper catalogs, thus saving everyone time and resources in the long run.)
There’s an official fundraising platform for Ukraine, allowing you to choose where funds go (removal of mines, medical care, etc.), at https://u24.gov.ua/
One of my favorite charities (and one I support monthly) is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
I love this tradition at Cutetropolis, and I especially love this wonderful community for supporting these causes.
Doctors Without Borders is another great organization.
Always a fan of Meals on Wheels myself.
And I always argue if Purple Leash should go under Human or Pet interests.
Haven’t done the bats in a while so split between them and Purple Leash.