Not Sure Where to Donate at the end of 2017? Here’s a List of Some of My Favorite Nonprofits

This piece originally appeared on Linkedin.

As we near the end of the giving season, are you overwhelmed by the number of nonprofits doing amazing work out there? Not sure which ones are having the most impact or which ones to support? After having the pleasure of interviewing over one hundred phenomenal nonprofits for my forthcoming book, Social Startup Success, I can relate to the fact that these decisions are not easy.

​To help you sort through the noise, I’ve compiled a list of some of my own personal favorites, whose stories I feature in the book, and which you might consider supporting through your end of year giving in 2017:

• Accountability Counsel, founded by Natalie Bridgeman Fields, defends the environmental and human rights of marginalized communities around the world.
• At The Crossroads, founded by Rob Gitin, reaches out to homeless youth and young adults and works with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives.
• Braven, founded by Aimée Eubanks Davis, is a semester-long credit-bearing course followed by a post-course experience that lasts until college graduation for underrepresented university students, which builds the skills, mindsets, experiences and networks necessary to excel in the workforce.
• Center for Youth Wellness, founded by Nadine Burke Harris, fights against adverse childhood experiences and toxic health by preventing, screening and healing.
• Code2040, founded by Laura Weidman Powers and Tristan Walker, creates pathways to success for blacks and Latinx in the innovation economy.
• DonorsChoose, founded by Charles Best, is an online platform where anyone can help a classroom in need, moving toward a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.
• Generation Citizen, founded by Scott Warren, works to ensure that every student in the United States receives an effective action civics education, which provides them with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in our democracy as active citizens.
• Peer Health Exchange, founded by Louise Langheier, empowers young people with the knowledge, skills and resources to make healthy decisions by training college students to teach a skills-based health curriculum in underresourced high schools across the country.
• Springboard Collaborative, founded by Alejandro Gac-Artigas, closes the reading achievement gap by coaching teachers, training family members and cultivating reading habits so that our scholars have the requisite skills to access life opportunities.
• Spark, last but not least, this organization I co-founded in San Francisco is a network that engages millennials in new forms of philanthropy to support gender equality.

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No matter who you choose to support, remember that we all have the capacity to make an impact in this world, no matter how big or small. Nonprofit leaders everywhere rely on your donations to do their important work to alleviate suffering in this world, so thank YOU for fueling the fire of generosity to support them!

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