In a world filled with injustice, poverty and disconnected communities, some of us strive to build a better world each and every day. However, there are so many charitable organizations out there that it can be hard to know which ones to support. Here are five nonprofits working to ensure people’s needs are met and that they are given the space and resources to succeed and thrive.
Courtesy of Pencils of Promise
Pencils of Promise
DONATE: PENCILSOFPROMISE.ORG
Pencils of Promise (PoP) is on a mission to provide educational resources to children and teachers in impoverished regions of the world. Inspired by a child asking him for a pencil during his visit to India, Adam Braun launched the foundation to empower communities and provide a quality education to students. With schools in Central America, Africa and Asia, more than 130,000 students are now enrolled and benefiting from PoP’s efforts.
Worldwide donations and community partnerships have aided PoP in not only building schools but also creating sanitation programs, enabling clean water sources and equipping teachers with supplies for long-term growth and development.
Courtesy of Unsilenced Voices
Unsilenced Voices
DONATE: UNSILENCEDVOICES.ORG
As a survivor of domestic violence, Michelle Jewsbury founded Unsilenced Voices to bring hope and healing to survivors in the U.S. and Sierra Leone, West Africa. The organization focuses on reducing rates of sexual abuse, trafficking and domestic violence. A slate of holistic programs provides survivors with resources, builds educational platforms and creates leadership teams in local communities to spread awareness and extend outreach. By helping break the cycle of abuse, they are strengthening the voices of survivors.
The Belafonte Family Foundation
DONATE: BELAFONTEFAMILYFOUNDATION.ORG/DONATE
David and Malena Belafonte are co-founders of The Belafonte Family Foundation, spearheading the social justice legacy of David’s father, Harry Belafonte, a human rights activist and actor.
The organization is dedicated to providing resources and equitable access to the minority youth of America and works to fill in systemic gaps through programs involving scholarships, mentoring, food justice (culinary and farming projects), social justice and health and wellness. Bringing awareness and support through a multigenerational approach and radical philanthropy, they aim to listen and help youth grow through progressive outlooks.
Good360
DONATE: GOOD360.ORG
Striving to uplift those struggling to find basic resources in dire times, Good360’s mission is to provide goods to people facing displacement due to environmental disasters, poverty and other urgent crises. Established in 1983, Good360 now operates 50 warehouses in the U.S. to store product donations and distribute them to beneficiaries. Since its inception, the group has distributed more than $18 billion in goods to more than 100 million people globally. It has also partnered with national retailers, such as CVS and Amazon, to pick up donations for distribution.
Courtesy of DKMS
DKMS
(Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei or German Bone Marrow Donor Center)
DONATE: DKMS.ORG/DONOR-INFO/STEM-CELL-DONATION
DKMS was founded in 1991 by Peter Harf, who wanted to raise awareness of the lack of stem cell donors in the midst of his wife’s battle with leukemia. In consultation with his wife’s transplant surgeon, he created the nonprofit to give blood cancer patients a second chance at life by providing stem cell donations.
In the first year alone, the registry grew from 3,000 to 68,000 donors. Today, DKMS operates in seven countries, has more than 10 million registered donors and continues its mission to educate the public on blood disorders, fulfilling the wish of Harf’s late wife that future leukemia patients have a better chance at survival.
Featured image courtesy of Pencils of Promise
This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of SUCCESS® digital edition. Get your FREE copy here.
