Search Nonprofits

Bushlife Conservancy is dedicated to protecting and preserving African wildlife in its native habitat. The most important work we do is anti-poaching and conservation in Mana Pools National Park, which is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, and the Zambezi River Valley of Zimbabwe and Zambia. We also monitor and track iconic bull elephants, develop infrastructure to establish ongoing ranger presence in vulnerable areas, and provide funding to support local community health and welfare needs.

Great Old Broads for Wilderness is a national organization that engages and ignites the activism of elders to preserve and protect wilderness and wild lands. Conceived by older women who love wilderness, Broads gives voice to the millions of older Americans who want to protect their public lands as wilderness for this and future generations. We bring knowledge, commitment, and humor to the movement to protect our last wild places on earth.

Too often grocery stores and restaurants find themselves throwing out food, when there is great need in nearby communities. MEANS Database modernizes food recovery in 48 states and the District of Columbia by connecting excess food to organizations and individuals who need it. Hunger lingers in the lives of the people it affects. In infants and toddlers, food insecurity is associated with failure to thrive, a devastating condition with consequences into adulthood (1). In early childhood, hunger is associated with diminished academic progress, more behavioral problems and unhealthy weight (2). By high school, it's linked with dropping out, and by early adulthood, with having children who also face hunger, the cycle starts over again (3). Food insecurity exists in every American demographic and geography, affecting every population tracked by the US Census. However, as it seems for every other social ill, the most rural, the most urban, and minorities in any location bear a disproportionate burden of the weight of hunger. While 12.7% of American families are food insecure, the rate for Black and Latino families are each about 20% (4). Jefferson County, Mississippi, is a study in these disparities: it has the highest percentage of black residents of any American county, and also holds the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of food insecurity in the United States, with nearly 38% of residents facing hunger (5). Meanwhile, while more than 42 million Americans rely on food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency food providers to feed their families, the United States grapples with an massive food waste problem. Forty percent of the American food supply ends up in landfills, with perfectly edible meals being thrown away at all stages of production (7). Food is the single largest contributor to landfill and incinerator mass in the United States, choking the nation's air while 1 in 8 Americans face food insecurity (8). Further complicating this feast and famine dynamic is the uncomfortable truth that even programs meant to address hunger frequently end up wasting food. The issue we are tackling with MEANS is huge: we're trying to prevent food waste and adequately address the problem of hunger. The USDA reports that 48.1 million Americans live in food-insecure households, while Feeding America says that 70 billion pounds of food are wasted in the US each year (8). This task may seem daunting, but we know that through the use of innovative technology like ours, we can help to change the future of food recovery. MEANS (Matching Excess And Need for Stability) is an online communications platform for emergency food providers and their donors. On a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, agencies create an account with MEANS, registering their contact information, location, the kind(s) of foods they are searching for, and the distance they are willing or able to travel to pick up those goods. Donors post their excess goods on MEANS, and the system emails and/or texts organizations nearby that need those goods. Our tool substantially reduces the communications gap between emergency food providers and their donors, preventing "donation dumping" on both sides. MEANS was designed to handle both traditional food donations, from grocery stores or caterers, and donations between emergency food providers. There is no charge for any of our organization's services, for nonprofit agencies or retailers. Citations: 1) Kersten, Hans B. and Bennett, David (2012) "A Multidisciplinary Team Experience with Food Insecurity & Failure to Thrive," Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6. 2) Jyoti, Diana F.; Frongillo, Edward A.; and Jones, Sonya J. (2005) "Food Insecurity Affects School Children's Academic Performance, Weight Gain, and Social Skills" The Journal of Nutrition vol. 135 no. 12 2831-2839. 3)"Changing the Picture of Education in America: Communities in Schools Spring 2014 Impact Report" (2014) 4) USDA (2015). "Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2015" 5) Feeding America (2016). "Map the Meal Gap 2016" 7) Gunders, Dana (2012). "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" 8) Feeding America (ND), "Food Waste In America"

Vaga Lume Association is a Brazilian non-profit organization founded in 2001 grounded in the belief that investing in people is the best way to transform a reality. Its mission is to create opportunities for cultural exchange by reading, writing and orality, valuing the empowerment of people and rural communities of the Brazilian Legal Amazon region. Vaga Lume works in 160 rural communities (indigenous, riverside, roadside, rural settlement people or quilombolas - Brazilian with African descent) of 23 municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region, which encompasses nine federal states (Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Roraima and Tocantins), occupies 59% of the Brazilian territory and has 20 million people (12% of the Brazilian population). Despite the fact that education and culture are basic social rights, protected by the Brazilian Constitution and under human rights international treaties ratified by Brazil, its access and implementation in the Amazon region are very limited. It is one of the poverty zones in Brazil - with a GDP per capita 30% lower than the national value - where 42% of the population survives with less than US$ 5.00 a day. Due to the outstanding impact of Vaga Lume's work in the region, the organization is recognized by many international and national awards such as the Juscelino Kubitschek Award of Merit for Regional Development in Latin America and the Caribbean given by the Inter-American Development Bank (2009); the Millennium Development Goals Award, conferred by the United Nations and the Brazilian government (2005); the Vivaleitura Award, from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education (2008); and the Chico Mendes Environment Award, given by the Ministry of Environment (2006 and 2008). In 2011, Vaga Lume received its most important recognition: the 4th place at the Intercultural Innovation Award, conferred by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group. As an awardee, in 2012, Vaga Lume was welcomed to the World Intercultural Facility for Innovation (WIFI), a network formed by the UNAOC, the BMW Group and the ten 2011 winners. Through this network, the UNAOC and the BMW Group challenged all winners to replicate and scale up their actions to promote intercultural dialogue and offered training, consultancy and institutional support to assist organizations to accomplish such results.

The Children's Radio Foundation (CRF) uses radio training and broadcast to create opportunities for youth dialogue, participation, leadership, and active citizenship. Through giving youth the tools and skills to produce radio, young people are mobilized to engage in productive dialogue about the issues they face, and work together to improve their lives and communities. With 74 youth radio projects across six African countries, CRF works with radio stations and CBOs to create local platforms for discussion, information sharing, social engagement, and action. Our reporters take on issues that resonate with youth in their community, including but not limited to children's rights, sexual reproductive health and rights, power dynamics in teenage relationships, gender norms and stereotypes, HIV and AIDS-related issues, climate change, and the environment. Speaking in local languages and in a youth-friendly style, they interview community members, host debates, and bring out local perspectives. Their reporting projects, broadcasts, and outreach activities are geared to generate discussion about issues facing youth.

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation connects Americans with their wilderness heritage by providing access to and stewardship of one of the world's most spectacular places -Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, the crown jewel of the Wilderness System. We help hundreds of hard-working volunteers, including youth, develop a land ethic and give back to the wilderness by opening trails, restoring heavily used areas, maintaining historic structures and fighting weeds. Active wilderness stewardship is our mission. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation: Provides its hard-working volunteers with a unique back country experience Works cooperatively with the US Forest Service to engage youth groups, individual volunteers and other organizations. Opens and clears trails enjoyed by thousands of wilderness users year-round Ensures that future generations will continue to have safe access to The Bob Is a non-profit, tax deductible 501(c)3 organization dependent on donations

It is the mission of Glastonbury Partners in Planting, Inc. to establish planting areas in historically significant or highly visible sites within the Town of Glastonbury; to provide educational opportunities for members of the community to learn about the care of plants and promote an understanding of the value of biodiversity among flora; to re-establish the American Elm in the Town. Glastonbury Partners in Planting, Inc. (GPIP) is a 501.3(c) non-profit organization. We are made up of Glastonbury residents working to make our town a more beautiful place to live. GPIP also wants to enhance the sense of community among the citizens of the Town by celebrating its past, beautifying the present, and planting for the future and to raise and provide funds and labor to accomplish these goals. Part of GPIP’s ongoing mission includes educational outreach. GPIP presents educational programming twice a year at its fall and spring member meetings, partners with the Glastonbury public schools to create classroom and field programs and holds periodic educational programs for residents of all ages.

The Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!) was established in 2008 to help rural populations in the developing world prepare for water, food, and fuel shortages resulting from the impact of climate change on their communities. CREATE! operates on the principle that all people have a right to water, food, shelter, energy, and the means to earn a living. We work with village populations to meet these needs through a culturally respectful, participatory process grounded in our belief that people must have a stake in their development and contribute towards solving their own problems. The cooperative groups in our beneficiary villages have already demonstrated the validity of this approach. CREATE! currently operates in Senegal. Senegal is representative of many Sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by the increasingly disastrous effects of global climate change. CREATE! responds to the inter-connected crises generated by climate change with strategies that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources, and increase the use of appropriate technologies. Our programs produce sustainable, human needs-based development at the village level while forging resilient and vibrant communities across rural Senegal. CREATE! seeks to face these challenges and assist rural Senegalese residents with small-scale, accessible, and "appropriate" technologies - technologies that are adapted to, and fit, their local conditions - and with human needs-based strategies that can both better their lives and build their capacity to meet these inter-connected challenges. CREATE! works in six villages in two regions of Senegal. One region is in the rural north of Senegal, centered around Linguere in the Louga Region, where CREATE! implements programs in the village of Ouarkhokh. The other region is in the central-west of Senegal, centered around Gossas in the Fatick Region. CREATE! implements program activities in five villages in this region. The total beneficiary population of the six villages is approximately 12,000 people, comprised of both agricultural and pastoral peoples. The average per capita annual income of the population in these villages is approximately $350 a year. In each of these villages, CREATE! staff work closely with local and traditional authorities, including village chiefs and imams, in addition to other community leaders, families, and public schools. CREATE! values the expertise and input of community members and strives to incorporate their knowledge and participation into each stage of our programs. As a registered NGO in Senegal, CREATE! works with government officials from the regional office of the Department of Water and Forestry. CREATE! also respects the Senegalese government's strategic development goals for rural communities. Although CREATE!'s administrative office is located in the United States, CREATE! relies on local Senegalese staff and volunteers to plan and implement successful development interventions. Barry Wheeler, CREATE! Founder and Executive Director, has spent the past 27 years working to alleviate suffering and to provide basic human needs for rural villagers, displaced persons, and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After serving in the Peace Corps for six years as an Improved Cook Stove and Appropriate Technology volunteer, trainer, and technical advisor in Togo, Barry earned a Master's degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Barry has served as Country Director for the American Refugee Committee's programs in Uganda, Sudan, and Rwanda; as a consultant for UNICEF and UNHCR; and as a team leader and training coordinator in local capacity building, renewable and appropriate technology, and sustainable rural development. CREATE! Chief Operations Officer Louise Ruhr has more than 30 years of private sector and nonprofit management experience and has spent the past eight years working with international NGOs, including the American Refugee Committee, to support women's cooperative groups in Rwanda and Senegal. CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck oversees program activities and conducts site visits in CREATE! communities. He also manages CREATE!'s finances and staff in Senegal. Omar closely collaborates with local and traditional authorities, community volunteers, and CREATE! staff to achieve both organizational and village goals.

Project1808 promotes sustainable community development in Kabala, Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone by aiding young students in their efforts to identify and address the root causes of poverty, public and environmental health challenges, and other community-identified concerns. Among our project's specific aims are the following: Fostering academic excellence and nurturing a resilient knowledge base through student mentoring, tutoring, internships, and teacher training programs. Stimulating curiosity, creativity, and innovation through student generated projects that enhance knowledge and encourage students to implement their ideas in ways that benefit their communities. Facilitating local and global partnerships for knowledge exchange, training for students, teachers and community members, student mentoring, and resources to sustain the community knowledge base Our Model Project1808 Model for sustainable development At the core of our sustainable community model is an investment in disadvantaged youth, schools, and their communities to form the building blocks as LEGOs of healthy communities in Sierra Leone and Africa. Through specific GLocal (Global and Local) partnerships, we practice the concept of thinking globally and acting locally, enhancing the exchange of knowledge, increasing the cultural competency, and expanding the worldview of all of our participants. Project1808 is committed to optimizing partnerships between educational institutions locally, within Africa and overseas, particularly with the involvement of other African countries. We want to bring back hope to youths (and whole communities) whose lives, homes, families, schools, infrastructure, institutions were destroyed by 11 years of war in Sierra Leone.

Through the commitment, motivation, determination and professionalism of its staff, COOPI aims to contribute to the process of fighting poverty and developing the communities with which it cooperates all over the world, intervening in situations of emergency, reconstruction and development, in order to achieve a better balance between the Global North and the Global South, between developed areas and deprived or developing areas.

The Paardeberg Sustainability Initiative (PSI) was conceived in 2001, in recognition of threats to the biodiversity and natural resources of the Paardeberg , a privately-owned mountain in the Western Cape, South Africa. A primary threat is economic pressure facing some 50 farmers and landowners of the mountaintop and surrounding areas.Additional and aggravating threats are global climate shifts, poverty, limited statehood. compromised capacity, education and implementation/enforcement of legislation. These challenges must be addressed to fulfill world guidelines (Agenda 21,SDG's, et) for sustainable development. PSI is currently a VAT- registered Non Profit company [NPC] and Public Benefit Organisation with Section 18A tax exempt status. It is aligned with several partners which share its vision and operate in the Paardeberg, and in this sense can be described as collaborative facilitator. Through fundraising for various integrated non-profitable projects, the PSI seeks to promote sustainability in the Paardeberg and in broader Southern African contexts. The PSI also encourages local profitable enterprises to contribute generously and tax-efficiently to a central fund that is managed by the Board of Directors of the PSI. These funds are either 'ring- fenced' for specific projects, or allocated to projects requiring support, through a process that seeks to fulfill both the agenda of the donor and the mandate of the PSI. The PSI houses both enterprises (SMME's) and projects. Projects depend on the PSI for funding, while the enterprises represent potential sources of funds/assets for the PSI. The PSI acts as an umbrella offering core functions of administration, marketing, HR management, accounting, etc to all projects and SMME's based on an economy of scale. It is thus an ideal incubator to develop new businesses while minimizing risk. The vision of the PSI is to create a successful model of sustainable development, promoted by profitable enterprises and non-profitable projects, co-operating in partnerships that oversee responsible management of natural resources and biodiversity , within an economic framework that obviates the plague of poverty and social decay while upholding the law and supportive of good governance. The PSI has housed several projects, including the Paardeberg Fire Project, Paardeberg Environmental Awareness and Response(ongoing), Paardeberg Alternative Energy Solutions, Paardeberg Botanical Surveys, PSI NatReM Project and the Paardeberg Erosion Project. It is also acting as an incubator of SMME's engaged in these and other projects. All finances are conducted through a central bank account, but independently managed and audited for each project/business separately, as per the PSI MOI. The PSI does not prejudice the independence of enterprises or projects falling within its ambit. However, its role in protecting biodiversity and natural resources influences the directives it generates. Participation of all interested and affected parties of any single project or enterprise is key to the application of these directives.

Renew Missouri was formed in 2006 to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy policy in Missouri. Our State lags far behind other states in terms of renewable generation (at less than 2%) and it is ranked 44th out of 50 in energy efficiency according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). To see why the ACEEE ranks Missouri 44th, click here. Renew Missouri’s mission is to transform Missouri into a leading state in both efficiency and renewable energy by the year 2016. In 2007, Renew Missouri advocated for true net metering and simple interconnection practices for small solar and wind systems. As a result, the Missouri legislature adopted the “Easy Connection Act,” allowing all Missourians to interconnect solar panels and small wind turbines to their utility grid free of charge and to receive full retail credit for any energy put back on the grid. In 2008, Renew Missouri helped Missouri become the 27th state to enact a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) and only the 3rd state to pass an RES through the ballot initiative process. The RES requires Missouri’s largest utilities to get 15% of their energy from renewables by 2021, with 2% of that energy coming from solar. The RES also includes a $2 per watt solar rebate program, which has proven to be a huge success. To address Missouri’s ranking in energy efficiency, Renew Missouri is also advocating before the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) for proven state efficiency policies that will create in-state jobs, lower electric bills, and reduce carbon emissions. Renew Missouri’s approach to advancing policy is to bring stakeholders for energy issues together to educate & facilitate productive dialogue. We educate legislators and other policy makers while also promoting renewables and energy efficiency to the public. We evaluate what energy policies Missouri could implement and guide stakeholders as they use the policies that are put in place. In September 2011, Renew Missouri reached out to the environmental non-profit Earth Island Institute, applying to become one of many organizations they sponsor. The fiscal sponsorship relationship that was formed gave Renew Missouri administrative support to better serve Missourians and to continue the pursuit of the clean, renewable energy they need. Then, in December 2016, Renew Missouri became our own independent 501(c)3 organization.