18 life-changing charities to donate to on Giving Tuesday

‘Tis the season for spending time with friends and family, giving, and receiving. But let’s not forget about giving back. While it can be all too easy to get caught up in what we want, toys our kids just have to get right now, and what your best friend’s cousin’s husband showed off on Facebook (we’ve all been there), it’s important to take some time to give back to organizations and charities that are helping those in need.

Consider what’s most important to you—or ask yourself what pulls at your heartstrings the most. Is it thinking of a little one who doesn’t have access to books? Helping mamas who can’t afford healthcare? Include your little ones and decide together where you’d like to donate to, or volunteer with.

If you’ve wanted to give back in some way, but just weren’t sure where to start, we rounded up some of the best places that benefit women, parents and children.

Women & mamas

Women’s Learning Partnership

Dedicated to providing more rights, development and peace worldwide, this organization uses strategic planning to advocate for women’s rights on a global scale.

Planned Parenthood

Access to birth control and general health care are necessary, specifically for women. Planned Parenthood provides comprehensive services to women who can’t get it elsewhere.

National Women’s Health Network

With a mission to improve women’s health through policy changes, the NWHN works to decrease barriers that get in the way of women getting the care they need.

Every Mother Counts

This organization’s works to help mothers worldwide get access to maternity care, such as getting to a facility or equipping clinics with skilled birth attendants to reduce the 303,000 deaths due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

March of Dimes

Donating to this organization helps to fund research to find the causes of premature birth, provide vital services for moms and babies, and preventing birth defects.

Children

Malala Fund

Her story garnered the attention of the world and through this fund, she’s working to advocate for girls, give to promote location education and help girl’s stories be shared.

Young Women’s Leadership Network

Not every child gets to continue their education due to poverty, but YWLN uses two programs to provide a high-performing school for girls and a college guidance program that helps both women and men.

She’s the First

Committed to fighting gender inequality through education, She’s the First funds scholarships to help girls in low-income countries graduate from high school and matches young women with mentors.

Room to Read

Donations go directly towards providing literacy and gender equality in education for children in low-income countries.

Save the Children

Dedicated to providing comprehensive care, protection and education for children in 120 countries, Save the Children has reached 157 million kids around the world.

Girls on the Run

Through local initiatives, this organization inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident through a fun curriculum that integrates running.

Give Kids the World, Inc.

Their Village is located in the heart of Central Florida where kids with light-threatening illnesses get a weeklong vacation with their family.

Families

The Hunger Project

Not every family can put food on the table, but this global movement helps communities create sustainable ways to end hunger.

GOOD+ Foundation

Donations of either money or goods go directly towards programs that are breaking the cycle of family poverty, thus building a brighter future for their next generation.

National Partnership for Women & Families

For more than 45 years, this network has been advocating for policy change that advances women and families—from workplace equality to access to affordable healthcare.

Center for Health and Gender Equity

Dedicated to advancing gender equality and empowering girls and women, CHANGE promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights across the country.

Parents As Teachers National Center

This organization works to support early development and quality learning for kids through helping parents and caregivers with quality educational tools.

Family Promise, Inc.

More than 2.5 million families will be homeless this year, but Family Promise works to provide sustainable independence through food, shelter, and other forms of support.

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