25 Black organizations that should be on your radar

Here at Givebutter, we make it our business to champion the changemakers who are transforming their communities and making the world a better place. That's why we're shouting out these 25 incredible Black organizations that are led by and primarily serve Black communities.

All of these Black community organizations and Black-owned nonprofit organizations are moving, shaking, and making an impact on local, national, and global levels—and some are even using Givebutter to power their good causes!

1. The Women Invested to Save Earth Fund  

Founded by Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland, the WISE Fund supports underfunded Black, Indigenous, and women of color-led organizations across the world working on novel solutions to the most pressing challenges facing low-income communities hit hardest by climate change.‍

⭐ Impact: This Black charity funds, coaches, and builds community and wellness for Black and allied women leaders. It also produces Black Philanthropy Month, the award-winning annual celebration of Black giving and a call to action for greater investment in Black leadership in philanthropy.

2. Black Farmer Fund

The Black Farmer Fund was created in 2020 to support Black businesses in the Northeast's larger farming and food landscape by providing them with the capital they need to thrive. ‍

⭐ Impact: The Black Farmer Fund has raised over $12M to help Black farmers receive low-interest loans and grants to grow their businesses. 

3. Black Girls Code

Black geeks unite! Black Girls Code is a Black-led organization founded by self-described nerdy mom Kimberly Bryant to create more opportunities for Black girls in STEM. ‍

⭐ Impact: This national organization, which has chapters across the country, is actively training one million girls to "lead, innovate, and create" in the tech sector by 2040. 

4. Children’s Defense Fund

For decades, the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) has been the moral compass for those seeking to end child poverty, improve the quality of life in marginalized African American communities, and disrupt the "Cradle to Prison Pipeline" that has disproportionately impacted Black children and their families.  

⭐ Impact: Since 1995, over 200,000 K–12 Scholars have embraced the CDF Freedom Schools adventure created by this Black charity organization.

5. Black Male Voter Project

Countering centuries of disenfranchisement and voter suppression (from slavery through the New Jim Crow), the Black Male Voter Project works to engage Black men in the electoral process.‍

⭐ Impact: With Mondale Robinson at the helm, the group has focused its strategy on 17 states, where it is organizing to get 300 million people to the polls.

6. Southerners on New Ground

As a member-based organization, Southerners on New Ground (SONG) unites LGBTQ+ individuals from across the South to build power and resiliency for those with multiple marginalized identities.

⭐ Impact: Through campaigns, technical assistance, and coalition work, SONG has fostered the beloved communities they envision for all people since 1993. 

More to explore

Discover the ultimate list of Black philanthropists, grants, and more →

7. PolicyLink

PolicyLink finds, supports, and promotes the best initiatives, large and small, that profoundly impact the health of their communities and access to opportunity. ‍

⭐ Impact: With partners across the country, PolicyLink has been a leader in articulating what racial equity actually looks like in practice—and what it requires of society.

8. Color of Change

Color of Change is an online national Black organization that boasts over 7 million members across the United States and is committed to "building Black power, Black joy, and winning justice." ‍

⭐ Impact: Since 2005, their research and bold campaigns often challenge the media's inaccurate representations of Black communities. They've also created a platform for members to develop and promote their own campaigns at the local level.

9. Anderson Center for the Arts

Anderson Center for the Arts (formerly Harris County Cultural Arts Center) is a decades-old nonprofit theater production company near Houston, Texas that serves as an invaluable cultural hub for Black people and other people of color in the region.

⭐ Impact: Their 20,000-square-foot venue provides space for performances, art exhibits, events, and advocacy. It also houses the Harris County Arts Coalition, which brings local artists and organizations together to address COVID-19's devastating impact on the performing arts economy.

10. Word in Black

A project of the Local Media Foundation, Word in Black was founded by a group of ten Black publishers who launched the Fund for Black Journalism to address the urgent need for local reporting by and for Black communities. 

⭐ Impact: Word in Black works to ensure that Black stories are told in local media across the country, and provides the source to find the best reporting, interviews, op-eds, and other critical racial justice content in one place. 

11. Mill Creek Urban Farm

For two decades, Mill Creek Urban Farm in West Philadelphia has been a vibrant space for community education around environmental sustainability and access to affordable, healthy food.

⭐ Impact: Measuring just one-and-a-half acres, they grow an impressive variety of veggies, fruits, and flowers. Neighbors can shop at their farm stand twice a week—food stamps are accepted!  

12. African American Leadership Forum

African American Leadership Forum (AALF) is an organization that brings together Black leaders and organizations from around the state of Minnesota to build power and address the biggest issues facing their communities. 

⭐ Impact: Driven by a "Black-Centered Design" model, this African American organization is a growing hub for leadership development and cross-sector collaboration for truly community-led solutions.

13. Brave Space Alliance

A Black- and trans-led LGBTQ+ center on Chicago's South Side, the Brave Space Alliance weaves together mutual aid programs. 

⭐ Impact: BSA’s programs provide food, housing, and dynamic community-building initiatives that help grow a thriving BIPOC queer community. They stress a "for us by us" model that is culturally competent and affirming for everyone who walks through their doors.  

14. Black Arts MKE

Black Arts MKE provides performing arts programming for young people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This organization also creates opportunities for local artists of color to develop their skills and grow their audiences.

⭐ Impact: Black Arts helps 1,500 elementary students attend free performances of Black Nativity every year, has hired 100+ local artists of color, and so much more.

15. Claim Our Space Now  

Committed to centering the voices and leadership of Black, queer, and immigrant New Yorkers, Claim Our Space Now does just as its name commands.

⭐ Impact: COSN recently raised more than $10,000 with an all-day event called Rally for Freedom: Pride for All Black Lives, which celebrated Black voices of the LGBTQ+ movement.

16. Black Women for Wellness

Black Women for Wellness is a California-based nonprofit that takes a holistic approach to promoting Black women's health by combining community outreach and education with research and policy advocacy.

⭐ Impact: From maternal health and diabetes prevention to healthy hair, environmental justice, and voter engagement, BWW initiatives model what empowering programming can really look like. 

17. The Brotherhood Sister Sol

Originally based out of a Harlem brownstone, The Brotherhood Sister Sol helps to educate, train, and organize Black and Latinx young people to build the futures they want to see.

⭐ Impact: Since 1994, "BroSis" has been developing Black and Latinx youth leaders. They provide wraparound services, education, and skills training to equip young New Yorkers to be fierce organizers and advocates for themselves and their communities. 

18. A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center

Historian and professor of Black Studies, A.J. Williams-Myers, was a beloved resource for Black historical knowledge in New York's Hudson Valley. The A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center is a Kingston, NY-based community space and cultural library named in his honor. 

⭐ Impact: The center promotes literacy by “teaching and learning about the African roots experience, including history and culture, through a dynamic exchange of information, ideas, and creativity.”

19. International Black Film Festival

The International Black Film Festival, based in Nashville, TN, celebrates the diversity of Black artistic voices across the globe through incredible programming year after year.

⭐ Impact: The only African-American film festival in the state of Tennessee, IBFF has celebrated and amplified diverse voices from “underserved and unheard voices” around the world for two decades.

20. The Hope Gain Center

The Hope Gain Center is a Black-led nonprofit that works to reduce barriers to employment for people with mental health disabilities. 

⭐ Impact: HGC supports skill-building, provides work experience, and works with employers to hire more people with diverse backgrounds, particularly for remote work opportunities. 

21. Creative Justice

Creative Justice works to end the school-to-prison pipeline through healing arts programs and provides direct services and restitution relief in the Seattle area.

⭐ Impact: CJ’s compelling fundraising campaign calls on non-Black salaried professionals who are enjoying paid time off on Juneteenth to donate their wages to fund the work of Black-led community organizations.

22. Norview Cardinals 

No Black-led nonprofit is too small! A youth football program based in Virginia, the Norview Cardinals serves mostly Black families, helping kids play and experience the fun and skill-building of football and cheerleading. 

⭐ Impact: The Cardinals’ recent team fundraising campaign received donations from nearly 200 supporters to offset the cost of their fall season so that every kid can play.

23. Caribbean With Purpose

Caribbean With Purpose is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping eliminate illiteracy in the Caribbean by boosting students' reading and academic accomplishments.

⭐ Impact: Caribbean With Purpose launched a strong peer-to-peer campaign for their summer months of giving fundraiser for their holistic educational resources for kids in Jamaica and other under-resourced Caribbean communities.

24. Life Renewed 

This Black nonprofit, Life Renewed, focuses on offering support to those who have experienced abuse by intimate partners.

⭐ Impact: Life Renewed is building its first domestic violence shelter, which will serve as a safe haven for women and children in their Greensboro, North Carolina community.

25. Drexell and Honeybees Donations-Only Restaurant

A volunteer-run restaurant in Brewton, Alabama, Drexel and Honeybees Donations-Only Restaurant provides delicious meals in a welcoming environment for everyone in their community, free of charge. 

⭐ Impact: Drexel and Honeybees has served more than 120,000 meals since opening their doors in 2018, and they’re on a mission to #FeedTheNeed for years to come. 

Calling all Black nonprofit organizations!

‍Are you part of an incredible African American nonprofit organization that should be on this list? Eager to share more awesome Black charities to support? Apply or nominate a campaign for our Givebutter Gives Back $10K initiative during Black Philanthropy Month this August!