I’m constantly amazed by the quantity and breadth of non-profit organizations that are working to solve society’s many problems. While we often take a look at the larger organizations because they have more job and internship opportunities, you shouldn’t overlook the smaller non-profits that are deeply embedded in their communities and focused on solving a small set of problems in a specific area. These organizations are especially well equipped to make things happen, even if they can only do it on a small scale; however, they can also be limited by their size and local focus. Foundation for Sustainable Development is a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that “works to enhance the capacity of small non-governmental organizations around the world to address local health, social, environmental, and economic issues.” In other words, they help these smaller organizations by giving them access to some of the resources of larger organizations.
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After my Senior year of high school, I went to Washington, DC with my church youth group for a weeklong mission trip. I was amazed by how pockets of poverty and wealth wee interspersed throughout the city, and I got a firsthand look at how many people are struggling to get by in our nation’s capital. That was nearly ten years ago (scary I know), but I don’t think much has changed. Luckily, there are a ton of great organizations that are working to make the city a better place. Bread for the City is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that “provides vulnerable residents with holistic services including food, clothing, medical care, legal and social services, in an atmosphere of dignity, respect and peace.” They got their start in 1974, and they’ve now grown to being able to serve 10,000 residents a month and nearly 60,000 unique individuals annually.
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I must admit that I probably use my car more than I should to get around in Chicago. It’s often just so easy. I still walk and take public transportation when it makes the most sense, but I could definitely be convinced to do both of those things more often. That’s the job of Transportation Alternatives, although they do it in New York, NY. They’re a non-profit organization with a mission to “reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.” There are a ton of negative externalities with cars (pollution, danger to pedestrians, noise, etc.), and plenty of positive externalities (less congestion, healthier citizens, etc.) with alternative forms of transportation, so it makes sense for an organization like Transportation Alternatives to be so adamant about their position.
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It’s hard to find a kid in the United States who doesn’t take school for granted. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I actually wanted to go to school in the morning, yet I had classrooms with computers, books, great teachers and more. In the developing world schools barely have any books or even decent structures to teach lessons in, yet the students are filled with enthusiasm. Room to Read is a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that “seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.” It all started in Nepal when a Microsoft executive named John Wood who was traveling in Nepal and invited into a school in a small village. He was alarmed by how little they had to work with, so he quit his job and decided to build “a global team to work with rural villages to build sustainable solutions to their educational challenges.”
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We’re extremely lucky to be coming of age in a time when the Internet is opening up so many economic opportunities. When I graduated from college, I had no idea what was possible. As I became more and more frustrated with my job search, I started to look at online business models. Five years later I’ve built a profitable business that has helped people land awesome jobs and internships. Without today’s technology, I never could have built what I did so cheaply, which is why I’m convinced that making new technologies available to the masses at affordable prices is the key to economic growth. That’s why I’m so interested by the Washington, DC based One Economy Corporation. They’re “a global non-profit organization that leverages the power of technology and connects underserved communities around the world to vital information that will improve their lives.”
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Everybody feels for Japan right now. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and potential nuclear meltdowns are scary enough on their own, but I can’t imagine dealing with all three at the same time. Luckily, Japan is both economically and technologically strong enough to have been well prepared to deal with such disasters. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t need our support. Plenty will come from our federal government, but there will also be support sent from city to city. Why? Because of the relationships formed through Sister Cities International, a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that aims to “promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation–one individual, one community at a time.” They pair cities across the world to be sister cities (smaller cities may have one sister city while larger cities could have dozens). For instance Riverside, CA is Sendai, Japan’s (the epicenter of the earthquake) sister city, so the people in Riverside are already working to coordinate their part in the relief effort for Sendai. It’s exactly the “people-to-people, citizen diplomacy initiative” that President Eisenhower proposed in 1956.
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There’s something special about non-profits that start on college campuses. They’re born with a sense of scrappiness and youthful idealism. It’s just the combination that can make amazing things happen. Nourish International in Chapel Hill, NC is a perfect example of this. It all started with a UNC student named Sindhura Citineni. She started a student group called “Hunger Lunch.” They’d sell “rice, beans and cornbread in the Pit for $3 and use the profits to fund Nourish’s first project: a nutrition project in Hyderabad, India.” Since then the mission has continued to be “to eradicate poverty by engaging students and empowering communities,” but they’ve certainly expanded their reach. Students raise money on campus throughout the year, and then they travel abroad in the summer to fund and conduct community development projects.
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It’s amazing what a single person can do to change the world. These days it’s as easy as ever. Whether you build a website that millions of people use or do volunteer work in a small town in Africa, you can have an amazing impact all on your own. And even better, you can find tons of people and organizations whom you can work with to magnify your impact. One of those organizations is Visions in Action. They are a Washington, DC based non-profit international development organization that “is committed to achieving social and economic justice in the developing world through grassroots programs and communities of self-reliant volunteers.” They work in Mexico, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and even in the United States.
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When is the last time that you felt that you made a difference? For me it was yesterday when I got an e-mail about how a number of recent grads landed jobs with an employer I featured a few months back. Hopefully it wasn’t too long ago for you either, but if it was, you might want to check out Citizen Effect. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that “connects Citizen Philanthropists to the poorest of the poor communities around the world.” What’s a “Citizen Philantrhopist?” It’s someone who isn’t happy just making a donation, but wants to do more. They don’t have to be rich, but they do have to be willing to dig in for the cause. Citizen Effect “allows people to identify a project they believe in, raise capital through a variety of innovative tools, and maintain a direct and lasting relationship with their partner communities.” Sounds like a good idea to me.
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I spent the end of last week in Munich and the weekend in Paris. It was a great trip, but I was a little thrown off. I travel a good amount within the US, and I didn’t realize how much location-based services have become a part of my routine when I visit a new city. I’m constantly using my iPhone for Google Maps, Yelp, Foursquare, Twitter, and a few other apps—all of which use GPS to help me make the most of my time in the city. In France and Germany my iPhone doesn’t get data, and free Wi-Fi is pretty tough to find except for at Starbucks. Location-based services are only becoming more and more essential to everyday life, which is why I’m interested in Emeryville, CA based Location Labs. They’re an Inc. 500 company that “provides advanced location-based technologies and scalable and secure software platforms that allow third-party developers to build applications and services that can remotely locate more than 150 million devices.” That’s led to a 655% three-year growth rate and $7.9 million in annual revenue last year.
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I don’t know if you’ve been watching much tv lately, but here in Chicago every commercial seems to be for a political candidate. These people keep claiming that they’re going to make the world a better place, but I’m not very optimistic. Politicians are a necessary evil, I guess, but what we really need more of is social entrepreneurs—people who truly put everything that they have into solving some of the world’s problems. Global Visionaries is a Seattle, WA based non-profit that “empowers youth from diverse socio-economic, ethnic, racial, and geographic backgrounds to become active leaders and global citizens who promote justice.” Young people (like you and me) are our best hope for social change, and Global Visionaries is all about providing even younger people (high schoolers) with opportunities to start making a difference through a variety of community development projects.
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One of the wonderful things about running this site is all of the reader e-mails that I get. Some of my favorites are from readers who have had success stories about internships they’ve landed through the site, but I also love it when you guys introduce me to companies or organizations that I haven’t heard of. One reader recently wrote me to recommend The Urban Institute, where he had been temping. It’s a Washington, DC based non-profit that does “nonpartisan economic and social policy research.” They were founded in 1968 in response to President Johnson’s call for “independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America’s cities and their residents,” and they now work in all 50 states and in more than 28 countries.
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Up to this point I’ve been able to build my business with only my own investment and a little from my family. I don’t know if I’ll ever take outside capital, but I do know that most businesses require some form of investment to get off the ground. In the United States getting capital is pretty easy—there are both equity and debt options to fund your business. In developing nations, capital isn’t nearly as free flowing—mostly because the investments are far too risky. The microfinance movement has helped, but many upstarts are too big for the kind of capital that they offer. Root Capital is a Boston, MA based non-profit that has created “a new class of capital sitting between microcredit and commercial lending, enabling rural communities to unlock wealth and build sustainable livelihoods.” They seem to be modeled after for-profit investment firms, but there investments are obviously done with a very different focus.
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On Thursday I got to see Seth Godin at a live event that he put on in Chicago (it was awesome). One of the most powerful things that he said was on the topic of education and how our system is broken. He said that “parents should home school their kids every day from 3 PM to 10 PM.” He doesn’t mean helping them with homework or reteaching them what they learned earlier in the day. He means that parents should get their kids working on interesting problems that are stimulating and worth doing. Kid Power is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization “that provides [after school] educational programming for 275 youth from underserved communities.” They step in for parents who may not be available or equipped to provide their kids with “home schooling” opportunities.
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When I came across an internship posting that mentioned Ubuntu, I assumed it had something to do with software. I’m kind of a geek sometimes, so I was thinking about the Linux operating system named Ubuntu (which is the #1 result when you search the word in Google). It turns out that Ubuntu, according to Wikipedia, is also “an ethical concept of African origin” that focuses “on people’s allegiances and relations with each other.” The Ubuntu Education Fund may not be teaching anyone about Linux, but they’re certainly using the idea of Ubuntu to make the world a better place. They are based in Port Elizabeth township in South Africa, where they reach “over 40,000 children with life-saving health and educational resources and services.” The Fund also has offices in London and New York City, which enable them to grow and support the on the ground operations in South Africa.
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When I have a personal finance question, curiosity, or problem, I look to Ramit Sethi for help. His book I Will Teach You To Be Rich
and blog by the same name are amazing resources for anyone regardless of financial standing or background. Although people love to blame Wall Street and other societal causes for their own financial misfortune, the truth is that a little education can go a long way in helping people achieve financial success. While Ramit provides educational resources for individuals, The Financial Clinic, a New York City based non-profit, provides a more hands-on approach to promoting economic progress. They call it “a Peace Corps for financial stability.” The truth is that most college students and new grads have enough of their own financial struggles, but if you’re the type of person who has a plan and a system, then The Financial Clinic might be worth taking a closer look at.
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Watching the fighter jets scream across the sky during practice runs for the Chicago Air and Water show reminded me of September 11th. I was standing on the beach watching smoke billow from the Twin Towers and could see fighter jets—the only planes in the sky—cruising along as they patrolled the air. I also remember having a sense of anger, and wanting to have someone to blame for the atrocities. I think that most people shared that feeling, at least initially, but some were far less rational about how they dealt with it. September 11th was obviously a terrible day for every American, but it was also the day when life got much harder for people in American of Arab, Muslim, South Asian and other backgrounds. That’s why Seattle, WA based OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone) was founded immediately after September 11th. Their mission is “to advance the fundamental principles of democracy and justice through building power in immigrant communities, in collaboration with key allies.”
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I’ve done a good amount of traveling this summer, and it just so happens that a number of the cities that I’ve visited have significant homeless populations. San Diego stands out the most, but there’s also Denver, San Francisco, and my home, Chicago. It showed me how serious mental health issues can become for individuals and communities. Obviously, mental health issues affect people from all walks of life, but with the homeless it’s visible in a way that most other mental health issues aren’t. The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a Washington, DC based organization that acts as “the unifying voice of America’s behavioral health organizations.” They support more than 1,700 member organizations and serve the “more than 6 million adults and children with mental illnesses and addiction disorders.”
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Ever get off to a bad start? Maybe it was a class, a sports season, or a new social situation. It’s hard to dig yourself out of the funk, right? Or maybe it was something far more important like life. Millions of people are born into poverty in our country, and that makes it likely that they’ll eventually have children who are born into poverty. It’s a vicious cycle that is nearly impossible to get out of, which means that more and more kids will be born into a very difficult situation. A Wider Circle is a Silver Spring, MD non-profit organization that empowers “children and adults to break the cycles of poverty and poor health.” By providing basic need items to struggling families, A Wider Circle puts people in a situation where success is attainable.
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Chances are that housing is and will be your biggest expense for most of your life. It’s one of our most basic needs, so it makes sense that we spend a lot on it. Unfortunately, housing markets don’t react quickly to changes in demand, so we often have situations where housing becomes unaffordable for many who wish to live in an area. This may be ok when it’s some posh area of town, but what about when people who have lived and worked in area for years can no longer keep up with the real estate prices? Enterprise Community Partners is a Columbia, MD based non-profit that addresses these problems by creating “opportunity for low- and moderate-income people through fit, affordable housing and diverse, thriving communities.” They want to help people living in poverty “move up and out,” and they do this by helping to develop “a diverse mix of affordable and market housing options, access to jobs and social supports, and a strong commitment to the environment and civic participation.”
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Some of my best “on the job experience” came the summer after my Freshman year of college. I didn’t land an amazing internship nor did I do anything entrepreneurial. I landed a job at my dad’s fish and game club. Another college kid and I were responsible for assisting the club manager in maintaining the grounds on the club’s 250-acre parcel. I only had to work from 8 to 12 every day (before it got too hot), but I worked my butt off. I was filling potholes with sand, weed whacking 6 foot high weeds, and digging ditches. I came home every day dirty, tired, and occasionally with a good story (like the time a 30 ft tall tree almost fell on my head). If you want to experience what it’s like to work hard, and you want to do it for a good cause, you should check out Civic Works. They’re a Baltimore, MD based “urban service corps and an AmeriCorps program” with a mission “to build a future for Baltimore’s youth through community service and skills development.”
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It’s tax time, which means that I’ve spent some time looking over my records from last year. This year is already looking better than last year thanks to a sponsor on One Day, One Job. Hopefully it will mean that when I do my taxes in 2011, I won’t consider myself a “low-income entrepreneur.” But if I still do, I’ll at least have the option of getting some support from the Corporation for Enterprise Development. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that is “dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities.” The program that I’m alluding to is the CFED’s Self-Employment Tax Initiative, which helps to provide free tax preparation services for people like me (though I haven’t actually taken advantage of any of these resources). That’s just a small slice of what CFED does, though. Their broader goal is “working at the local, state and federal levels to create economic opportunity that alleviates poverty.”
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I grew up in Fairfield, CT, which is next to a city, Bridgeport, that is always aiming for “revitalization.” They’ve talked about a building a casino for years, and they even built a minor league baseball stadium. It’s hard to say whether that has helped or hurt, but it seems that Bridgeport is at least doing a little better than it was a decade ago. I’d imagine that the real reasons for improvement have come from smaller projects that are more in tune with the city’s communities’ needs. These are the kinds of projects that The Reinvestment Fund invests in in cities in the Mid-Atlantic. They are “a 24 year old nonprofit financial lending institution with a strong social mission” and offices in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. They started out as a small community development organization, and they’ve grown to become something much bigger.
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Over on One Day, One Job I’ve been collecting user data over the past week to help me make the site more useful. So far the survey has received hundreds of responses, and there are a number of common themes that keep coming up. It’s amazing at how well an 8 question survey can tell me about what you students want in a job search tool. For companies that need a little more than an 8 question survey, there’s Communispace, a Watertown, MA based market research company. Their name probably wouldn’t have made them too popular during the cold war, but fear of communism has been replaced with community building—which is what Communispace is all about.
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You’ve probably heard of the World Bank, but do you know what it is? Now’s a good time to head over to Wikipedia to find out. The short version is that they’re “an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to developing countries for capital programs” with the goal of reducing poverty. Bank Information Center is a Washington, DC based non-profit that helps “developing and transitioning countries to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions to promote social and economic justice and ecological sustainability.” Basically that means that they work at the local level in countries across the world to make sure that the interests of the people are represented in the decisions of international financial institutions. Their aim is to democratize development.
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Last night I was driving home and heard a radio commercial for an 89 cent burrito. It made me realize how cheap calories are these days. Cheap calories used to be a good thing. It meant that fewer people would go hungry, but unfortunately cheap calories are often low-quality calories. As hunger becomes less of a problem, nutrition continues to be a major problem. The Food Trust is a Philadelphia based non-profit that “works to improve the health of children and adults, promote good nutrition, increase access to nutritious foods, and advocate for better public policy.” They work with “neighborhoods, schools, grocers, farmers and policymakers” to educate people about making the right food choices while also making access to good food easier and more affordable.
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We all know that poverty is a huge problem, even here in an extremely wealthy country like the United States. We have thousands and thousands of non-profits working to eradicate poverty, while the government always seems to be creating new programs to help those in need. Still, poverty continues to exist despite the billions of dollars allocated to fighting it. Part of the reason for this is that many of those billions go unclaimed. Too many people don’t know what services and programs are available to them, so they never take advantage of potentially life changing help. It’s kind of like how you never stepped foot in the career services office, and now you are struggling to find an internship. SingleStop USA is a New York City based non-profit that is trying to change this problem by closing the information gap. They’re fighting poverty by informing people about the services that are already available to them.
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Agriculture has done a lot for us over the past few millennia. It’s by far the biggest development in the history of our species, as it’s pushed us forward into all kinds of other technological advances. Sadly, most of us have left agriculture behind—we couldn’t possibly feed ourselves without supermarkets and restaurants. That’s not really a problem, but it’s still a bit disheartening. Luckily, there are some non-profit organizations out there like Portland, ME based Cultivating Community that are using agriculture to enact positive change. Cultivating Community, for example, grows “tens of thousands of pounds of organic produce with and for people with low incomes” while using “community food work as a platform for youth empowerment programs.” It almost sounds too good to be true.
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Although it may seem bad that millions of trees are cut down every year for Christmas, the truth is that most of the trees are farmed and are a completely renewable resource. Most. It was not the case with the tree that some frat boys that I went to school picked out. Their foyer had extremely high ceilings, so they picked out a very tall tree from the front of someone’s yard. They cut it down, loaded it up in their truck, and sped off. Unfortunately for them, someone spotted their plates and called the police. The cops saw the tree through the fraternity house’s windows, and they nailed the culprits. Whoops. What’s the point of this story? Trees are important, and they face lots of risks. In forests trees are often left to do their own thing, but in urban environments they need a little help. That’s what Casey Trees does. They are “a Washington, DC based not-for-profit dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the Nation’s Capital.” Whether they’re planting trees, protecting against development, or fixing damage done by idiot frat boys, they’re doing their best to reverse the “trend of tree cover loss in the District of Columbia.”
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It’s pretty common for non-profit organizations to go through name changes as they expand their scope. While it’s often a sign of failure to change your name for a restaurant, I think it’s usually a sign of success with non-profits. It means that they’ve been so effective at achieving their goals that they’ve taken on an expanded mission. It’s not always the case, but it seems to be the case with Washington, DC based Thrive DC, which was originally founded in 1979 as Dinner Program for Homeless Women. I’d imagine that they found having gender specificity in their name became too limiting, as Thrive DC aims to provide “the last available safety net for people facing economic crisis and housing instability while also providing the first step towards independence for people experiencing extended periods of homelessness.”
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