30 charities to support on GoFundMe in 2025
If you’ve decided you want to financially support a cause close to your heart, the next step is finding a legitimate nonprofit organization that will use your funds to make a lasting impact. But sorting through dozens of nonprofits to verify their credibility might take hours. Doing good shouldn’t be hard, so we’ve rounded up 30 charities to donate to. Whether you’re looking for charities that help communities or charities doing environmental work—and everything in between—our list has a nonprofit for almost every cause.
1. Cancer charity to donate to: Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer brings scientists together to find faster ways to beat cancer. They push lab breakthroughs into real treatments, making research feel less like theory and more like hope in motion.
2. Emergency relief charity to donate to: Direct Relief
When chaos hits (wildfires, earthquakes, war zones), Direct Relief shows up. They get medicine and supplies to hospitals that are running on fumes. They don’t do headlines; they do logistics. And that saves lives.
3. Social justice charity to donate to: Equal Justice Initiative
You might know Bryan Stevenson from Just Mercy. He founded EJI to end mass incarceration and confront racial injustice head-on. Their team also preserves the truth through public history, because remembering is part of justice, too.
4. Children’s charity to donate to: UNICEF
You’ll find UNICEF wherever childhood is at risk: places hit by war, hunger, or disaster. They’re the ones hauling clean water through mud roads and making sure vaccines actually reach the kids who need them. It’s the kind of work that rarely makes the news but changes everything for the families who live it.
5. Mental health charity to donate to: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
NAMI is that bridge between confusion and understanding. They teach families how to cope, connect people to help, and fight the stigma that keeps too many silent. Mental health deserves a community, and NAMI keeps building one.
6. Women’s health charity to donate to: Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI)
The Black Women’s Health Imperative tackles the issues mainstream health care often overlooks. They focus on prevention, wellness, and closing the gap in access. It’s advocacy rooted in data, but powered by lived experience.
7. Men’s health charity to donate to: Movember Foundation
Movember started as a joke between friends trying to bring back mustaches. Since then, it’s grown into a global effort that’s pushed men’s health into everyday conversation. They pay for counselors, doctors, and communities to make sure men can speak up and get help. What started with body hair has done so much more.
8. LGBTQ+ charity to donate to: The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is a lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth. Someone’s always there to answer when a teen feels hopeless. Their counselors listen, guide, and remind kids they belong here, exactly as they are.
9. Veterans charity to donate to: Navy SEAL Foundation, Inc.
From scholarships to counseling, the Navy SEAL Foundation takes care of those that have given everything. They ensure no one faces the challenges of transition alone.
Explore our full list of Veterans charities to donate to on GoFundMe
10. Education charity to donate to: Teach For America
Teach For America puts passionate teachers into classrooms that need them most. They believe a ZIP code shouldn’t decide a child’s future, and every lesson taught proves it a little more true.
11. Unified sports charity to donate to: United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation
Founded in 1894 and based in Colorado Springs, the USOPC is the nation’s Olympic and Paralympic committee, assembling Team USA for the Olympic, Paralympic, Youth Olympic, Pan American, and Parapan American Games. A federally chartered nonprofit that largely operates without federal funding, it uniquely oversees both movements and directs most resources to athlete support—grants, training centers, sports medicine, coaching, insurance, travel, education/career services, and safe sport and anti-doping.
12. Environmental charity to donate to: Environmental Defense Fund
The Environmental Defense Fund blends science and practical solutions to fight climate change. They work with farmers, businesses, and policymakers, proving collaboration can be just as powerful as protest.
13. Animal charity to donate to: Humane World for Animals
Humane World for Animals intervenes in areas where neglect and cruelty have taken root. They show extreme compassion when rescuing and caring for some of the most vulnerable animals.
14. Wildlife charity to donate to: World Wildlife Fund
WWF is a global force for conservation. They safeguard endangered species, restore habitats, and fight the ripple effects of climate change. Saving the planet sounds big, but they tackle it one project at a time.
15. Immigration charity to donate to: Global Refuge
Global Refuge helps displaced families rebuild their lives. They focus on resettlement, family unity, and self-reliance, reminding us that “refugee” is just the beginning of a new story.
16. Disaster relief charity to donate to: World Central Kitchen
World Central Kitchen, founded by Chef José Andrés, brings meals to communities reeling from disaster. When disaster strikes, World Central Kitchen doesn’t wait. They roll in, set up stoves, and start cooking for anyone who’s hungry. It’s not fancy—it’s food made fast, made warm, and made with heart.
17. Humanitarian medical care charity: Hope for Haiti
Hope for Haiti doesn’t just deliver aid and leave. Their personnel live and labor next to local families, educating, building, and listening. A lot of what they do happens quietly, in clinics and classrooms, where progress is measured by a child’s clean water or a mother’s safe delivery.
18. International aid charity to donate to: International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee arrives in the middle of chaos and helps families running from war, disaster, and poverty find safety, schooling, and stability again. For millions, they’re the calm after everything else has gone.
19. Addiction recovery charity to donate to: To Write Love on Her Arms
To Write Love on Her Arms helps people struggling with depression, addiction, and self-harm find treatment and hope. They remind everyone that healing is possible and that asking for help is a sign of strength.
20. Hunger-relief charity to donate to: Feed My Starving Children
Feed My Starving Children packs and delivers nutritious meals to malnourished kids across the globe. Volunteers play a hands-on role, proving that small efforts—meal by meal—add up to big impact.
21. Essential needs charity to donate to: The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army supports millions through housing, food programs, and disaster recovery. The Salvation Army’s scope is huge, but its purpose is even bigger: to fulfill human need with respect and kindness.
22. Family support charity to donate to: March of Dimes
If you’ve ever seen a story about a baby born too soon who made it home, chances are March of Dimes was in the background. Their researchers and advocates fight for better maternity care and safe births because every family deserves a healthy start.
23. Childhood cancer charity to donate to: Children’s Cancer Research Fund
This is not a giant lab; this is a network of parents, scientists, and donors all chasing better treatments for kids. They exist to help turn those experimental ideas into real clinical trials. This is how more children get to grow up.
24. Autism charity to donate to: Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is by far the biggest name in the field of autism awareness. They fund vital innovative research and run an array of programs that provide desperately needed services to families who have children on the spectrum. Their main goal is enabling every person to live a life of independence.
25. Alzheimer’s charity to donate to: Cure Alzheimer’s Fund
Cure Alzheimer’s Fund invests every donated dollar directly into research. Their scientists are chasing the breakthroughs that could end Alzheimer’s for good, and they won’t stop until prevention replaces loss.
26. Leukemia & lymphoma charity to donate to: Blood Cancer United
Blood Cancer United funds innovative research and gives patients and their families emotional and financial support. They are looking for more meaningful cures. More time for everyone who needs it.
27. HIV/AIDS charity to donate to: Elton John AIDS Foundation, Inc.
Music legend Sir Elton John saw a dire need to expand access to HIV prevention and treatment, and stepped up. In addition to public policy and advocacy, they support local partners as they fight stigma and ensure that persons living with HIV are treated with compassion. What started as a performance artist’s pledge has grown into one of the most significant AIDS organizations in the world.
28. Hearing-impaired charity to donate to: Your Hearing Dog Inc.
Your Hearing Dog Inc. trains and places service dogs with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These dogs become eyes, ears, and confidence all at once—proof that connection is its own kind of freedom.
29. Rare disease charity to donate to: National Organization for Rare Disorders
The National Organization for Rare Disorders brings people with uncommon conditions together. They help patients feel seen, fund new treatments, and make sure “rare” never means forgotten.
30. Support for domestic abuse charity to donate to: Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP)
The Battered Women’s Justice Project helps survivors of domestic violence find safety and justice. They push for policy changes, train advocates, and walk beside people starting over. Justice doesn’t move fast, but they make sure it moves forward.
People who used crowdfunding to help charities
Thousands of people have used crowdfunding to support causes they’re passionate about. Here are just a few examples of people who are making a real difference.
Environmental Walk – Dawn to Dusk
Ella is organizing a fundraising walk to raise money for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy nonprofit that raises money to protect ecosystems internationally and in the US.
Ella, her friends, and interested community members plan to walk sunrise to sunset around her home of Westchester County, a suburb of New York City. On her last fundraising walk, the group trekked an impressive 27 miles. Ella has almost reached her $1000 fundraising goal, and any funds raised will go directly to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In This Tent Together
In San Francisco, there are almost 5,200 unhoused people who live on city streets.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, organizer Chelsea Ann realized that these unhoused individuals also needed a way to safely shelter in place. In response, her team is raising money for the Coalition on Homelessness, a nonprofit that organizes homeless people to protect the rights of the homeless and fight for housing justice. The Coalition on Homelessness distributes tents to provide shelter for San Francisco residents who are unhoused. A $25 donation buys one tent. So far, the In This Tent Together team has raised over $13,000.
Dudes For Dads Fundraiser
A group of men who have either lost their dad or never had a father figure present in their lives came together to create Dudes For Dads. Their organization aims to help younger boys navigate the process of losing a father figure. Donations to their fundraiser will go to Big Brother Big Sister of the National Capital Area, which serves at-risk youth through mentorship in the VA, DC, and MD areas. Since creating their GoFundMe, they’ve raised over $11,000.
Support your favorite cause with charity fundraising
Looking to help further? You can multiply your support for a charity you care about by starting a charity fundraiser. It’s an easy way to make a difference.
If you’re wondering why GoFundMe is among the top charity fundraising sites, here are just a few reasons:
- Our simple crowdfunding platform means you can set up a fundraiser in just a few minutes.
- If you create a certified charity fundraiser, we’ll send all funds directly to your charity. There’s no need to manage any of the funds yourself.
- We make it easy to share your fundraiser with all your contacts through email and social media.
- Donations made to GoFundMe charity fundraisers are guaranteed to be tax-deductible in the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland, and Australia. Charities receive tax receipts automatically from our charity partner, PayPal Giving Fund.
Give back to a cause you care about
Not everyone has the funds to support their favorite charity. If charitable giving isn’t in your budget, starting a fundraiser through GoFundMe can allow you to give back. Sign up to create your fundraiser today and start raising money for your favorite US charities.
If you would like to be featured as one of the charities on this list, please email communities@gofundme.com.