5 Organizations Women Will Want To Donate To For Giving Tuesday

The deep sense of fulfillment you come away with when you are altruistic is unparalleled. Maybe this is why a lot of celebrities, including Keanu Reeves, give away millions toward charities. Giving is an act that is known to increase our levels of happiness (via Intelligent Change). It often doesn't take much to become aware of the needs of the people around us. A walk to the grocery store might mean you pass a homeless man who offers you a toothy grin, or the news this morning would've alerted you to how children (much like your own) are having a harder time getting the basic education they need. 

Giving Tuesday, a concept born in 2012 as the brainchild of 92nd Street Y in New York, is a reminder for people to be generous. Now its own independent organization, Giving Tuesday (observed on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving — November 29 this year) started off as a trend to encourage people to give their time, volunteering efforts, money, or voices towards worthwhile causes. It acts as a great antidote to all the commercial shopping that usually follows the holiday season.

With everything we've collectively experienced in the last few years — the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting socioeconomic challenges — there's never been a time that's been more ripe with a need for magnanimous acts. Here's a list of five different organizations women may want to donate to this Giving Tuesday. 

With a unique approach to humanitarian efforts — one that combines philanthropy with smart business acumen, Pencils of Promise was born when founder of the organization Adam Braun was walking the streets of India and met a boy from whom he asked, "What do you want most in the world?" The boy's response was, "a pencil" (via Lifehack). The initiative which began with $25 has managed to build more than 550 schools across developing nations, per Pencils of Promise, although the focus is not only on building. Pencils of Promise also focuses on teacher training and providing water and hygiene-related infrastructure to students. The organization's efforts span worldwide in places like Africa and Asia (via Forbes).

Around 12 million girls under the age of 18 become child brides every year, and this is what the organization Girls Not Brides is trying to change. A deeply nuanced and global issue that is influenced by factors like gender inequality, poverty, lack of education, and harmful cultural practices, child marriage deprives children of a lot more than their childhood. It restricts them from living out life to their full potential, per Grok Nation. Working with over 1,500 member organizations and supported by a Board of Trustees based in continents like Africa, Asia, and Europe, Girls Not Brides primarily focuses on awareness and campaigning for change. Girls deserve the right to chart their own course in life, which makes this organization a meaningful one women can donate to this Giving Tuesday.

A debilitating disease caused by infected mosquito bites and characterized by severe fevers and chills, malaria is a very real threat in poorer nations, with 627,000 people dying from the disease in 2020 alone, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recommended by charity evaluator Give Well, Against Malaria Foundation works by providing funding for long-lasting insecticide-treated net (LLIN) distributions in developing nations, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Vox. LLINs are known to reduce infant deathrate and cases of malaria. The organization follows up with distribution areas to evaluate the effectiveness of the nets afterwards.

Planned Parenthood is another great initiative toward which women can donate this Giving Tuesday. Access to proper health care services is a challenge for a lot of women around the world for various financial and social reasons, and this is where this organization comes in, per The Bump. It is unfortunate that important information regarding reproductive health and sex education doesn't reach all women in the world equally, and the result of this is usually unsafe abortions, lack of birth control options, etc. 

Established in 1916, Planned Parenthood offers critical services like HIV testing, transgender hormone therapy, birth control, and abortion referrals so that women in the U.S. and across the world can take ownership of their own bodies and make informed decisions within a safe environment. Planned Parenthood even has plans to make abortion rights a closing argument in the 2022 election. 

Giving Tuesday is also a great time to focus on social causes like cancer relief efforts to which you can donate your hair and the environment. 

Environmental organization Lonely Whale does a whole lot more than keep plastic out of our oceans. Their many efforts — like the #StopSucking campaign which was focused on inspiring businesses to remove single-use plastic straws — are both creative and powerful. Working with youth is an area this organization prioritizes as well, and this is evidenced by the youth-centered media platform Oh Wake which gives a voice to young leaders who are passionate about the environment. Another one of their awareness programs — the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize — is one of the few competitions out there that is focused exclusively on material science innovation. The action-focused initiative unites creative minds with investors to make affordable alternatives to thin film plastic a reality by 2025.