48 articles
501(c) organization
A 501(c) organization is a U.S. entity exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c), covering charities (c)(3), social welfare groups (c)(4), labor unions (c)(5), business leagues (c)(6), and political organizations (Section 527), each with distinct donor-deductibility and political-activity rules.
501(c)(3) organization
A 501(c)(3) organization is a US charity exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), barred from political campaigning, classified as public charity or private foundation, with donor-deductible contributions.
AARP
AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan U.S. membership organization for people 50-plus, founded by Ethel Percy Andrus in 1958, with about 38 million members, Social Security and Medicare advocacy, and major UnitedHealthcare royalty income.
Abdul Sattar Edhi
Abdul Sattar Edhi (1928-2016), Pakistani philanthropist and 'Angel of Mercy', founded the Edhi Foundation from a 1950s Karachi dispensary; Guinness-recorded largest volunteer ambulance organisation, funded solely by public donations, state funeral 2016.
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Alcor Life Extension Foundation, founded 1972 by Fred and Linda Chamberlain, is a Scottsdale, Arizona 501(c)(3) cryonics nonprofit storing 263 patients in liquid nitrogen, using M22 vitrification, with 1,535 members and a Patient Care Trust.
Ameera al-Taweel
Ameera al-Taweel (أميرة بنت عيدان بن نايف الطويل), Saudi philanthropist born 1983, ex-wife of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, former vice chair of Alwaleed Philanthropies, women's rights advocate, now CEO of TimeAgency.
American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee (AJC), founded November 11, 1906 in New York, is a nonpartisan Jewish advocacy organization defending Jewish civil and religious rights worldwide, distinct from the American Jewish Congress, known for its annual State of Antisemitism in America surveys.
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC, the Joint), US Jewish humanitarian organization founded 1914 after Morgenthau's $50,000 cablegram; rescued 1,000,000+ Jews, aided DP camps, Israel's Malben, Agro-Joint, and non-sectarian disaster relief in 73 countries.
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross is a US humanitarian organization founded by Clara Barton in 1881, providing disaster relief and collecting about 46 percent of the nation's blood supply.
Arabella Churchill (charity founder)
Arabella Spencer Churchill (1949-2007), granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill, co-founded the Glastonbury Festival and founded the children's charity Children's World in 1981; distinct from the 17th-century Arabella Churchill, mistress of James II.
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is an American nonprofit, founded in 1967, supporting writers and university creative writing programs through its large annual conference.
Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks, founded February 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright with $25 million from Bernie Marcus, is the largest US autism advocacy organization; known for Light It Up Blue, the puzzle piece logo, the 2009 I Am Autism video controversy, and its 2016 removal of 'cure' from its mission.
Being Human Foundation
Being Human Foundation: name shared by several unrelated charities, chiefly Being Human – The Salman Khan Foundation (Mumbai, est. 2007, healthcare and education, funded by the Being Human clothing brand license), plus US, UK, and Nigerian entities.
Believe in Magic
Believe in Magic was a UK charity founded by Megan Bhari and Jean O'Brien in 2012. It was dissolved in 2020 following a Charity Commission inquiry into financial mismanagement.
Campaign for Real Ale
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is a British volunteer-run consumer organization founded in 1971 to campaign for real ale, real cider, and the survival of traditional pubs.
Charitable organization
Charitable organization: legally defined institution advancing public benefit (poverty relief, education, health, religion). UK Charities Act 2011 public-benefit test; US 501(c)(3) tax exemption; distinct from nonprofits, NGOs, foundations; over 7% of US workforce.
Comic Relief
Comic Relief (registered as Charity Projects) is a British charity founded in 1985 that raises funds through comedy, chiefly its Red Nose Day telethon, and distributes grants to fight poverty in the UK and worldwide.
Extreme Tech Challenge
Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) is a California nonprofit that runs the world's largest startup competition for entrepreneurs addressing global challenges, founded by Young Sohn and Bill Tai.
Foundation (nonprofit)
Foundation (nonprofit): a nonprofit corporation or charitable trust making grants for charitable purposes; in US tax law usually a private foundation under 501(c)(3), subject to a 5% payout, 1.39% investment excise tax, and public Form 990-PF filings, distinct from donor-advised funds.
Front organization
Front organization: an entity posing as independent while serving a hidden sponsor's agenda; also called front group. Uses the third-party technique and astroturfing; legal in the US but ethically questioned; examples include tobacco and dark money nonprofits.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International is a Christian nonprofit founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller in Americus, Georgia, that builds no-profit, no-interest homes via volunteer labor and sweat equity, serving over 65 million people in 70+ countries.
Henry Street Settlement
Henry Street Settlement is a New York City nonprofit founded in 1893 by nurse Lillian Wald on the Lower East Side, headquartered at 265 Henry Street, known for public health nursing, the 1972 Urban Family Center shelter model, and the Abrons Arts Center.
International non-governmental organization
International non-governmental organization (INGO): cross-border nonprofit active in humanitarian, development, and rights work; term coined 1945; ECOSOC consultative status since 1946; distinct from local NGOs by transnational scope and donor funding.
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: global humanitarian network founded in Geneva in 1863 by Henry Dunant after Solferino; comprises the ICRC, the IFRC, and 191 National Societies, origin of the Geneva Conventions.
Japanese Red Cross Society
The Japanese Red Cross Society (日本赤十字社) is Japan's national Red Cross society, founded in 1877 as the Philanthropic Society during the Satsuma Rebellion and renamed in 1887.
Kathryn Murdoch
Kathryn Murdoch (née Hufschmid), American philanthropist, co-founder and president of the Quadrivium Foundation; wife of James Murdoch; funds climate, journalism, and electoral reform, co-chairs Unite America.
List of charitable foundations
Charitable foundations: endowed nonprofit grantmakers, from ancient waqf trusts to modern institutions like the Gates, Rockefeller, and Mastercard foundations; covers US private foundation versus public charity classification, the 5% payout rule, and development funding.
List of environmental organizations
List of environmental organizations: nonprofit, nongovernmental groups protecting nature, from the Sierra Club (1892) and The Nature Conservancy to Greenpeace, WWF, and Climate Action Network, with founding dates, activities, funding, and oversight.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish Foundation, founded 1980 in Phoenix after Chris Greicius' police-officer wish, is a nonprofit granting wishes to children with critical illnesses; over 650,000 wishes granted in nearly 50 countries, distinct from other wish charities.
March of Dimes
March of Dimes, originally the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis founded by FDR on January 3, 1938, is a US nonprofit that funded the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines and now fights preterm birth and maternal mortality.