.
We support each other in our commitments to helping others and learning about effective giving. We aim to create a culture where people are inspired to give more, and give more effectively. We believe that charitable donations can do an astonishing amount of good. However, the impact can vary wildly depending on where we donate. Because the difference between charities is astounding, it is important that we donate to the most effective charities if we want to have a significant impact. Giving What We Can was conceived of by Oxford philosopher Toby Ord. He was inspired by the ideas of ethicists such as Peter Singer to commit to donating a large proportion of his income to effective charities. In November 2009, Toby and fellow Oxford philosopher Will MacAskill launched Giving What We Can as an international community of people who were committed to giving more, and giving more effectively. Giving What We Can was one of the first in a growing network of like-minded organisations focused on effective altruism, the project of using evidence and reason to figure out how to best contribute to helping others, and taking action on that basis.
Koopera es un grupo de cooperativas de iniciativa social y empresas de inserción. Su principal objetivo es la lucha contra la exclusión social y la inserción sociolaboral de personas en situación de riesgo y de exclusión social, mediante actividades principalmente en defensa del medio ambiente. Se enfocan en cinco áreas de acción que son: servicios ambientales, consumo sostenible en sus 16 tiendas, recuperación y reciclaje, inclusión sociolaboral y cuidado de personas. Koopera también desarrolla acciones de formación en diferentes sectores profesionales tales como Comercio y Marketing, Seguridad y Medioambiente y Servicios Socioculturales y a la Comunidad, dirigidas a personas en riesgo de exclusión social. Estas personas reciben un acompañamiento personalizado, el cual potencia las habilidades blandas de la persona y aumenta sus oportunidades de inserción sociolaboral. Tras la actividad formativa, Koopera propone una experiencia práctica profesional no laboral en una de sus empresas colaboradoras, pudiéndose obtener una oferta de empleo al finalizarlas. Sea cual sea la resolución de las prácticas, estas personas formarán parte de una bolsa de empleo, la cual se tendrá en cuenta para futuras opciones laborales. Los valores de Koopera emanan de la voluntad de disponer la economía al servicio de las personas y aceptan y complementan los de la Economía Solidaria y los Principios Cooperativos. Es posible colaborar con Koopera, depositando tu ropa, juguetes, libros, aparatos eléctricos, etc., que ya no necesitas, en el contenedor Cáritas Koopera más cercano; consumiendo sosteniblemente en las tiendas Koopera Store; contratando sus Servicios Ambientales; utilizando sis Servicios de Cuidado de Personas; acudiendo al Centro Formativo Koopera Social Training; y entrando a formar parte del Club Koopera.
AYSO - American Youth Soccer Organization is a nonprofit and the oldest national youth soccer program in the United States. Beginning with only nine teams by a handful of soccer enthusiasts, AYSO was established in 1964 out of a garage in Torrance, California, in an effort to ensure that American kids have the opportunity to be introduced to the beautiful game of soccer. More than 50 years later, AYSO now has thriving programs for kids and adults in nearly 900 communities all over the country – and internationally in the Virgin Islands and Trinidad and Tobago – over eight million AYSO alumni, and a name that’s recognized nationwide. AYSO runs on volunteer power This means registered volunteers run the local AYSO programs all over the country. Additionally, our National Board of Directors, National President, as well as every coach, referee, and Regional Commissioner – the list goes on – is a volunteer. Due to the thousands of volunteers throughout the U.S. donating their time every season, AYSO is as successful and far-reaching as it is today. AYSO’s Six Philosophies are principles that separate AYSO from other sports organizations. These tenets were created to provide a positive, fair and fun soccer experience for all our players. AYSO’s goal is for kids and adults to play soccer, so they mandate that every player on every team must play at least 50 percent of every game. Each year, they form new teams as evenly balanced as possible, providing a stronger learning experience for teams as they play teams comprised of similar ability. It also allows for each player to experience playing with a wide variety of teammates of different skill levels. If you want to play soccer, AYSO welcomes you and gives all youth and adults the opportunity to register and play. A coach can be one of the most influential people in a player’s life, so AYSO requires they create a positive experience for every player in AYSO. Additionally, encouraging player’s effort leads to greater enjoyment, improved skills and stronger motivation in players. They strive to create a positive environment based on mutual respect rather than a win-at-all-costs attitude, and their programs are designed to instill good sportsmanship in every facet of AYSO. All players should be able to develop their soccer skills and knowledge to the best of their abilities, both individually and as members of a team, to maximize their enjoyment of the game.
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change, and stop the collapse of biodiversity. The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the UN Decade following a proposal for action by over 70 countries from all latitudes. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future. That will include building political momentum for restoration, as well as thousands of initiatives on the ground. Through communications, events and a dedicated web platform, the UN Decade will provide a hub for everyone interested in restoration to find projects, partners, funding and the knowledge they need to make their restoration efforts a success.
Women Moving Millions is a growing global community of over 300 members in 14 countries. Each of their members has given and/or pledged $1 million or more to organizations or initiatives of their choosing that benefit women and girls. They represent a new era of resources by and for women, using the power of their voice and their influence to inspire others to invest with a gender lens. Guided by their mission and work to accelerate progress toward gender equality, they come together to think creatively and work collaboratively to sprout new solutions to propel us closer to a more equitable future. This project started In 2005, while documenting the history of visionary donors pledging a million dollars or more to women and girls, Helen LaKelly Hunt received an important call. Her sister, Ambassador Swanee Hunt, made a grand financial pledge for Helen’s use to “raise the bar on women’s giving.” To Swanee’s pledge, Helen added one of her own, and this spark catalyzed a groundbreaking global funding initiative, Women Moving Millions. Two years later, in 2007, Helen and Swanee officially launched the Women Moving Millions (WMM) campaign, with Helen as Founder and Swanee as Catalyst. This campaign sought to build a global collective of committed, purposeful women making unprecedented gifts of $1 million or more for the advancement of women and girls. Raising funds as well as their voices, this campaign inspired other donors to join them. Today, WMM is the largest community of individuals giving $1 million or more to resource women and girls and has elevated the power of women’s philanthropy to accelerate progress toward gender equality. Their mission is to catalyze unprecedented resources for the advancement of women and girls. As a growing global community, their members have collectively made bold commitments of nearly $800 million and are using the power of their voice and influence to inspire others to invest with a gender lens. They are grateful for their visionary founders, members, and partners who understood the power and transformative potential of this community to change the world.
Founded in 1941, West Music’s mission to "encourage people of all ages and abilities to: Play now. Play for life." is at the root of its success and continued growth. West Music has several retail locations in eastern Iowa and one in western Illinois. Our brick and mortar retail locations specialize in pianos, guitars, drums and percussion, band and orchestra instruments, and print music. These locations also offers music instruction, repair and music therapy services. In addition to its retail locations, West Music publishes an annual catalog focused on music education products for the classroom. Paired with its e-commerce presence, West Music continues to strive to provide the best possible music education experience for both educators and students nationwide. West Music’s founder, Pearl West, was born in 1914 to a very musical family. When the Great Depression impacted farming, the family turned to playing music to survive. Pearl toured and played throughout southern Iowa and northern Missouri in his youth. In 1977 West Music was awarded the exclusive distribution rights of Miyazawa Flutes from Japan to the United States; the original relationship with Miyazawa began primarily thanks to Pearl’s expertise in flute design and production. A new division of West Music, Miyazawa Flutes USA, was established to distribute this outstanding professional flute on a national level. Pearl discontinued the limited production of P.L. West flutes, and all flute manufacturing was transferred to Japan. Steve West’s passion for elementary music education led to the formation of the West Music Music Education Catalog Department in 1980. What began as a 12-page black-and-white catalog evolved into the current full color, 200-plus page catalog that is sent to elementary schools, universities, and churches throughout the United States and abroad. In 1984, West Music expanded operations to Cedar Rapids. In 1988, Westco, a separate import/export wholesale company was created to help establish a dealer organization on a national level. In addition to the importation of flutes from Japan, West Music and Westco began importing and distributing professional piccolos from Germany, guitars from Spain, percussion instruments from Mexico, China, and Germany, and ethnic instruments from Africa. Westco was expanded with the launch of a new website and catalog in 2011. Westco Educational Products is dedicated to providing quality, safe, and affordable musical and movement products designed to encourage and enhance a fun education experience. 1995 saw the beginning of West Music Music Therapy Services, a division of West Music focused on using music to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals of all ages. A strong partnership with the University of Iowa Music Therapy program allowed West Music to develop a program that has expanded to 14 therapists. This program has also further fulfilled West Music’s mission of encouraging people of all ages and abilities to play now, play for life. The West Music website launch in 1996 coincided with extensive technology upgrades, linking stores together online and enhancing efficiency and communication. West Music continued to expand with the establishment of Percussion Source in 1996, providing products for symphonic and concert percussionists nationwide. In 2005, utilizing experiences in early childhood education, West Music introduced a new line of children’s exploratory instruments, Sounds Like Fun. In 2006, a 40,000-square foot fulfillment center was built in west Coralville. The fulfillment center has been a major pillar in the continued growth and development of West Music’s local, national, and international business, providing a central hub where West Music can continue to offer customers enhanced care and delivery service. 2006 also saw further emphasis on branding and customer experience, with many of the regional stores remodeling to reflect West Music’s focus on customers experiencing the power of making music. Over the years, West Music has expanded to include virtually all types of musical instruments, including pianos and keyboards, band and orchestra instruments, guitars and amplifiers, drums and percussion, software, elementary general music materials, early childhood instruments, and music therapy products. West Music is also proud to provide a full array of services with repair technicians, delivery crew, music therapists, lesson teachers, school music representatives, classroom consultants, and customer service consultants, in addition to the sales and administrative staff.
Wings for Humanity is a humanitarian aid organization that supports isolated communities in a variety of ways: medical evacuations; medical outreach, such as vaccinations and general clinics; dental outreach; lifestyle and health programs. Wings for Humanity provides aviation and communication support to those serving the physical, mental and spiritual needs of the unreached and forgotten peoples of the earth. Their vision is to become the leading partner in providing aviation support to those serving at-risk people regardless of ethnicity, political or religious association. The Vision Project is a combination of five different areas: Aviation, Education, Disaster Response, Music, and Multimedia. The Vision Project operates under the umbrella of Wings For Humanity (W4H). W4H is a Non-Profit, Non-Religious humanitarian aid organization focused on reaching the people in the far corners of the earth. Through aviation W4H works in areas of the world where traditional transportation is not available. W4H has been saving thousands of lives with the use of aircraft, regularly flying medical personal, medications, and supplies into areas that have medical needs, while also supplying clean water, food, and other necessary supplies to deprived remote locations. W4H has delivered over 2,000,000 pounds of supplies and flown over 8,000,000 air miles. W4H has stopped more than 35 epidemics and aided over 43,000 people from 68 nations while involving and inspiring over 5,000 youth. W4H has also given over 2000 emergency med-evac flights both in the US and overseas. Adventist World Aviation (AWA) is a non-profit religious organization that seeks to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people and places possible. Click here to read about what Adventists believe. W4H was born from AWA with the idea to separate the religious and humanitarian aspects of the work. AWA believes that Christ calls us to meet the needs of humanity without the pressures and agenda of religion. That our lives and testimony are enough to lead humanity towards God and uplift Jesus through our actions. Because of this separation, W4H is able to work with different non-profits, and religious entities without compromising its mission to fill needs.
Gli amici di Venezia onlus è un’associazione di volontariato nata a Venezia il 24 luglio 2007. Il fondatore è Giorgio Girelli che, con la moglie Brunella Cortesi e nove amici, decise di raccogliere fondi per progetti mirati a favore dei bambini del Terzo mondo e per lo sviluppo e la crescita effettiva di alcune comunità locali tra le più povere al mondo. Gli ambiti d'intervento sono: salute, istruzione e sviluppo agricolo. L’associazione e i suoi soci, circa 150, prestano la loro attività gratuitamente e il 100% delle somme raccolte viene utilizzata per i progetti programmati. L’obiettivo generale è promuovere lo sviluppo delle comunità dove l’estrema povertà, la mancanza di acqua e di cibo, le malattie endemiche e le difficoltà di accesso all’istruzione rappresentano una drammatica costante quotidiana. Circa il 40% degli stati africani si collocano agli ultimi posti delle classifiche di ricchezza nazionale e l’elenco delle 50 nazioni meno sviluppate del mondo, stilata dall’ONU, vede ben 23 posizioni occupate dall’Africa. Inoltre la cattiva distribuzione delle risorse idriche, lo scarso progresso nelle tecniche di coltivazione e i cambiamenti climatici rallentano lo sviluppo dell’agricoltura, lasciando immutata la condizione della povertà africana. La loro associazione si propone di migliorare le condizioni di vita mediante l’accesso alle fonti d’acqua potabile, la realizzazione di piccoli presidi medici e di strutture scolastiche, cercando di operare nel rispetto delle tradizioni, delle religioni e dell’ambiente. Gli Amici di Venezia onlus è un’associazione privata, autonoma e apartitica. Fin dall’inizio si è dedicata a progetti importanti e ambiziosi, grazie al sostegno di soci generosi e sensibili. Gli amici di Venezia onlus si autofinanzia attraverso: tesseramento dei soci, donazioni, eventi periodici come cene, brunch, incontri conviviali, lotterie e aste, mercatini di prodotti artigianali etiopi e tanzaniani, vendita di marmellate prodotte dai soci, miele e caffè. Tutti gli associati collaborano gratuitamente alle attività di raccolta dei fondi e alle spese dei viaggi, circa quattro all’anno, che sono interamente a carico del singolo socio, non gravando così sull’associazione. Per il coordinamento dei nostri progetti in loco ci appoggiamo al VIS, “Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo”, un’organizzazione non governativa che ha sede ad Addis Abeba.
Grassroots Volunteering was founded in 2011 by Shannon O’Donnell as a way to decommodify the volunteerism industry. The idea for GV was born in 2008, when Shannon travelled around the world for a year, volunteering along the way, and envisioned a site freely offering service-minded travellers easy ways to support the places they travel. The site grew to help travellers access ethical and sustainable service-minded projects that fit their definition of giving back. For some travellers, this means long-term volunteering, while others prefer to support locally run initiatives (like restaurants and boutiques with underlying social missions). No matter what service means to the traveller, GV facilitates meaningful connections between travellers and local causes and communities. A husband-wife team from Utah offered the coding and website design work that brought the site into reality in 2011, and Hannah donated logo design work to round out the website. O’Donnell solely vetted the organizations in the GV database until 2013, when GV Ambassadors began mapping the world and expanding the project into every country and continent. Since then, Grassroots Volunteering is a resource to connect travellers to causes and communities in the places they travel. The site consists of a dual database of organizations all over the world: Volunteer Opportunities: Independent volunteer organizations all over the world. Travellers with weeks and months (years even!) use this search engine to locate local level community-based organizations in need of their skills. Social Enterprises: These small businesses operate with an underlying social mission. All businesses are geolocated, so travellers can easily support grassroots initiatives in the places they visit.
Doing good is at the heart of Better World Books, with their customers making it all possible. The founders believed that something should be done to rescue discarded books and help the planet a bit in the process, thus, set about partnering with librarians all across the country. Not only could they rescue books from landfills, they could also sell those books and raise money for the libraries themselves. Environmental and social impact all in the same story. Here are some of the ways customers enable Better World Books to make a difference one book at a time. It’s simple: Every time you purchase a book from BetterWorldBooks.com, they donate a book to someone in need. The books they donate go through hundreds of non-profit organizations – you can see them on their Impact Map. In particular, Books for Africa and Feed the Children partner with them to take large numbers of donated books and get them to people who need them. Books donated as of June 2018: 26 million. Better World Books brings new life to used books ensuring each book continues to make an impact. As part of their commitment to environmental sustainability, they never, ever throw away a book. Any book they cannot find a proper home for is recycled. They have re-used or recycled over 300 million books. They have reclaimed more than 900,000 pounds of metal shelving from libraries across the United States. Every order at BetterWorldBooks.com has the option to be shipped carbon balanced for just a few cents extra. So far, they have reached 87,000 tons of carbon offsets on BetterWorldBooks.com shipping. They firmly believe in the power of knowledge. Their goal is to help those who supply it and share it with those who crave it. Which is why every action they take, and every book purchase you make helps fund it. To date, they have raised millions of dollars for literacy, saved millions of books from landfills, created jobs for hundreds of people, and provided wonderful books to millions of readers worldwide. The rest of the story is still being written, and they invite you to join them on their journey. It’s only going to get better!
All Within My Hands is dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. All Within My Hands is a non-profit, philanthropic organization created by the members and management of Metallica, dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. Workforce Education. The 2021-2022 school year marks the third year of the Metallica Scholars Initiative. Together with our partners at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), we have grown from 10 schools to 23 across the United States, supporting a variety of career and technical education programs through a total of $4.1 million in grants. The Fight Against Hunger. One in nine people in America is food insecure. While Metallica has made supporting local food banks a priority for years, the creation of AWMH and our partnership with Feeding America has enabled us to take that giving to the next level. Food banks are the main focus of our Day of Service and Month of Giving events and are also the primary recipients of funds raised through ticket sales while the band is on tour around the world. Critical Local Services. From natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the need for disaster relief comes in many forms. To maximize our impact, we have partnered with Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries. Direct Relief's established international network allows them to act quickly and efficiently to provide funding and resources needed in an emergency. Our Signature Events The Metallica Family of fans is a passionate group and the core of our supporter base. They donate across platforms at an average of $66 per gift, contributing on our website, Facebook, Instagram, auction page, Metallica's YouTube Channel, and beyond. But nothing gets fans more engaged than a benefit concert! The Helping Hands Concert & Auction. Whether taking the stage at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco - a more intimate venue than the band is typically known to play - or streaming live from HQ straight into living rooms around the globe, a unique Metallica concert makes for one hell of a fundraiser! 2018 was our inaugural benefit concert, and wow, what a night! Between tickets sales from the packed house and competitive bids in the accompanying auction, we raised over $1.3 million. The night would not have been possible without the generous contributions from our sponsors, the support of Cage the Elephant - who opened the show with their own acoustic set, or our dedicated AWMH donors and Metallica fans. We intended to host another in-person benefit in 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans. Rather than shut down the production, we pivoted to create an event unlike anything Metallica had attempted before. Not only was this the band's first-ever worldwide, pay-per-view livestream, but our sponsors enabled us to take advantage of cutting-edge technology that brought fans into the room with the band! The appearance of fans on the walls surrounding the performance wasn't just for show; James, Lars, Kirk, and Robert were able to call out fans and have conversations with them in real-time! In addition to this being a connection we'd been craving throughout the pandemic, Helping Hands again raised $1.3 million. Day Of Service. When we launched AWMH, we envisioned a future where Metallica fans would activate in droves to give back. After only a year and a half, we saw our dreams come to fruition. In May of 2018, we hosted our first Day of Service with help from our partners at Feeding America. All four band members spent time at a local food bank in their communities, and their efforts were amplified by over 1,000 dedicated fans doing the same! Just one year later, in May of 2019, our volunteer count tripled to over 3,000 participants across the country! We are continually inspired by the selfless, important work food banks around the world do day in and day out, and we can't wait to safely reinstate our Day of Service as our trademark annual volunteering event. Month Of Giving. COVID-19 necessitated a change in our Day of Service plans. With health and safety as a priority, we knew we needed to get creative to continue our tradition of a large-scale fundraising event during the month of May. From that need, the Month of Giving was born. In 2020, we focused our efforts on organizations helping people on the front lines of the pandemic, highlighting a new recipient every week. The event culminated in $200,000 raised to further our support of Feeding America, Direct Relief, Live Nation's Crew Nation initiative, and the USBG Charity Foundation's Bartender Emergency Assistance Program. Metallica Mondays. At the very beginning of the COVID-mandated shelter in place, we found ourselves missing live music and wanting to create something to bring a little joy to our community. That desire birthed a 23-week concert streaming series entitled #MetallicaMondays, featuring shows that had been performed in 13 different countries. The series amassed 18 million views from Metallica fans around the world. And while the shows were free to watch, the band included an optional fundraiser with each video to benefit AWMH. And aren't we glad they did?! The #MetallicaMondays series raised over $100,000 for the Foundation, enabling us to continue our COVID relief donations. While we could not be more excited about what All Within My Hands has accomplished since 2017, we know there is much more work to be done, and we're here to do it.
.
.
