Women's Charities?

September 30, 2012 7:30 PM

Women's charities, federations, or other groups I can donate to that will actually accomplish things with the money I send?

I'm looking for mostly women's charities that make real differences in people's lives, especially long term. So, not so much "Here's some food" but "here's a step up or a way to help yourself", etc.

Also, I'm aiming more towards the liberal non-religious side of things, since I do support choice (any choice, baby or not), as well as birth control, sex education, etc. I would say these things are very, very important to me.
For example, Planned Parenthood is my first choice so far.

Other charities, of a non-female angle, would also be appreciated. However, as much as I love animals, and as much as I know children are important, I'm not interested in donating to either of those groups specifically. My interest in helping children is through helping their mothers (and fathers) first...

Thanks!

posted by DisreputableDog to human relations (12 answers total)

Women for Women International
posted by pantarei70 at 7:32 PM on September 30, 2012

Local women's shelters and Planned Parenthood are my go to charities.
posted by fshgrl at 7:33 PM on September 30, 2012

The Fistula Foundation does incredible work to directly alleviate suffering for some of the most vulnerable women in the world.
posted by scody at 7:34 PM on September 30, 2012 [3 favorites]

Look for your local chapter of the National Network of Abortion Funds. They are intended to give grants directly to women who are looking to have an abortion but can't afford it.
posted by muddgirl at 7:36 PM on September 30, 2012 [4 favorites]

Kiva, but only lend to women.
posted by k8t at 7:40 PM on September 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Deborah's Place is not a national organization. They are a small nonprofit here in Chicago, so disregard if you are looking for something that will have a direct impact on women in your area.

But they are a wonderful org. that does great work, and they are chronically underfunded. They are always appreciative of any help!
posted by esmerelda_jenkins at 7:48 PM on September 30, 2012

My apologies, as I should have said this before. In the military, overseas, and I have a catalogue which is a giant list of charities. Er,

"Charity Listing 2012: Combined Federal Campaign, cfcoverseas.org"

So while it has a huge, huge sampling of charities, I can't use this form to donate to, let's say, Kiva.

I'm really looking for actual organizations that I can hopefully find in this catalog, per your recommendations.
posted by DisreputableDog at 7:49 PM on September 30, 2012

You're looking at pages 22-24 for women's organisations. My recommendation would be to pick five you like of those listed that do international work - your donation is likely to have a bigger impact in a developing country - and google them. I usually search for "charity name +criticism" and I will briefly look at their financials, not so much at the admin/fundraising (as long as it's less than 40% I'm fine with that because the 0% admin places tend to be using accounting loopholes or have a wealthy donor covering those costs) as to where the money is going, e.g. mostly to operations and field staff.
posted by viggorlijah at 8:22 PM on September 30, 2012

+1 for Fistula Foundation. Provides cheap surgical interventions that fundamentally transform the lives of some of the world's poorest women, who suffer a painful and very humiliating health conditions, and are also ostracized by their own communities because of it (and frequently also victims of sexual violence). A great fit for your desire to provide a permanent "step up" for a woman, not just a short term fix. Some FAQs.
posted by dontjumplarry at 12:18 AM on October 1, 2012

EngenderHealth!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:44 AM on October 1, 2012

Assuming this is the catalog you're looking at, under the "Women, Children, and family service Charities of America federation and member organizations" heading I was surprised to see Educate the Children, which is a small NGO in Nepal that does child and adult literacy programs in local languages, linked to sanitation and microcredit programs (disclaimer: a close relative worked for them).
posted by nonane at 6:53 AM on October 1, 2012

This is on Organization I support:
The Women’s Campaign Fund, a nonpartisan organization, is dedicated to dramatically increasing the number of women in elected office who support reproductive health choices for all.

WCF, founded in 1974, is a non-partisan national network dedicated to achieving parity for women in public office. As political venture capitalists, we work to advance women leaders at all levels of political participation and empower individuals to stand up for issues of critical importance to the health of the nation, including reproductive health.
posted by rmhsinc at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2012