Here Are 20 Brooklyn-Based Organizations to Support This Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday, the more charitable cousin of Cyber Monday and Black Friday, is tomorrow!

This Tuesday on Nov. 28, donate to one of the many Brooklyn-based nonprofits and service organizations that have shown up for the communities of Brooklyn for years and through thick and thin. 

Giving Tuesday is the global day of giving when individuals and organizations are called on to help the nonprofit organizations serving as the backbone and strength of every community, from refugee and immigrant advocacy, to teaching underserved kids how to code to protecting the rights of street vendors.

Started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday has become a response to commercialization and consumerism spurred by Black Friday and Cyber Monday and demonstrates how every act of generosity counts.

Brooklyn.Org (BKO) is running the annual "Brooklyn Gives on Giving Tuesday" campaign, which encourages Brooklynites everywhere to “Give Where You Live." BKO has chosen 20 organizations that are in the running to be one of five winners to receive the $100,000 Spark Prize, which will be announced in early 2024. 

Each year, BK Reader highlights these organizations because they have been rigorously vetted as the most impactful and resilient and represent a wide cross-section of community services. They are also organizations that could greatly use our support.

Also, the great thing about this group of organizations is that each of the 20 finalists listed can receive up to $5,000 in matching funds from BKO through the Brooklyn Gives on Giving Tuesday campaign, and many of the finalists already have raised some money towards their match goal. So your donation will bring them that much closer!  

Now, without further ado, here are 20 of BK Reader's favorite nonprofits and service organizations to donate to this Giving Tuesday:

1. The Alex House Project supports young parents with peer-led classes, job training, and emergency supplies in order to give young mothers the skills they need to defy expectations.
2. The Billie Holiday Theatre is a theater and creative arts campus that provides audiences with complete and authentic portrayals of people of African descent through visual arts, dance, film, music, readings and special events.
3. Bridge Street Development Corporation provides civic and economic opportunities in Central Brooklyn by partnering with residents, business owners, and government to offer workshops on financial literacy, support for small businesses, and referrals to social services.
4. Center for Justice Innovation’s Neighbors in Action supports safe and thriving communities in Central Brooklyn through their public safety, violence intervention, youth development, and workforce programming.
5. Code Nation equips students in under-resourced high schools with the skills and experiences, and connections to break cycles of poverty by accessing high-paying careers in technology.
6. Drive Change supports formerly incarcerated young people by creating quality career pathways in the culinary arts and advocates for transforming the culture of the food service industry to create more supportive workplaces.
7. Emma’s Torch trains refugees and survivors of human trafficking to build life skills and careers in the culinary industry by providing training and hands-on experience working in their cafe and catering enterprises.
8. Extreme Kids & Crew fosters community for neuro-divergent youth and their families through their after-school and weekend programming, which creates a space for children to meet socially in a judgment-free space, and for parents and caregivers to connect and support one another.
9. IMPACCT Brooklyn preserves affordable housing and supports small businesses by assisting residents in becoming homeowners, helping renters organize, and providing training, coaching, and financial services to BIPOC and women-owned businesses.
10. Neighbors Helping Neighbors empowers low- and moderate-income New Yorkers to fight for, secure, and maintain quality housing and build financial assets by providing housing counseling, know-your-rights workshops, and first-time homebuyer education and assistance.
11. New York State Youth Leadership Council is an undocumented youth-led organization that empowers immigrant youth through leadership development, grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and support in navigating the unique challenges of being undocumented.
12. Opening Act provides free, full-year after-school theater programming in order to develop young people’s skills in leadership and collaboration while engaging in social justice topics to inspire civic engagement.
13. Power of Two is reversing intergenerational trauma and adverse childhood experiences by providing in-home parent coaching, support, and tools for families to nurture children’s developing brains during the first 1,000 days of life.
14. Raising Health empowers immigrants, their families, and communities to improve their health through linguistically and culturally competent health care and educational programming.
15. READ 718 provides individualized, evidence-based, one-to-one literacy instruction to low-income students in first through eighth grade in order to close the literacy gap in Brooklyn.
16. Red Hook Art Project provides arts education and creative spaces to all young people in their community, including opportunities in music production, digital design, and ceramics, in addition to general homework help and support.
17. Street Vendor Project is a membership-driven organization that champions and protects the rights of street vendors in New York City through direct legal representation, business training, advocacy, and leadership development.
18. Sure We Can operates the only non-profit community-based bottle and can redemption center in New York City, which provides a safe space and supportive community hub for individuals who collect and redeem cans for deposit.
19. Theatre of the Oppressed NYC uses theater to inspire transformative action by partnering with communities confronting oppression to create powerful original theater pieces for audiences of advocates, policy-makers, community members, and stakeholders.
20. Youth Design Center provides training, immersion, and mentorship in technology and design for young people through their Creative Apprenticeships Program, which builds participants' skills as well as professional portfolios.