As human beings, we have certain rights simply because we exist. The United Nations defines these rights as “inherent to all, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.” They include the most fundamental right to life and the rights to work, education, food, health, and freedom from enslavement and torture.
Human rights organizations spread awareness, work with (or against) governments to enact policy changes, investigate and report human rights violations, and offer direct assistance to the vulnerable. As a Giving Assistant shopper, you can donate your cash back to support the advocacy groups fighting for everyone’s fundamental human rights.
Here are 10 human rights nonprofits that you can support today.
10 Nonprofit Organizations that Support Human Rights
1. Amnesty International USA
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is one of over 150 global branches that make up Amnesty International, the largest grassroots global human rights organization of its kind. More than 7 million people serve as the voice for those whose fundamental human rights are denied or abused through AIUSA. The nonprofit has successfully changed laws in many countries that involve free speech, refugees, reproductive rights, and LGBT equality.
Amnesty International’s core work “tackles the most pressing human rights violations” and focuses on:
- Ending gun violence
- Freeing people from ICE detention
- Enacting radical police reform and ending deadly force
- Defending human rights in the COVID-19 response
- Exposing and ending national security policies that violate human rights.
Some of Amnesty International’s victories have included successful campaigns to release families from detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania, the safe transfers of human rights defenders, and the release of political prisoners globally.
Sign up to shop and donate your free cash back to Amnesty International USA.
2. Cultural Survival
Cultural Survival is an Indigenous-led non-governmental organization and a US-registered nonprofit dedicated to defending and advocating for Indigenous People’s human rights.
The nonprofit also “supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures, and political resilience” through advocacy, public education, media, and programs that “amplify and empower the voices of Indigenous Peoples” and fights for their right to:
- Participate and have a voice
- Practice their cultures and speak their languages
- Access the same opportunities as others
- Control and sustainably manage their assets and resources
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cultural Survival has served Indigenous communities for nearly 50 years with the help of a growing network of partnerships and deep connections to Indigenous communities in over 70 countries on six continents.
Consider donating your cash back to Cultural Survival when shopping online.
3. Human Rights Campaign Foundation
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) is a 501(c)(3) organization created in 1984 to identify the challenges and issues LGBTQ people face and then enact national and global change through policy, research, and public education. The nonprofit is on a mission to create a world where all LGBTQ people can “participate fully in the systems that shape [their] daily lives.”
The HRC Foundation funds programs such as:
- Welcoming Schools, the only bias-based bullying prevention program in the nation that provides LGBTQ-specific training and resources for elementary schools
- All Children-All Families, the only national program of its kind dedicated to LGBTQ inclusion in foster care and adoption agencies
- HBCU Program, the only national project that partners with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to establish LGBTQ-inclusive campus climates
In 2020, the Foundation’s Project THRIVE expanded to 25 national organizations representing over five million youth-serving professionals (including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Social Workers), all engaged in the fight for LGBTQ youths’ wellbeing through improving their health, education, and human services. The Foundation’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council (PTEC) is also the nation’s leading parent-advocates coalition working for equality and fairness for transgender people.
Shop with Giving Assistant and donate your cash back to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
4. Polaris
Polaris is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization behind the leading social justice movement fighting to end human trafficking through research, data, education, legislation, and action, including providing support to those vulnerable to and affected by sex and labor trafficking operations.
The organization strives to change the conditions that make sex and labor trafficking possible and liberate individuals from oppressive employment arrangements. Driven by survivor experiences, Polaris works with allies to expand accountability for sex and labor traffickers, to advocate for criminal record relief for sex trafficking victims, and “to shape, support and share innovative state, federal, and local laws and policies that are driven by data.”
Polaris also operates the US National Human Trafficking Hotline, which works with a network of nearly 4,000 partner service providers and trusted law enforcement to provide around-the-clock support and options for human trafficking survivors to get help and stay safe.
Consider donating your cash back to Polaris when shopping online.
5. RAICES
RAICES (the Refugee and Immigration Center for Education and Legal Services) is a Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that promotes justice through the free and low-cost legal and social services they provide to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees.
Since 1987, RAICES has envisioned a “compassionate society where all people have the right to migrate, and human rights are guaranteed.”
RAICES also offers a range of social services, including:
- Refugee resettlement assistance
- Case management for asylum seekers
- A bus station program for recently released migrants
- A bond program that helps release women and kids from detention and reunite families
In 2021, RAICES launched their Keep the Promise campaign to fight for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) and press Congress to do everything in their power to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and The Dream Act and Promise Act.
These Acts would protect the rights of immigrant communities and give undocumented communities in America the freedom to:
- Work with dignity and respect
- Live without fear of detention
- Exist without fear of deportation
Support this cause and consider donating your cash back to RAICES.
6. Women for Women International
Women for Women International (WfWI) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that offers “practical and moral support to female survivors of war [and conflict]” by investing in their skills and providing them with connections and resources to help rebuild their families and communities.
The nonprofit provides support and education to women in eight countries, including South Sudan, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Afghanistan.
WfWI’s yearlong program, Stronger Women, Stronger Nations, empowers women to overcome the social, economic, and cultural barriers preventing them from reaching their full potential. In Afghanistan alone, the program has served more than 125,000 women since 2002, resulting in nearly 110 women taking out microcredit loans to build their own businesses.
Through its Conflict Response Fund, Women for Women International also partners with organizations that can respond swiftly to conflict and make an immediate impact. They are currently working with Women Now for Development to help women and girls in Syria.
You can support this cause by donating your cash back to Women for Women International.
7. The Leadership Conference Education Fund
The Leadership Conference Education Fund is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting vulnerable citizens through public education campaigns that promote civil and human rights for all.
The Education Fund was founded in 1969 and is on a mission to “build an America as good as its ideals” and help create “a more open and just society” by fighting to dismantle systemic racism. As the “research and education arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,” the Education Fund is the oldest and largest civil and human rights coalition in the US.
Many of their campaigns focus on:
- Democracy (voting rights, the census, and fair courts)
- Justice (immigration rights, justice reform, and policing)
- Inclusion and opportunity (economic security, education, and fighting hate and bias)
Consider donating your free cash back to the Leadership Conference Education Fund.
8. Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a nonprofit organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, that’s dedicated “to protecting the basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.” The EJI provides legal representation to prisoners from impoverished, underserved communities who have received unequal treatment in the justice system.
The EJI strives to end the disproportionate sentencing and imprisonment of Black people and people of color by advocating for criminal justice reform and taking cases that fight against:
- Unlawful convictions
- Mass incarceration
- Excessive punishment
- The death penalty
- Children in adult prisons
- Inhumane prison conditions
The EJI also helps “people learn, share, talk, and teach about America’s history of racial injustice” through its tool kits, lesson plans, public education programs, and since 2018, the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Shop with Giving Assistant and donate your cash back to the Equal Justice Initiative.
9. Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a San Francisco-based nonprofit working to help racially diverse, underserved communities create solutions for poverty, pass legislation, educate, and end the mass incarceration of Black, Brown, and low-income Americans.
The Center is dedicated to Ella Baker, a hero of the American Civil Rights Movement; it strives to keep her legacy alive through “building power and prosperity” and “breaking the cycle of incarceration and poverty in communities of color.”
The Center promotes care and community-based solutions such as healthcare for all, free public education, and recognizing housing as a human right. It also pushes for statewide criminal justice policies that reduce sentences, remove barriers, restore opportunities, and eliminate abusive practices in prisons and jails.
In the Bay Area, the Ella Baker Center joined forces with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) to create Restore Oakland, the first building of its kind with dedicated space to restorative justice and restorative economics.
Consider donating your cash back to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights when shopping online.
10. Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is dedicated to defending, protecting, and advancing the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in Georgia and the Southeast—the first and only nonprofit legal advocacy organization of its kind.
Founded in 2010 as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, the organization became part of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation in 2014 and has since developed programs to promote fair treatment, equity, and independence through the following:
- Policy advocacy, including immigration reform
- Civic engagement and organizing community-centered movements
- Legal services and quality representation for immigrant communities in Georgia
- Impact litigation that protects and empowers immigrants, refugees, and people of color
Shop with Giving Assistant and donate cash back to Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta.
Support Human Rights with Charitable Shopping
You can support your favorite human rights organizations every time you shop online by earning cash back with Giving Assistant that you can pay forward to help fund essential programs. Download our free browser extension, the Giving Assistant Button, to automatically save money with the latest promo codes, earn cash back, and support nonprofits fighting for human and civil rights. Every donation makes a difference.