America's Promise Alliance is the nation's largest cross-sector alliance of nonprofit, community organizations, businesses, and government organizations dedicated to improving the lives of young people.
The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting political and public support for the United Nations among Americans. A program of the United Nations Foundation, its mission includes advocating for greater U.S. leadership at the UN, improving and enhancing the UN system, and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Charter in both the U.S. and globally.
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is a United Nations organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.
The Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) is an international network of youth NGOs spanning 180 countries, and headquartered in New York, near the United Nations. GYAN is a youth-led not for profit organization that incubates global partnerships and increases youth participation in decision-making. GYAN has registered chapters in Brazil, Colombia, France, Ghana, Mexico, and South Africa, with teams working out of an additional eight countries.
Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.
AmeriCorps is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work programs in many sectors. These programs include AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Seniors, the Volunteer Generation Fund, and other national service initiatives. The agency's mission is "to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering." It was created by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. In September 2020, the agency rebranded itself as AmeriCorps, although its official name is unchanged.
The HandsOn Network was a non-profit organization focusing on community service based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. It sought to bring people together to strengthen communities through meaningful volunteer action, and mobilized some half million volunteers in communities inside and outside the United States. HandsOn Network created and managed nearly 50,000 projects a year, from building wheelchair ramps in San Francisco to teaching reading in Atlanta, to rebuilding homes and lives in Gulf Coast communities following Hurricane Katrina. Originally an independent organization, it became part of the nonprofit organization. The nonprofit was disbanded sometime in 2019.
Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with organizations, volunteers and businesses to organize responders, volunteers and professional first responders for an efficient response so efforts are not wasted by being duplicated. By training in Incident Command, volunteers know whom to report to and how the incident is organized. This prevents sites from being inundated by untrained and unprepared personnel preventing operation. Citizen Corps also works in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service in promoting national service opportunities for promoting homeland security needs.
The International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, more commonly referred to as International Volunteer Day (IVD), is an international observance mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985. It offers an opportunity for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts, and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national, and international levels. International Volunteer Day is marked and supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. UNV coordinates a campaign to promote IVD every year.
Youth engagement is the sentiment young people feel towards a particular person, activity, place or outcome. It has been a focus of youth development, public policy and social change movements for at least forty years. According to a Cornell University program, "Youth engagement is one of the buzzwords in the youth development field. Similar terms are youth voice, youth involvement, youth participation, and youth in governance."
Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) is one of the largest fraternal benefit societies in the United States, with more than 750,000 members. Total assets reached US$15.4 billion in 2016. Though it shares the same founder, it is not affiliated financially in any way with another, similarly-styled fraternal benefit society, WoodmenLife, and despite the name "Modern" is actually older than its counterpart.
Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010. However, other groups began celebrating Mandela Day on 18 July 2009.
KABOOM! is an American non-profit organization that helps communities build playgrounds for children.
Born This Way Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by American artist and activist Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. Named after the singer's 2011 album Born This Way, and the song with the same name the foundation is committed to supporting the wellness of young people and working with them to "make the world kinder and braver".
Mitzvah Day International is an annual day of faith-based social action that takes place in November each year, primarily in the United Kingdom. On Mitzvah Day each year, community groups and individuals undertake a range of volunteer projects for those in need in their local community. Organizations register with Mitzvah Day, which in turn helps match volunteers with local projects. The objective is to encourage people to give their time, rather than their money, to worthwhile local causes, whilst also creating deeper linkages within communities and supporting charities. In 2013, close to 30,000 people participated in Mitzvah Day around the world. Though based within the UK's Jewish Community, Mitzvah Day traditionally marks the first day of UK National Inter Faith Week, and as a result has expanded to include participants from other faith communities as well. 'Mitzvah' is the Hebrew biblical term for 'deed' or 'commandment', which has come to mean 'good deed' or 'charitable act' in contemporary English.
BAPS Charities is an international, religious, charitable organization that originates from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) with a focus on serving society. This focus on service to society is stated in the organization's vision, that "every individual deserves the right to a peaceful, dignified, and healthy way of life. And by improving the quality of life of the individual, we are bettering families, communities, our world, and our future." BAPS Charities carries out this vision through a range of programs addressing health, education, the environment, and natural disaster recovery. The organization's worldwide activities are funded through donations and are led by a community of over 55,000 volunteers who are mostly members of BAPS. The volunteers work with local communities and other charities and the organization's activities are mainly based out of their mandirs.
Join Hands Day is the first Saturday in May. It is a national volunteer day and annual event sponsored by the American Fraternal Alliance.
Good Deeds Day is an annual international day of community service started in 2007 as an initiative of the Israel-based nonprofit organization Ruach Tova. The international day of volunteering started in 2007, its mission is to unite people from around the world in doing good deeds for others and the planet.
International Year of Volunteers was designated for 2001 by the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative aimed at increased recognition, facilitation, networking and promotion of volunteering, to highlight the achievements of the millions of volunteers worldwide who devote their time to serving others, and to encourage more people globally to engage in volunteering.
