Their aims: Use a ‘recipient first’ model to empower the poor by allowing them to make decisions about how they spend their aid money and accelerate their journey towards self-sufficiency.

What they do: Transfer money directly to extremely poor people by locating communities in need in Africa and sending representatives door-to-door to enroll eligible recipients Recipients are electronically sent around USD 1,000 - roughly a typical household budget for one year - and families report online how they have spent the money.

Read more at: givedirectly.org

Their aims: Tackle the scourge of child malnutrition by working with governments to roll out high impact nutrition programmes to children, teenagers and mothers at risk.

What they do: Target women - especially during pregnancy and motherhood - infants and young children to improve the quality of nutrition in the crucial first 1,000 days of a child’s life and through early childhood.

Read more at: powerofnutrition.org

Their aims: To go where they are needed most caring for the most vulnerable in society. What they do: Also known as Doctors Without Borders, MSF is an international humanitarian medical organisation that saves lives during epidemics, as well as in conflict zones and natural disasters. At the core of their identity is a commitment to independence, neutrality and impartiality.  

Read more at: msf.org

Their aims: To prevent, detect and manage the spread of novel coronavirus.What they do: This fund has been set up by the United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation to support the World Health Organisation and its partners at this unprecedented time. 

Read more at: covid19responsefund.org

Their aims: Give equal access to the best possible treatment and care for every child with cancer.

What they do: Increase one-year survival rates, improve treatment access and provide emotional and financial support to children with cancer and their families in the global south. World Child Cancer develops centres of treatment excellence by twinning staff and hospitals in resource rich countries with those with limited resources to train healthcare workers and improve treatment standards.

Read more at: worldchildcancer.org

Their aims: Change the lives of 300,000 primary school children in India by improving the quality of education.

What they do: Three nonprofit partners work with teachers and families in India to increase the quality of teaching and school leadership, and encourage regular school attendance. DIBs are one way to encourage more private sector investment in development programmes that are 100% focused on measurable impact. By tying outcome payments to performance, the implementing partner has increased motivation to deliver results.

Read more at: qualityeducationindiadib.com

Their aims: To fight for the rights of every child seeking safe shelter, nutrition, protection from disaster, conflicts and equality.

What they do: Unicef programmes focus on the most disadvantaged children all over the world. Its distinct purpose was to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place on a child’s life, because if children are given proper care at the youngest age, it forms the strongest foundation for every individual’s future.

Read more at: unicefusa.org

Their aims: To achieve inclusive leadership that will lead to significant changes in how women and men operate in the world.

What they do: The Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative is dedicated to promoting equality and inclusion and advocates for equal pay for equal work. It works with people in positions of power in companies to increase diverse opportunities at every corporate level through their three pillars of Lift, Learn, and Lead.

Read more at: bjkli.org

Their aims: To increase access to safe water, with an initial focus on schools and health facilities.

What they do: Provide water purification systems and installation in schools in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, to make sure that children have access to safe, affordable drinking water to avoid contracting waterborne illnesses and disease during their education.

Read more at: impactwater.co

Their aims: To power healthcare, education, water-pumping and sustainable livelihoods.

What they do: Provide solar electricity solutions in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan to communities living below the poverty line that haven’t had access to light and power before

Read more at: pfp.global.co

Their aims: To make renewable energy accessible to all, helping to end extreme poverty and reduce climate change.

What they do: Provide small-scale renewable energy solutions - including solar, wind, hydro and biogas - to remote off-grid communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Read more at: renewable-world.org

Their aims: To end child labour, forced labour and bonded labour in global supply chains.

What they do: Goodweave works with global companies in home furnishings, apparel and jewelry to clean their supply chains right down to the last tier of the supply chain. As well as assessing factory standards Goodweave works right down to the community level, to identify and address child labour and exploitative labour practices.

Read more at: goodweave.org

Their aims: To provide infrastructure that ensures that every child has the right to education in Malawi, while also creating jobs for Malawians.

What they do: Build schools using sustainable Earthbag Construction building techniques that focus on supporting the reduction of deforestation, train local people as builders, and provide access to power, water and the Internet.

Read more at: themlambeproject.org

Their aims: To enable communities and ecosystems to thrive across Madagascar.

What they do: Directly manage charitable projects on the ground in Madagascar, and provide financial and technical support to local organisations. Enhance the capacity of individuals, communities, organisations and government to achieve sustainable environment, education and development goals.

Read more at: madagascar.co.uk

Their aims: To help tackle the causes and effects of climate change and protect our planet’s crucial frozen landscapes.

What they do: WWF monitors vital polar species and works to conserve their frozen habitats. By coordinating with Arctic people, scientists and governments, WWF is helping to develop a network of protected areas across the Arctic, to help cope with challenges like climate change and increased development in this unique environment. WWF campaigns for the UK to increase its climate ambition to deliver on the Paris Agreement and get the UK to net-zero emissions by 2045, so as to act as a leader on the world stage to drive action to keep warming to 1.5º.

Read more at: wwf.org

Their aims: To ensure the sustainable management of Tanzania’s vital coastal seascape; protecting the incredible variety of wildlife, and the people who depend on its resources.

What they do: WWF works on a number of conservation and development projects in coastal Tanzania, working with local communities, businesses and government to help protect their environment, green their economy and build a more sustainable future.

Read more at: wwf.org

Their aims: To end elephant slaughter and secure a safe future for these majestic animals. 

What they do: The Elephant Crisis Fund supports elephant conservation and protection from ivory poachers. 100% of funds raised go directly to projects on the ground. 

Read more at: elephantcrisisfund.org

Their aims: To ensure the health and survival of The Amazon Rainforest.

What they do: Keep protected areas safe from exploitation, defend biodiversity while ensuring that the Amazon is economically productive and sustainable for local people, and carry out groundbreaking research and conservation efforts.

Read more at: wwf.org

Their aims: To protect one of the richest biodiversities in the world, Brazil, which includes the largest freshwater reserves on the planet and 9,000km of coastline.

What they do: Brazil is home to 3,000km of coral reef and 12% of the world’s mangroves, yet only 2% of it is protected. WWF Brazil partners with regional NGOs, universities and government agencies to support research, legislation, environmental education and communication. It also encourages sustainable economic alternatives that benefit local communities, while at the same time reducing the impact that humans have on nature.

Read more at: wwf.org.br

Their aims: To end modern slavery in all parts of the world.

What they do: Being a modern leader in the global movement to end modern slavery, it brings together the most effective community-based organisations into a network of hotspot programmes. And it tackles the underlying systems that allow slavery to persist by engaging government, the private sector, media and social movements. It is active globally where there is modern slavery, such as the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Nepal, people working in debt bondage in India, young girls from East Africa abused as domestic workers in the Middle East and workers enslaved in supply chains for global products such as clothes and fish.

Read more at: freedomfund.org