At CharityAuctionsToday we have nearly 20 years’ experience helping small nonprofits achieve their fundraising goals. So, although there are Black-led organizations of all sizes and missions around the country and the world, we’d like to focus on SMB nonprofits; the ones making a difference with less.
Below we’ve picked out 10 Black-led small nonprofits from around the US to showcase their grassroots efforts at supporting and improving their communities.
Black-Led SMB Nonprofits from Across the US
My Block My Hood My City – Chicago, IL
Jahmal Cole founded My Block My Hood My City in 2013. With a mission to engage youth through educational programs and field trips, My Block My Hood My City (also known as M3) focuses on teens on the South and West sides of Chicago. In addition to providing opportunities for teens and students to broaden their experiences with STEM subjects, culture, volunteerism, community engagement, and health, M3 also connects youth with seniors who need help with groceries or care, hosts neighborhood clean up projects, and decorates seniors homes for the holidays, to name just a few initiatives.
Black Food Sovereignty Coalition – Portland, OR
The Black Food Sovereignty Coalition is a Portland based organization focused on establishing Black leadership within food systems, placemaking, and economic development processes. Their programs include two farms, an initiative for Black grandmas to share recipes and traditions with their communities, and a farmers market for Black and Indigenous farmers and makers. The Black Food Sovereignty Coalition also hosts an annual Pacific Northwest conference for Black farmers, ranchers, and growers, as well as entrepreneurs and advocates.
Black Women Build Baltimore – Baltimore, MD
Black Women Build Baltimore trains Black women in trades-related skills as they restore vacant and damaged homes in West Baltimore. This initiative supports Black women’s home ownership and wealth building as they develop skills for their careers and their future homes. Founded by Shelley Halstead in 2017, Black Women Build Baltimore helps pave the way toward homeownership and intergenerational wealth. Not only does BWBB strive to restore homes for and with first-time home buyers, they also focus on sustainable building practices and even work with Baltimore’s Committee on Historical and Architectural Preservation to maintain the nature of the neighborhoods they work in.
South Florida People of Color – South Florida
South Florida People of Color was founded to address equitable political representation in Miami Shores. This nonprofit hosts events and initiatives aimed at educating communities on diverse thinking and identities through history, arts, and culture. SFPoC’s professionally facilitated Awkward Dinners are one stand out initiative, where participants can share how lack of diversity and equity affect their lives, the lives of others, and their communities at large.
HYPE Freedom School Inc. – Houston, TX
HYPE Freedom School Inc. strives to provide equitable opportunities to disadvantaged youth and young adults in the Houston area with a variety of initiatives. These include family counseling services and education on financial literacy, social justice, boundary setting, and more. But HYPE is perhaps best known for its summer educational and literacy programs. These programs provide books to K-12 graders that reflect Black experiences, offer out-of-school learning to children whose families could not otherwise afford it, and generally aim to empower students of all ages with the skills to be successful and self-sufficient.
Black Women for Wellness – Los Angeles, CA
Black Women for Wellness strives to sustain healthy communities by empowering Black women and girls to improve their own wellbeing. This organization has more than 25 years of providing breast health resources, fighting for reproductive justice, promoting civic engagement and environmental justice, and offering public forums in which to discuss physical and mental health. Black Women for Wellness aims to make health services and education more affordable and accessible, as well as culturally sensitive, in order to build up the personal and political power of Black women and girls in California.
Kansas City G.I.F.T. – Kansas City, MO
Kansas City G.I.F.T. provides grants to Black-owned businesses in Kansas City, particularly those in low-income neighborhoods. This is an effort to combat the effects of redlining in the 1920s and 30s, which keep the city largely segregated to this day. As banks are twice as likely to approve the loans of white applicants than Black, Kansas City G.I.F.T. focuses on offering grants rather than loans to Black-owned businesses, as they believe this is the most impactful way to improve neighborhoods and build communities.
Innovators for Purpose – Cambridge, MA
Innovators for Purpose, or iFp, was founded in 2014 by a group of friends wondering how their career skills could be leveraged to improve their communities. iFp now hosts STEM programming for junior and high school students, bringing together tech enthusiasts with creatives to question how modern technology can be questioned and repurposed to be more equitable and empathetic. iFp also offers program alumni mentorship, work opportunities, and help with applications and scholarships.
I Am My Sister’s Keeper (IAMSK) – Memphis, TN
I Am My Sister’s Keeper was founded in 2019 by Margaret Cowan. Despite a rocky start interrupted by the pandemic, this organization aims to remove the stressors facing single mothers. Their programs offer single mothers the opportunity to network with other moms, gain financial literacy skills, and find affordable, safe housing. IAMSK helps their network of mothers enroll in college, buy vehicles necessary in a city with little public transportation, and even build savings with their Savings Match program.
The Equity Now Coalition – Columbus, OH
The Equity Now Coalition was formed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as leaders questioned how the pandemic would disproportionately affect the Black community in Columbus. Knowing that the pandemic’s negative impact on health, wellness, finances, and education would disparately affect the historically disadvantaged Black community, the Equity Now Coalition aims to mitigate these effects. The ENC works to collect the qualitative and quantitative data that will help develop strategies to support Black-led socioeconomic advancement.
