|
Who are we?
We're a nonprofit organization called Action Without Borders based in New York, NY, Portland, OR, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Idealist.org, the website you re exploring right now, is one of the tools that we use to carry out our mission, which is:
To help build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives.
So, what do we actually do?
We try to help people find the resources and support they need to help themselves and their communities. Over 57,000 nonprofit organizations from around the world use Idealist to list information about the work they do. This information includes their mission and how to contact them, volunteer opportunities, internships, resources, and services that they provide.
Here are some examples of how people and organizations use Idealist:
People connecting with nonprofit organizations
The Environmental Support Group, an organization in India, lists itself in Idealist. At the same time, a young woman in India wants to do something about the high pollution levels in her city. She doesn't know where to find information or an organization that can help her. She goes to her local internet cafe, logs onto Idealist and searches for environmental groups in India. She finds the Environmental Support Group. She contacts them and together they start working on ways to reduce pollution in her city.
Nonprofit organizations connecting with people
A children's museum in Vancouver, Canada needs a website but cannot afford to pay a web designer to design one. They post a volunteer opportunity on Idealist for a Web designer.
A week later, Anna, a high school student who likes to design websites, logs onto Idealist to look for a volunteer opportunity. While searching the Idealist volunteer database, she comes across the museum's opportunity. She contacts them and gets to work designing their website.
Nonprofit organizations connecting with nonprofit organizations
Several community members in a neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, want to start an organization to help the children who live on the streets of their city. One of the first things they decide to do is research other organizations around the world working with street kids.
Using Idealist, they find several such organizations. They contact them and soon have advice, resources, and suggestions that will help them get started.
| |
|
What is a nonprofit or charitable organization?
Nonprofit organizations exist in one form or another in almost every community in the world. They are also known as charities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), voluntary organizations, and community-based organizations (CBOs).
Here are some examples of nonprofit organizations that might be working in your community:
- Museums
- Churches
- Food banks
- Homeless shelters
- Human rights groups
- Environmental groups
- Animal protection organizations
"Non" "Profit"?
Nonprofit organization is a group of people working together to help the local and/or global community, its people, or its environment. Whereas businesses develop products to make money, the ultimate aim of a nonprofit organization is not to make money (they are 'non' 'profit'), but to help their community. To support themselves, nonprofit organizations rely on contributions from people, businesses, and foundations.
| |
