While handcrafted candles and Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired serveware are all fine and good, 2020 has been a year in which traditional holiday gift-giving may seem a touch less consequential when considering the grand scheme of things. Defined by a once-in-a-century pandemic that continues to rage, sharpened political divisions, calamitous natural events exacerbated by climate change, and a historic push for social and racial justice catalyzed by the deaths of Black Americans, 2020 has been quite a year.

During such a tumultuous and transformative period in history, organizations dedicated to both imparting positive, impactful change and providing relief, recovery, and a path forward during a time of incalculable loss need our help more than ever. Below are just a few nonprofits selected by AN’s editors that would surely appreciate a bit of seasonal support. Happy giving!

Arquitectos

Help Arquitectos, a nonprofit association founded in 1985 by a small group of Latinx professionals, continue providing “development, mentorship, community assistance” and working to ”further enrich the architectural profession through different cultural views and practices.” As of writing, the Chicago-based group—AN caught up with newly instated president Ingedia Sanchez earlier this fall to discuss the group’s past, present, and future—has reached the 27 percent mark of its $15,000 fundraising goal. Donate here.

Beyond the Built Environment

Founded by Pascale Sablan, 2021 recipient of the AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, Beyond the Built Environment is a Delaware-based nonprofit with an international scope that “engages community through architecture to advocate equitable, reflectively diverse environments.” Supporting the group will help it to expand programming initiatives which include lectures, documentaries, and exhibitions such as SAY IT LOUD. Donate here.

The Center for Urban Pedagogy

Centered around a range of youth- and community-based educational programming initiatives, New York-based nonprofit Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) was founded as a vehicle in which to harness the “power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement particularly among underrepresented communities.” As explained by CUP, individual contributions help to make possible the “creative, accessible, and informative teaching tools that you have come to expect, and that our partner organizations have come to rely on.” Donate here.

Designing Justice + Designing Spaces

Led by co-founder, executive director, and design director Deanna Van Buren, the work of Oakland, California-based nonprofit Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS) is focused on bringing an end to mass incarceration “by building infrastructure that addresses its root causes: poverty, racism, unequal access to resources, and the criminal justice system itself.” As noted by the DJDS, donations will enable the group to “design and develop new buildings, places, and programs that provide alternatives to prisons and jails.” Donate here.

NOMA

Financial support of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) can be directed in three different ways: To the organization’s General Fund, which ensures that all operations are running smoothly “especially as the organization pivots to meet today’s challenges head-on;” to Project Pipeline, an educational platform for K-12 students that helps “young people grasp the significance of architecture in their daily lives, as well as the broader cultural, social, and historical implications;” and to social justice- and advocacy-focused activities that enable local NOMA chapters and membership to “foster justice and equity in communities of color through outreach, community advocacy, professional development, and design excellence.” Donate here.

The Open Architecture Collaborative

Based in San Francisco but supporting a global chapter network, the Open Architecture Collaborative (known in its original iteration as Architecture for Humanity), develops a range of educational programming “for designers and architects to grow as leaders and changemakers while simultaneously producing placemaking programs with community developers and associations to inspire ownership and civic engagement in traditionally marginalized communities.” As noted by the nonprofit, donations “mean enabling more community members with tools and connections to change their neighborhoods and to fight systemic disinvestment, environmental injustice, blight, and unsafe streets and public spaces.” Donate here.

Project Color Corps

2020 has been an unusually dark year. Help to make 2021 and beyond a bit brighter by supporting the transformative work of Project Color Corps, a volunteer-led nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, California, that’s dedicated to “creating change by painting neighborhoods with color and pattern that impart positive messages of optimism and hope.” Completed projects by these instigators of “optical optimism” include murals at Para Los Niños Charter School in Los Angeles and at Cambridge Elementary School in Cambridge, California. Donate here.

The Sled

Founded in 2019, donations to charitable organization The Sled benefit its crucial (even more so during the coronavirus pandemic) mission to assist in-need New York City public school students and their families, most of whom are living in shelters or other forms of non-permanent housing. The Sled operates two specific drives: the year-round Service Drive, which provides a range of essentials such as bedding, cookware, school supplies, and more to students and families in need, and the holiday-focused Sugarplum Drive, which kicks off around Thanksgiving and concludes at the beginning of the New Year. Donate here.

Community relief funds for those impacted by the West Coast wildfires

Entire communities were devastated and hundreds of people were displaced by this year’s spate of wildfires in the West. Community-based relief funds such as the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund, the Oregon Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief and Recovery Fund, and the United Way’s Pacific Northwest Wildfire Relief & Recovery Fund are helping those impacted by the fires rebuild what they’ve lost. There also a number of more targeted wildfire recovery and relief funds worth looking into for those who would like to help.

Direct support for local cultural institutions, museums, artists, and arts organizations

This year has been a historically challenging one for beloved cultural institutions across the country—and much of the world. You can contribute directly to museums and institutions themselves—The National Building Museum, the Tenement Museum, the Chicago Architecture Center, and various Smithsonian Institution-operated museums to name just a few—to help ensure their continued survival once we fully emerge from the pandemic. There is also a multitude of organizations dedicated to providing support to COVID-19 impacted artists such as the Springboard for the Arts Emergency Relief Fund (Minnesota), Performing Arts Worker Relief Fund (California Bay Area), and Artist Trust Relief Fund (Washington) worth seeking out.