RESET Recommends 2017: 10 Hand-Picked Fundraising Projects With Real Impact

Want to help light up lives in rural communities, rid the world of landmines and clean up our oceans? Here are the RESET team's top 10 fundraising projects for 2017 - hand-picked projects we love, with top marks for innovation, impact and integrity.

Author Sarah-Indra Jungblut:

Translation , 01.11.17

There are tons of interesting and worthwhile charitable projects in the world. But how can you decide which one your money should go to? Let us give you a helping hand! We’ve taken a close look at hundreds of projects that work for positive change.

These have made it into our Top 10 because:

  • they’re super innovative and have a fresh, new approach to age-old issues.
  • they have a proven record of creating positive change.
  • they’re transparent and make constructive and responsible use of funds.

Linux4Afrika – Open Source Software to Bridge the Digital Divide

For every 100 people in Mozambique, there are only seven computers. Very few schoolchildren in the African continent are able to study on a computer – not a great starting point for kids growing up in an increasingly digital world. Linux4Afrika bridges this digital divide and provides schools in Mozambique, Burundi and Tanzania with computers and open source software. Access to the digital world allows for improved education and a better chance at social and economic development.

Donate now!

ICAN – International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

The global coalition ICAN campaigns for a worldwide ban on atomic weapons. In 2017 they received the Nobel Peace Prize for their “work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and their “ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition”.

Founded in 2007, they’ve worked towards building a world in which conflicts are tackled in a way that is free from violence and with respect for human dignity. With global political relations surrounding the use of atomic weapons more tense than ever, the ICAN organises global days of action, holds public awareness-raising events and enters into political dialogue with governments, national parliaments, the United Nations and the media.

Find out more.

Kiron – A Scholarship for Refugee Students

Refugees who want to study in their new homelands face a huge number of financial and administrative hurdles. The Kiron initiative was set up in 2015 by two volunteers who were working with refugees in Berlin. Using digital solutions and partnerships with different universities, they set up an innovative study programme that consists of two years of online study at Kiron followed by two more years of traditional contact study at a university. A donation to Kiron can enable a refugee to take up or complete their studies – allowing them to follow their passions and triumph against adversity.

Donate now!

Skateistan – Skateboarding For a Brighter Future

What’s it like to grow up working on the streets in a warzone, or to spend the first 15 years of your life pretending to be a boy? How does it feel to be one of the first skateboarders in a country, and at the same time a girl in a conservative Muslim society? In a nation divided along ethnic and gender lines, how do art, education and skateboarding create change?

Originally set up as Afghanistan’s first ever skateboarding school in 2007, Skateistan now runs skateboarding and creative arts programmes in two major Afghan cities, as well as in Cambodia and South Africa. Engaging local urban youth through skateboarding and sport, the organisation helps build confidence and community and inspire the next generation of young people, as well as creating opportunities for girls and inspiring hope for the future. Making a donation instantly makes you a “citizen” of Skateistan – the global community of students, staff, skaters and supporters that make it possible for thousands of young people to attend their programmes all around the world.

Donate now!

Apopo – Adopt a Hero Rat

Undiscovered landmines are still a daily threat for millions of people around the world. They’re not only responsible for fatal or life-threatening injuries, but also make huge areas of land unusable for agriculture. The troupe of giant pouch rats trained by Apopo are able to detect mines without setting them off – helping defuser teams carry out their dangerous work that much more safely. A donation to Apopo lets you adopt your own HeroRAT – you’ll receive an adoption certificate and monthly impact updates.

Adopt a HeroRat!

OneEarth – OneOcean: Trawling for Ocean Trash

According to the latest estimates, there are already more than 40 million tons of plastic waste in our oceans all over the world. According to studies from the UN, by 2050 there could actually be more plastic than fish in the sea. Ocean waste begins to break down over time into smaller and smaller pieces, not only ending up as waste on our beaches, but also in the digestive systems of ocean life and ultimately our own plates. Trying to reduce the amount of waste we create is one way to stop the problem getting any worse, but how can we remove the stuff that’s already there?

The environmental organisation One Earth – OneOcean e.V. (OEOO) has developed a concept to remove plastic waste from waterways all over the world. Their “Seekuh” and “Seehamster” (sea cow and sea hamster) are catamarans that have been specially designed to fish tons of plastic waste out of the water. These medium-sized vessels are already in operation in bays, the mouths of rivers and stretches of coast and work is currently underway to develop another larger waste-collesting-ship – one that’s fit for the high seas, powered by modern wind- and solar-technologies and that automatically “grazes” its way through plastic-polluted waters.

Donate now for an ocean free from plastic!

Liter of Light: Bringing Solar Bottle Bulbs to Offgrid Communities

With energy poverty keeping more than a quarter of the world’s population in darkness, Liter of Light is a global grassroots movement that sets out to provide affordable and accessible solutions – one plastic bottle at a time. Thanks to their network of partnerships around the world, Liter of Light volunteers teach low-resource communities how they can recycle discarded plastic bottles and locally-sourced materials to create solar lightbulbs that illuminate their homes, shops and streets. According to their website, they’ve already installed more than 350,000 bottle lights in more than 15 countries around the world.

Donate now!

OneDollarGlasses – Affordable Eyesight For All

More than 150 million people around the world who need glasses can’t afford to buy them. With no way to improve their poor eyesight, kids can’t learn effectively, and parents aren’t able to work and supply for their children. OneDollarGlasses (in German EinDollarBrille e.V.) has come up with a solution: the cheapest and quickest glasses in the world – and with a clever sales strategy to boot. OneDollarGlasses consist of a spring steel frame and ready-made lenses. Thanks to their modular construction system, there’s no need for expensive grinding machines or electrical power. The cost of the materials? Around one US dollar.

Opticians from OneDollarGlasses visit people in their home villages: the team trains people to produce the glasses and also to carry out eye tests. This means that not only can they supply their fellow countrymen with glasses, but with the income that they make through the sales, financially support their families. Helping people to help themselves – and it really works! Donate now!

World Bicycle Relief: Improving Access to Education

Bicycles are more than just a way to get around – they’re a vehicle out of poverty. Getting as many people into the saddle and improving their quality of life in the process – that’s the goal of World Bicycle Relief. The NGO has come up with an innovative organisational model that combines an aid programme with an entrepreneurial approach. Their incredibly robust bikes – which are specially designed for countries with poor infrastructure and rough roads – aren’t just donated to local communities, but are also sold throughout many countries in Africa. 100 per cent of the profits made are reinvested in the donation programmes, allowing the NGO to deliver even more bicycles and improve the effectiveness and reach of the project.When looking at World Bicycle Relief’s impact, the numbers speak for themselves: in areas that have received so-called “Buffalo Bikes”, attendance levels increased by 28 per cent in schools, nurses could visit 45 per cent more patients and dairy farmers increased their milk deliveries by 25 per cent.

Donate now!

Supporting & Spreading Innovative Ideas – Donate to RESET

Like what you’ve read? RESET is largely financed by donations – donate today and help support what we do!

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