‘Tis the season for giving… This month, consider adding a charity to your “nice” list. If you’re not sure where to start, we've listed a few non-profit organizations that we think are worth checking out. Whether you donate your time, money, or even blood, we hope you’ll join us in sharing the spirit of the season with the charity of your choice.

American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org
The American Red Cross exists to provide compassionate care to those in need. Their mission is preventing and relieving suffering at home and around the world, through five key service areas: disaster relief, supporting military families, collecting lifesaving blood donations, providing health and safety services, and giving international support such as responding to disasters, building safer communities, and educating future humanitarians.

Fund for Teachers
http://www.fundforteachers.org
Fund for Teachers supports educators' efforts to develop skills, knowledge and confidence that impact student achievement. By trusting teachers to design unique fellowships, Fund for Teachers grants validate teachers' professionalism and leadership as well. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $25 million in more than 7,000 teachers, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students.

Local schoolteachers
http://www.donorschoose.org
DonorsChoose.org helps public school educators fund classroom projects to benefit their students, raising money for school supplies, field trips, new technology, and everything in between. You can search for projects that need funding in your own community, by need, or by topic/subject, and you can give any amount to the project that inspires you.

Rainforest Alliance
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org
The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior. Rainforest Alliance believes that the best way to keep forests standing is by ensuring that it is profitable for businesses and communities to do so. They are committed to helping farmers, forest managers, and tourism businesses realize greater economic benefits by ensuring their employees and the ecosystems within and around their operations are protected.

Your local Audubon chapter
http://www.audubon.org
For more than a century, Audubon has worked to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity. You can support the National Audubon Society at the link above, or find your local Audubon chapter at http://www.audubon.org/search-by-zip.

Sarapiqui Conservation Learning Center
http://www.learningcentercostarica.org
In 2016, the SCLC had great success with its Mobile Library program, benefitting literacy in the community of Caño Negro, and hopes to expand the Mobile Library to two communities for 2017. The SCLC also continued to provide digital access in rural communities, English classes for children and adults, support for a local women's artisan group, and more. (You can read the full report here.) The programs are run by international volunteers and community members, serving hundreds of local people and thousands of eco-tourists each year.

Organizations abroad
www.packforapurpose.org
http://bex.aba.org/
Our travelers often ask us how they can make a difference in the destinations they visit. If you're planning a trip for 2017, consider saving room in your luggage to carry much-needed supplies for schools, medical clinics, or budding naturalists. Programs like Pack for a Purpose and the American Birding Association's Birders' Exchange connect donors with recipient organizations and help travelers make a positive impact.

Sea Turtle Conservancy 
http://www.conserveturtles.org
The Sea Turtle Conservancy, formerly known as the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, is the world's oldest sea turtle research and conservation group. An international nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization, Sea Turtle Conservancy was founded in 1959 by world-renowned sea turtle expert Dr. Archie Carr to save sea turtles from eminent extinction through rigorous science-based conservation. Headquartered in Florida, the organization carries out worldwide programs to conserve and recover sea turtle populations through research, education, advocacy and protection of the natural habitats upon which depend upon.

Books for Africa 
http://www.booksforafrica.org
The mission of Books for Africa is to end the "book famine" in Africa by creating a culture of literacy and providing the tools of empowerment to the next generation of parents, teachers, and leaders in Africa. Books donated by publishers, schools, libraries, individuals, and organizations are sorted and packed by volunteers who carefully choose books that are age- and subject-appropriate. It costs about 50 cents to send a book from the United States to Africa. Books for Africa has shipped more than 36 million books to 49 different countries since 1988.