6 Causes to Support on International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to celebrate our sisterhood and all of the things we’ve accomplished, but it’s also a reminder of the need to continue supporting one another. After all, we have more to do! There are tons of worthwhile women-centric organizations out there fighting the good fight for female-kind, but we’ve pulled together a short list to give you some food for thought on this particular occasion. Here are six (of the many!) causes and campaigns you may want to get behind this March 8.
1. The #FundHerCause Campaign: For the first time ever, Tinder is partnering with charitable giving platform Pledgeling to show their support for women and the issues most important to them. Starting at 9am ET on March 8, you can tweet @Tinder using the hashtag #FundHerCause, specifying within the tweet a cause that you care about (go with something general like women’s rights or education). Your tweet will trigger a donation code that you’ll be able to use on the campaign’s site to pledge $100 to one of 15 female-centric charities. Swipe right to show your solidarity!
2. Gilt City’s Women-Owned Businesses + Girls on the Run: On International Women’s Day, Gilt City will be featuring special promotions and offers from several businesses owned by impressive boss ladies. The best part? Five percent of the proceeds from these promotions will go toward Girls on the Run, a non-profit organization that helps inspire and empower young girls through physical activity. If you’re going to treat yourself to something special on Gilt, today is the perfect time to do it!
3. Breast Cancer Research Foundation: There are so many fantastic organizations out there doing great work in support of women’s health, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation is one of them. BCRF has been granted an A+ by CharityWatch, and over 90 percent of their donations go directly to research and awareness programs, making it one of the most financially efficient organizations in its category. Your contributions (whether you make them on International Women’s Day or any other day!) will support research grants for the scientists out there working to kick cancer’s butt.
4. Movemeant Foundation: Inspired by her own struggles with body image issues and eating disorders, Jenny Gaither started the Movemeant Foundation with the mission to “offer body-positive, self-confidence building tools, resources, and experiences where fitness and physical movement is the gateway to feeling powerful in the skin [you’re] in.” What’s not to love about that kind of body positivity? Donations go toward the organization’s public school curriculums, student grants, and special event experiences.
5. Women’s Funding Network: If your goal with a contribution in honor of International Women’s Day is to make a more general statement that you’re standing strong with the sisterhood around the world, the Women’s Funding Network might be the perfect recipient of your hard-earned money. The WFN is engaged with more than 100 female-centric foundations in over 20 countries, focusing on diverse issues like education, health, and gender equity. If there’s any truth to the old saying that “there’s power in numbers,” then WFN is worth checking out — it’s the largest philanthropic network in the world that’s devoted specifically to women and girls!
6. Girls Who Code: The future is definitely female, but we also get the feeling that the future is going to continue to be pretty focused on technology. That’s where Girls Who Code comes in. GWC is working to close the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers by establishing extracurricular and immersive summer programs that will give young women the tools they need to learn how to code and find jobs in tech. According to GWC, women are on track to fill just three percent of the 1.4 million computer-related gigs that will be available in 2020. Your contributions can help boost that statistic.
What other organizations are you contributing to in celebration of International Women’s Day? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Photos via Getty)