Search Nonprofits

The mission of the Sierra State Parks Foundation (SSPF) is to provide critically needed financial support and advocacy to the Lake Tahoe-Donner State Parks for education, interpretation, restoration and preservation consistent with the mission of California State Parks. We fund projects and educational programs that connect park visitors with our rich natural resources and cultural heritage. Because of this work and advocacy our parks will continue to be places of education and inspiration for generations to come.

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center preserves the legacy of the Holocaust by teaching universal lessons that combat hatred, prejudice, and indifference, and by inspiring audiences to be Upstanders who speak out for what’s right – turning powerful lessons of history into positive actions today. We activate this mission through world-class exhibitions, public programming, educational initiatives, and partnerships that bring diverse communities together to understand history and contemporary human rights issues. The Museum reaches and impacts the lives of more than 180,000 people of all ages and diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds annually, empowering them with the knowledge, skills, and courage to take a stand for humanity.

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art’s mission is to present the art, culture and history of Tibet to a world audience in order to educate and inspire appreciation of Himalayan cultures and to foster better global understanding. The founder, Jacques Marchais (1887-1948) intended the Jacques Marchais museum of Tibetan art museum, begun in 1945, to serve as a bridge between Tibetan art and culture and the west. The Jacques Marchais museum of Tibetan art preserves its unique collection of rare and sacred artifacts and provide careful stewardship of its historic buildings and gardens. In addition to presenting the Jacques Marchais history, it is the intention of the museum to give visitors an understanding of tibet and the himalayan region.

Committed to inspiring curiosity through exploration, the Buffalo Museum of Science is a non-profit educational institution dedicated to providing relevant science programming and services to children, families, adults, and schools in the Buffalo Niagara region. Through exhibits and interactive science studios designed for multi-generational learning, the Museum showcases its extensive collections of over 700,000 specimens and artifacts representing all facets of the natural world with an emphasis on Western New York. Opened in 1929 in Buffalo’s Olmsted-designed Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, the Museum is currently installing eight permanent interactive science studios to transform its visitor experience by 2017. The Museum also operates Tifft Nature Preserve in South Buffalo, a 264-acre urban wetland preserve on reclaimed former industrial land. Learn more at www.sciencebuff.org.

We inspire people to engage in and celebrate the Shaker Heights story and its impact on the region...past, present, and future. We welcome visitors from around the world who seek to learn about the Shakers of North Union, the garden city suburb developed by the Van Sweringens and the early peaceful racial integration of the city from 1957. We produce permanent and temporary historical exhibits in our 1910 residence, one of the first houses built as part of the new Shaker Village. Our Lissauer Art Gallery features art produced by Northeast Ohio artists. Our Elizabeth Nord Research Library is open by appointment. We are also part of the Ohio History Connection as well as being one of the few Shaker communities open to the public on the National Parks Service's Shaker Trail.

Nestled in the nation’s capital in the richest museum complex in the world is the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, a model early childhood program that places children at the center of every experience. The vast collections are the foundation for the culturally diverse curriculum, which offers a rare opportunity for learning. As an organization, SEEC is a leader in the field of museum-based education and influences practice within museums and schools. Our educators apply best practices recognized in the early childhood field and enrich the children’s learning through an object-based approach to teaching, sharing the rich stories associated with these objects in ways that make the curriculum deeper and richer. Museum educators within the program build on the practice established within the SEEC model, serving as content experts on the museums and blending theory and practice as a basis for outside consulting and professional development.

The mission of the Sankofa African American Diaspora 3D Museum is to create a virtual learning place that showcases rare collections of historical memorabilia from the 1600s to the 2000s. Our goal is to educate children of all ages (K-12, colleges, and universities), including worldwide history buffs. Our Vision We are making the museum come to life and showcasing a bookstore, a gift shop, a live café with local restaurants and fun online to browse. We are providing the opportunity for all to study the fundamental natures of knowledge, reality, and existence while focusing on academic discipline in African American history in New Jersey. The exhibition tells the stories and highlights the culture from the beginning of slavery to the end. Socioeconomic factors and contributions, such as women fighting in World War II, provide insight and inspiration. The focus is on the History of Slavery and the Underground Railroad in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania from the 1600s to the 2000s, with achievements spotlighted regardless of race or nationality.

The mission of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is to inspire people to grow through immersion in a world of natural outdoor wonder to nourish mind, body and spirit. The Garden is already setting an example of stewardship by transforming 460 acres of abandoned mining property. The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (PBG) holds a renewable $1/year 99 year lease from Allegheny County on the land, 20 minutes west of downtown Pittsburgh, next door to Settler's Cabin Park. The PBG is moving forward on two fronts. The first and long-term front involves the middle and southern portion of the site which is under a complete reclamation program. Even as that work continues, we will begin to develop the display and educational gardens in this area, including the first and only Mr. Roger's Garden of Make Believe, the Orangery and an amphitheater. The PBG's second front is focused on the 60 acres on the northern part of the site which features forested ridges and some meadows. Restoration of the Woodlands was started in 2010 and, to date, more than 20 acres of invasive species were cleared, over 5,200 native trees, shrubs and perennials planted, three miles of trails built including one mile of ADA accessible trails, several children's play & discovery stations were constructed, and a polluted pond was restored to life. The Woodland Gardens are adjacent to a historic homestead, recently added by the County to the Botanic Garden lease. The Pioneer Farmstead provides the front door for the Garden while reclamation continues. The 1870s barn is under renovation to serve as the Bayer Welcome Center and the 1784 log cabin, namesake for the nearby Settlers Cabin County Park, will be used for programming. A Heritage Apple Orchard, Pioneer Three Sisters Garden and other amenities will also grace the area. The Woodlands of the World Garden and the Pioneer Farmstead will open to the general public in the summer of 2014. Tours of the site are available. Education and volunteer programs are underway - for all ages. It is a grass-roots project, built by many volunteers and supported by individuals from the tri-state area. The Garden demonstrates the interdependence of plants, animal and man and our reliance on the natural environment, while fostering an understanding of basic botany and ecology.

In the words of its founder, the Corcoran is “dedicated to art.” Its museum presents, interprets and preserves the art of our times and of times past; its college of art nurtures and helps shape new generations of artists and designers. Education is a central focus, not just in the Corcoran’s classrooms but in its galleries and throughout the greater Washington region. Though American art is the collection’s emphasis, the art of other nations and cultures is, when appropriate, acquired and exhibited. The Corcoran is committed to making the historic art in its collections and the emerging art of our time accessible and understandable to the broadest possible audience through innovative exhibitions and educational programming, systematic research and rigorous scholarship. Its many activities emphasize the combined resources of its museum and college, and are directed toward diverse communities with widely differing educational and socio-economic backgrounds. Though proud of its important place in the international world of art history and scholarship, the Corcoran is ever mindful of its special obligation to serve the greater Washington region, especially its artists and its young people.

Adam's Forge is Blacksmithing in Los Angeles! Forging Character and Forging Community  Adam's Forge is breathing life into an ancient craft. Our focus is to raise awareness, teach hands on skills, preserve and advance the craft, and broaden and grow the blacksmithing community. Incorporated as a non-profit organization 501(c)(3) in 2002 as a memorial to artist blacksmith Adam Leventhal, the Adam Leventhal Memorial School and Museum encourages students of diverse ages and abilities to express themselves artistically through the medium of metals. Blacksmithing is a craft with a history going back to the Iron Age. It has been practiced through millennia for various practical purposes and purely as art in many cultures around the world. Today, Adam’s Forge is creating a thriving blacksmithing community through a regular schedule of classes and events that inspires and supports aspiring artists, trades people and the community. Many of us learn more easily and retain knowledge more thoroughly when lessons are coupled with physical activity. For instance the force of a hammer blow transferred to the deformation of hot steel is a dynamic tutorial in physics. Forging a nail can give a student a visceral understanding of how people lived during a different era. Team striking is a powerful validation of the value of cooperation.

The National Constitution Center is the first and only institution in America established by Congress to “disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.” The Constitution Center brings the United States Constitution to life by hosting interactive exhibitions and constitutional conversations and inspires active citizenship by celebrating the American constitutional tradition. Our non-partisan mission is best expressed in our three goals: to serve the nation and the world as the Museum of We the People, a national Headquarters for Civic Education, and America’s Town Hall. We illuminate the constitutional debates that affect the lives of all Americans by hosting constitutional conversations on Independence Mall in Philadelphia and across a range of media platforms, and we inspire active citizenship by celebrating the American constitutional tradition. Our three goals can be summarized in three words: Visit. Learn. Debate. As the Museum of We the People, the Constitution Center features hundreds of interactive exhibits, engaging theatrical performances, and original documents of freedom. As America’s town hall, the National Constitution Center hosts constitutional debates across a range of broadcast and digital media platforms. As a national and international center for civic education, the Constitution Center offers cutting edge constitutional seminars, discussions, course materials, and interactive and digital resources for students of all ages.

A large part of The Museum's focus is to collect and preserve historic vehicles, and a great deal of importance was placed from day one on acquiring a great number of significant vehicles of all shapes, sizes, makes, models, and purposes. As the Museum's popularity grew as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit educational institution, people came to realize that it was the perfect tax deductible home for their prized possession. Our first donation was a beautifully restored 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300 Cabriolet from Annapolis, Maryland. Since then, we have taken in donations from all over the world varying greatly from single vehicles, to multiple vehicle collections, rare automobile components, artwork, photographs, books, and automobilia. Our education programs are built around the curriculum of the California educational system, making The Petersen an excellent place to take children on a field trip. Our free bus program ensures that children that come from disadvantage schools can still visit The Museum. We educate people of all ages. From monthly Discovery Days in our Discovery Center, to Teacher Salary Point Workshops, to a full complement of very knowledgeable docents who volunteer their time every day to help educate visitors, we do our best to make sure that everyone who leaves The Petersen Automotive Museum learns something.