Top Charities in Georgia (2026)

The Atlanta Community Food Bank distributed 112 million meals in fiscal year 2025 — about 10.3 million pounds of food per month through nearly 700 partner agencies across 29 counties. It's the fourth-largest food bank in the country by distribution volume, and in February 2023, it distributed its one-billionth meal since opening in 1979. In December 2025, it was named to Forbes America's Top 100 Charities list.

Food insecurity in Georgia runs at 14.9% statewide — about 1.6 million people. In parts of metro Atlanta, it's closer to 1 in 5 households. The food bank activated a $5 million crisis response plan in October 2025 when the government shutdown began threatening SNAP benefits and federal food supply programs. When USDA halted $500 million in deliveries in March 2025, ACFB was among the food banks scrambling to find alternatives.

Volunteer shifts run at their College Park warehouse: 2–3 hours, no recurring commitment. A record 43,000+ volunteer visits and 140,000+ donated hours happened in FY2025. $1 provides three meals through their purchasing relationships.

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity is the organization's original US affiliate — Habitat International was founded in Americus, Georgia in 1976, and Atlanta is where it put down deep roots. In May 2026, Atlanta hosted the 40th Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project: 1,000+ volunteers built 24 homes in five days at Langston Park in Sylvan Hills, the nonprofit's newest master-planned community. The homes — a mix of single-family houses and townhomes, the first townhomes in Atlanta Habitat's history — cost about $200,000 each to build but will be sold to qualified families with interest-free mortgages based on income.

One of the homebuyers, 27-year-old Ozzy Herrera, who works two jobs at Hartsfield-Jackson, contributed hundreds of hours of sweat equity building alongside volunteers. That's the model: families earn their homes through labor, not charity. Atlanta Habitat also runs ReStore locations that accept furniture, appliances, and building materials — store proceeds fund construction.

Build days run year-round, Saturdays primarily. No construction skills required. Groups of 10+ can book corporate volunteer days.

The Carter Center was founded by President and Rosalynn Carter in 1982 and is based on Emory University's campus in Atlanta. Its two main focus areas are global health — particularly disease eradication programs — and democracy promotion through election monitoring. The Center's Guinea worm disease eradication program has reduced cases from 3.5 million per year in 1986 to fewer than 15 cases globally in recent years. It has observed more than 115 elections in 40 countries. Jimmy Carter died in December 2024; the Center has continued its work under his successors.

The Carter Center's global health work operates in some of the most difficult environments on earth — remote communities in sub-Saharan Africa, conflict zones, areas without reliable infrastructure. Donations fund field operations for disease eradication, river blindness treatment, trachoma control, and malaria prevention. The Center does not do general domestic charity work; it's on this list because it's Atlanta-based, globally significant, and one of the most cost-effective health organizations operating anywhere.

Goodwill of North Georgia operates 45+ retail stores across north Georgia, with the most concentrated presence in the Atlanta metro. Store revenue from donated goods funds job training, career counseling, and employment placement for people with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and people returning from incarceration. Georgia's economy runs heavily on logistics, healthcare, and technology — Goodwill's training programs try to connect people with entry points into those industries.

Donating goods — clothing, furniture, electronics, housewares — to any of their north Georgia locations directly funds the employment programs. The organization is independent of Goodwill chapters in south Georgia, Savannah, or Augusta. Their Career Centers are open to anyone, not just people who shop at the stores, and provide free resume help, job search assistance, and interview prep.

United Way of Greater Atlanta distributes grants to nonprofits across 13 Atlanta-area counties, with priorities in early childhood education, economic mobility, and health access. It's the primary workplace giving channel for many Atlanta employers — Delta, Coca-Cola, Georgia Power, and hundreds of smaller companies run United Way campaigns that collectively fund tens of millions in local grants each year. The organization also manages 2-1-1 Georgia, a statewide helpline connecting residents to social services.

If you're new to Atlanta and want to support multiple causes through one giving decision, United Way's portfolio covers dozens of vetted nonprofits. Alternatively, you can give directly to specific organizations in their network. Day of Caring — their annual one-day volunteer event — brings thousands of volunteers to projects across the metro every fall.

The Red Cross Georgia Region responds to home fires, tornadoes, flooding, and other emergencies across the state — Georgia averages hundreds of disaster responses per year, most of them house fires. The region also collects blood at donor centers and mobile drives statewide; Georgia hospitals depend on a consistent blood supply, particularly given the volume of trauma cases at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. The region is also the training arm for CPR, first aid, and lifeguard certification courses across Georgia.

Blood donation appointments are bookable within days at Atlanta and other Georgia chapters. Disaster volunteers complete several weeks of online and in-person training but can then deploy to shelter operations and casework after local emergencies. If you were affected by a tornado or house fire in Georgia and need immediate help, call the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS — they deploy at no cost to those affected.

Hands On Atlanta is the metro's primary volunteer coordination organization — not a direct service provider, but the infrastructure that connects volunteers to 400+ schools, parks, and nonprofits across Greater Atlanta. They run group projects for corporate teams, individuals, and families, and manage the logistics so the partner organizations don't have to. Their model is project-based rather than ongoing commitment: you sign up for a specific project, show up, do the work, and leave. No orientation, no background check, no six-month pledge required for most projects.

They're affiliated with Points of Light (also headquartered in Atlanta), the national volunteer mobilization network. If you want to start volunteering in Atlanta and don't know where to begin, Hands On Atlanta's project calendar is one of the best starting points — you can filter by cause area, date, location, and group size.

The Salvation Army Georgia Division operates service centers in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah, and smaller cities across the state. Their programs cover emergency rent and utility assistance, overnight shelter, summer youth programs, after-school programs, addiction recovery, and disaster canteens. Georgia has significant rural poverty in areas of the Black Belt, South Georgia, and Appalachian foothills where other nonprofits have limited reach — the Salvation Army's network in smaller communities fills gaps that larger metro-focused organizations don't.

The Red Kettle campaign funds a significant portion of the year's programs. Thrift stores accept goods year-round. Emergency assistance is available at local corps (service centers) across the state — call the nearest corps to find out what's currently available in your area.

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is one of the largest pediatric healthcare systems in the United States, operating three hospitals and dozens of outpatient locations across metro Atlanta. The Foundation raises private donations that fund equipment, research, family support programs, and uncompensated care for children whose families can't pay. CHOA is a major employer in Atlanta and a training hospital affiliated with Emory University School of Medicine. In 2024, the organization reported over $2.7 billion in revenue.

Donations to the Foundation fund specific programs — neonatal care, cancer research, trauma care, the Strong4Life childhood obesity prevention program. The Foundation also runs a volunteer program at the hospitals, though patient-facing volunteering requires background checks and training. Family support roles, including Ronald McDonald House programs co-located at CHOA campuses, are often easier to access for new volunteers.

BBBS of Metro Atlanta matches children facing adversity with adult volunteer mentors across the Atlanta metro area. Programs include community-based mentoring (meeting 2–4 times per month for at least a year) and school-based mentoring (weekly sessions during school hours). Metro Atlanta has significant youth poverty — Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton Counties all have child poverty rates well above the national average — and research consistently shows that mentoring relationships improve graduation rates, college enrollment, and long-term earnings.

Volunteer mentors must be 18 or older, pass a background check, and commit to at least one year. School-based mentoring requires less flexibility since sessions happen at fixed times during school hours. The waitlist for mentees is typically longer than the supply of volunteer mentors, which means signing up as a Big has near-certain placement.