Largest Charities in New Jersey: Top 10 Organizations to Donate & Volunteer (2026)

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is the state's largest anti-hunger organization, distributing food for more than 90–100 million meals annually through a network of over 800 community partners — food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, afterschool programs, senior centers, and more. Their 285,000-square-foot warehouse in Hillside is one of the largest food bank facilities in the Northeast, with a second location in Egg Harbor Township for South Jersey coverage. CFBNJ serves 15 of New Jersey's 21 counties directly; the remaining six are served through affiliated food banks.

The numbers behind their service area are striking: 675,000 food-insecure people in their 15 counties, 45% of whom don't qualify for SNAP. Essex County has New Jersey's highest child food insecurity rate at 21.4% — one in five children in Newark's county goes hungry. Black and Latino New Jerseyans face food insecurity at 24% and 22% respectively, roughly three times the rate among white New Jerseyans (7%). CFBNJ's approach goes beyond food distribution — job training programs prepare clients for careers in culinary and logistics, and SNAP enrollment outreach helps people access benefits they may not know they qualify for. In 2025, federal cuts eliminated a grant covering 35 million pounds of local NJ produce, forcing CFBNJ to source from further away. Volunteers work at Hillside and Egg Harbor Township.

Fulfill Food Bank covers Monmouth and Ocean Counties from its Neptune headquarters, operating as one of New Jersey's six major food banks through 289 partner agencies including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, day programs, and group homes. Monmouth and Ocean Counties present a particular food insecurity challenge: both are coastal counties with a significant portion of the Jersey Shore's tourism and hospitality workforce — seasonal workers with inconsistent income — as well as one of the largest concentrations of seniors in New Jersey. Ocean County, home to Toms River and Lakewood, has one of the state's highest rates of food insecurity among elderly residents.

Fulfill experienced a significant surge in need during fall 2025, driven by both the SNAP benefit disruptions and rising food prices. Their mobile pantry program reaches communities without fixed pantry locations across both counties. Volunteers sort and pack food at the Neptune facility. For donors in Monmouth or Ocean County who want their support to reach their specific communities, Fulfill is the most direct giving option.

Habitat for Humanity of New Jersey supports local affiliates across the state — in Newark, Trenton, Camden, Paterson, and smaller communities — building affordable homes and providing critical home repairs in some of New Jersey's most economically distressed urban neighborhoods. New Jersey's housing costs are among the highest in the country: median home prices in northern New Jersey regularly exceed $500,000, and even southern counties have seen dramatic price increases. The gap between wages in retail, healthcare support, and service jobs and what those wages can afford in NJ housing is enormous.

New Jersey's urban Habitat affiliates face distinct challenges from their suburban counterparts — lot acquisition in dense urban environments like Newark or Camden requires navigating complex land and regulatory processes. Critical home repair programs serve elderly homeowners in aging urban housing stock where roof failures, HVAC problems, and accessibility issues are common. ReStore locations accept building materials and goods. Build days run at local affiliates and are open to first-timers.

St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center is one of New Jersey's oldest and largest animal welfare organizations, operating two campuses — Madison (Morris County) and North Branch (Somerset County) — and running adoption, spay/neuter, humane law enforcement, community education, and foster care programs. Founded in 1939, St. Hubert's has operated as a no-kill shelter for decades, a commitment that requires significant resources for medical care, behavioral rehabilitation, and extended stays for harder-to-place animals.

New Jersey's density means animal welfare organizations operate in a complex environment: urban shelters in Newark and Camden deal with high intake and limited resources, while suburban organizations like St. Hubert's can provide the medical care and placement time that allows for no-kill commitments. St. Hubert's operates a pet food pantry and community pet support programs, recognizing that economic hardship — increasingly common in New Jersey as housing costs rise — drives many surrenders. Volunteer roles include animal care, dog walking, cat socialization, and foster care at both campuses.

The Community Foundation of New Jersey manages donor-advised funds, endowments, and grants for nonprofits statewide from its Morristown headquarters. CFNJ is the go-to vehicle for donors who want to give to New Jersey causes without committing to a single organization — their database lists vetted NJ nonprofits across all cause areas, and their staff can help donors align interests with effective organizations. They also manage disaster relief funds that activate after flooding and storm events in New Jersey.

New Jersey has multiple county-level community foundations — the Princeton Area Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of South Jersey, the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest NJ, and others. Together they form a distributed philanthropic infrastructure that directs significant private capital to NJ nonprofits. For donors with ties to specific New Jersey communities or causes, a county-level foundation may be the most direct vehicle.

United Way of Greater Newark covers the Newark metro — New Jersey's largest city and one of the most economically diverse urban areas in the country. Newark has seen significant investment and development in recent years alongside persistent concentrated poverty, and the nonprofit sector navigates both realities. United Way distributes grants to community organizations, manages workplace giving campaigns for major Newark employers — Prudential Financial, PSEG, Panasonic — and operates 2-1-1 New Jersey, connecting residents statewide to food, housing, utility, and emergency resources.

New Jersey has multiple United Way chapters — United Way of Greater Mercer County (Trenton/Princeton), United Way of Burlington County, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern NJ (Camden area), and others. Newark's chapter is the most prominent given the city's size and the density of corporate giving programs. Their annual campaign engages NJ's significant financial and pharmaceutical corporate sector.

The Red Cross New Jersey Region responds to home fires, flooding, winter storms, and other disasters statewide. New Jersey's geography creates specific disaster vulnerabilities: coastal communities face hurricane and nor'easter flooding, the Passaic River basin regularly floods during heavy rainfall, and dense urban housing creates fire risk in older structures. Superstorm Sandy (2012) remains the benchmark for New Jersey disaster response scale, and the Red Cross's post-Sandy work helped establish current protocols for major coastal flooding events.

Blood collection runs at donor centers across the state; RWJBarnabas Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, and other NJ hospital systems depend on this supply. New Jersey's density means blood donor centers are accessible throughout the state. If you were displaced by a flood, fire, or other disaster in New Jersey and need immediate help, call 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen covers central New Jersey with refugee resettlement, immigration legal services, emergency food assistance, housing programs, and counseling. New Jersey is one of the primary refugee resettlement states in the country — its location near New York City, strong immigrant communities, and active advocacy organizations make it a destination for families arriving from Afghanistan, Central America, sub-Saharan Africa, Ukraine, and elsewhere. Catholic Charities handles the complex administrative and social support work of resettlement for families in central NJ.

New Jersey has six Catholic Charities dioceses — Newark, Paterson, Metuchen, Trenton, Camden, and the Archdiocese of Newark — each covering different counties. Together they form the most comprehensive statewide human services Catholic network in the Mid-Atlantic region. Immigration legal services across all dioceses cover DACA renewals, family petitions, naturalization, and asylum cases for a large and diverse immigrant population. Services are available to people of all faiths.

The Salvation Army operates across New Jersey — Newark, Trenton, Camden, Paterson, Atlantic City, Asbury Park, and many other communities. Programs include emergency food, rent and utility assistance, overnight shelter, after-school programs, and disaster canteens. In New Jersey's urban cores — Newark, Camden, Trenton — the Salvation Army's shelter and food programs are among the most significant emergency safety nets available. Atlantic City's Salvation Army serves a population significantly affected by the volatile casino industry workforce, with high rates of poverty despite the city's gambling revenues.

Red Kettle campaign runs November through Christmas in NJ malls, transit stations, and busy commercial corridors. Thrift stores accept goods year-round. Emergency assistance is available at local corps statewide — call before visiting to confirm current program availability.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties serves the urban core of northeastern New Jersey — Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, and surrounding communities. These three counties contain some of New Jersey's most economically distressed communities alongside significant wealth, and the educational outcome gaps are severe. Newark's school system has long faced challenges that go beyond what schools alone can address. BBBS matches children ages 6–18 with adult mentors for at least a year of regular contact, providing the stable adult relationship that research consistently links to better outcomes.

Community-based mentoring requires meeting 2–4 times per month for at least a year. School-based mentoring runs weekly. New Jersey has BBBS affiliates covering different regions of the state. Demand for mentors in urban NJ chapters consistently exceeds available volunteers — particularly important given the density of need in Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties.