Helping Our Neighbors In Need

We proudly celebrate 100 years of helping our neighbors in need. It could be a parent struggling to feed their children, a senior choosing between rent and medication, or someone trying to rebuild their life after a crisis. Whatever the case, our employees, volunteers, and members provide help with respect and compassion. 

When you can't breathe, nothing else matters.®

The American Lung Association is working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy, and research. They are focused on four strategic imperatives: defeat lung cancer; clean air for all; improve quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and create a tobacco-free future.

Every cancer. Every life.

Coaches vs. Cancer brings the power of basketball and community together to slam dunk cancer and other childhood illness. This nationwide initiative, a team effort between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, rallies coaches and fans to raise awareness, advocate for healthy living, and fund the fight against cancer.

Strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter.

Habitat for Humanity partners with low-income families to help them build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage to achieve the strength, stability, and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and for their families.

Inspiring Hope. Funding Research.

Czar’s Promise is on a mission to support companion animals in their cancer journey, while funding companion animal and pediatric cancer research to help find a cure. This non-profit organization provides support for companion animals diagnosed with cancer, and grant funding for canine and pediatric cancer research within Madison, WI and surrounding communities.

Changing the lives of young people.

Junior Achievement believes in "possible." Each day, they work to help young people discover what's possible in their lives by helping them connect what they learn in school with life outside the classroom. Junior Achievement supports students by offering lessons in work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.

All children deserve a safe, comfortable place to lay their heads.

With a bed of their own, children can get a good night’s sleep—a chance to dream big and wake up ready to achieve those dreams. Sleep in Heavenly Peace builds and delivers beds to families in need, strengthening communities and bringing hope by lifting one child off the floor at a time.

The Community Meal Program

We have been feeding Madison’s hungry since 1986. Our mission is simple: we feed the hungry, no questions asked. Our guests show up and we feed them. No paperwork, no screening. Just show up and eat.We serve Madison’s hungry year-round, rain or shine. At each meal, we serve between 60 and 120 guests.

Building Better Libraries Every Day

Mobilizing the community to continuously improve, promote, and support the Madison Public Library. Your gifts allow us to take the library beyond city funding to a new level of excellence designed to reach the whole community. A nonprofit organization, the foundation fuels literacy, opportunity, and lifelong learning through equal access to free resources. 

The sustainability organization of Dane County

Sustain Dane is the sustainability organization of Dane County and Madison, WI. We value holistic sustainability – a healthy environment, a just economy, and equity and well-being for all. Our programs connect businesses, organizations, schools, local governments, and individuals to the sustainability movement and provide the support and resources to generate change. 

Community Supported Agriculture 

FairShare's mission is to build resilient food communities by investing in farmers and empowering eaters. We envision thriving farms, vibrant communities, and fresh food for all!​ Our focus throughout our work is to center the well-being of farmers, strengthen equitable, community-based food markets, and act as a collaborative leaders in our food communities. 

Cultivating a Community of Care to Change Lives

United Way of Dane County strives to see the wholeness of problems and rallies the resources that help us create meaningful and effective impact for all. And with our Plan for Community Well-Being and your support, we will transform measurable outcomes into life-changing support for our neighbors.