Five great charitable donations related to sustainable coffee

Looking for a holiday gift idea related to sustainable coffee? Here are my five top picks of where to direct your charitable giving. These organizations either directly help coffee farmers or their communities, or support bird research in coffee growing areas. Happy holidays.

1. Coffee Kids — International non-profit organization established to improve the quality of life for children and families who live in coffee-growing communities. Now operating under a larger foundation.
2. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center — Establishing criteria and certifying Bird-Friendly coffee is not the only function of the SMBC. They have many other very important and worthwhile research projects. The donation form directs funds to the parent organization, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
3. MoSI — Sponsor a bird banding station in the tropics. The Institute of Bird Populations (IBP) coordinates a series of bird research stations across the American tropics, many of which are on or near coffee farms. They provide absolutely vital information on how birds use these habitats in areas where this kind of research is still uncommon and underfunded. MoSi comes from the Spanish “Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal” or Monitoring Overwintering Survival. You can support the research either by joining IBP at various membership levels, or adopt an entire station for only $300.
4. TechnoServe — This organization helps people in developing countries launch and build businesses that create income, opportunity, and economic growth. They have an entire agriculture sector that has done solid work specifically on coffee projects, often working with farmers and co-ops, in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and other countries.