Organizations
The Long Island nonprofits and mission-driven organizations making good things happen.
Bayard Cutting Arboretum
The Bayard Cutting Arboretum is a New York State park that was donated to the Long Island State Park Region by Mrs. William Bayard Cutting and her daughter, Mrs. Olivia James, in memory of her husband, William Bayard Cutting. The intent of the donation was “to provide an oasis of beauty and quiet for the pleasure, rest and refreshment of those who delight in outdoor beauty; and to bring about a greater appreciation and understanding of the value and importance of informal planting.” We are an arboretum; think of us as a “museum of trees”, not a park. VIEW POSTS>
The Caumsett Foundation
The Caumsett Foundation is a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit founded in 1995 to support and enhance Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve — a 1,500-acre historic estate on Lloyd Neck on Long Island's North Shore. One of the most ecologically and historically significant properties in New York State, Caumsett encompasses forests, meadows, wetlands, and shoreline. The Foundation is dedicated to education, low-impact recreation, historic and environmental preservation, and conservation of the scenic value, natural heritage, and cultural history of the site. Working closely with New York State Parks and the local community, the Foundation funds landscape conservation, building preservation, environmental restoration, and a robust calendar of public programs. VIEW POSTS>
Cinema Arts Centre
The Cinema Arts Centre (CAC) is Long Island's premier nonprofit cinema — a 501(c)3 community institution founded in 1973 by Vic Skolnick, Charlotte Sky, and Dylan Skolnick. What began as films projected onto a bedsheet in a dance studio, with attendees bringing their own chairs and passing a hat for next week's film, has grown into a cultural cornerstone welcoming over 150,000 visitors annually to its three-theater facility in Huntington. For over 50 years, CAC has used the power of film to expand awareness, spark dialogue, and build community on Long Island. Programming spans independent and international cinema, restored classics, adventurous new works, monthly film series, filmmaker Q&As, youth programming, and community events — all in service of a mission to bring the best in cinematic artistry to Long Island and use film as a force for social good. With over 500 annual special events and 10,000+ members, CAC is one of the most supported independent cinemas in the country. If you believe in the power of film to change how we see the world, this is your home on Long Island. VIEW POSTS>
Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt (FLPG)
Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt (FLPG) is an all-volunteer organization that is dedicated to the preservation, stewardship, and public appreciation of the Long Pond Greenbelt. A unique preserve featuring coastal plain ponds, freshwater swamps, wetlands, and woodlands, the Greenbelt stretches across the South Fork from Otter Pond in Sag Harbor to Sagaponack Pond in Sagaponack. Established in 1997, Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. VIEW POSTS>
Heckscher Museum of Art
The Heckscher Museum of Art, located in Huntington, NY, creates opportunities for everyone to experience art that broadens our understanding of the past, fosters community connections to our present, and creates diverse possibilities for our future. The Heckscher Museum was founded in 1920 by Anna and August Heckscher who donated the Museum building and 185 works of art to the Heckscher Trust, a non-profit foundation they created to benefit the citizens of Huntington. VIEW POSTS>
Island Harvest
Island Harvest Food Bank has served Long Island for over 30 years, helping thousands of families, seniors, and veterans every week. Our mission: end hunger and reduce food waste right here at home. Island Harvest takes a comprehensive approach to hunger relief rescuing and distributing food, strengthening families through nutrition education, workforce training, and specialized programs for children, seniors, and veterans, and driving systemic change through advocacy for long-term hunger solutions. Through an extensive network of food pantries, soup kitchens, and direct service programs, we reach thousands of people each week – from hardworking parents to children, seniors, and veterans across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. VIEW POSTS>
Long Beach Clean Up
Cleaning Our Beaches. Building A Movement. MAKING WAVES FOR OUR COMMUNITY We are a nonprofit volunteer driven organization dedicated to protecting our coastline and the life it supports. Coming together to remove hundreds of pounds of trash from our shoreline. Turning community action into visible impact. Hosting a weekly beach cleanup we bring together locals, families and volunteers like you to raise awareness about the impact of pollution. One mission, cleaner beaches for everyone.
Long Island Cares
Long Island Cares – The Harry Chapin Food Bank has been on a mission to feed Long Islanders facing food insecurity and address its root causes since our founding by the late Harry Chapin in 1980. Our Mission & Vision is to bring together all available resources for the benefit of the hungry and food insecure on Long Island and, to the best of our ability, provide for the humanitarian needs of our community. Our goals are to improve food security for families, sponsor programs that help families achieve self-sufficiency, and educate the public about the root causes and consequences of hunger on Long Island. VIEW POSTS>
Long Island Children's Museum
Long Island Children’s Museum is a not-for-profit learning space devoted to the busy work of play. Our exhibits, programs and performances fuel creativity and collaboration to inspire millions of aha moments. At the Museum, children master skills and uncover passions that will stay with them throughout their lives. The future is always present here! VIEW POSTS>
Long Island Conservation Alliance
The Long Island Conservancy is powered by a passionate team of environmental experts, civic leaders, and community advocates who share one goal: restoring Long Island’s natural landscapes. Working every day to restore Long Island’s ecosystems, plant native, remove the invasive, and conserve our lands. VIEW POSTS>
Long Island Museum
The Long Island Museum is an AAM-accredited museum complex in Stony Brook, NY, preserving and interpreting Long Island's art, history, and culture across three museums on one campus — the Art Museum, History Museum, and Carriage Museum. Home to 40,000+ objects spanning 500+ years, with year-round exhibitions, adult and family programs, concerts, film screenings, and community events. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of the North Shore's most distinctive cultural destinations. VIEW POSTS>
Long Island Pine Barrens Society
The Long Island Pine Barrens Society is a nonprofit education and advocacy organization founded in 1977, dedicated to protecting the Long Island Central Pine Barrens as open space and raising awareness of the issues facing Long Island's water quality. Best known for the political campaign that led to the Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993 — permanently preserving over 100,000 acres of Suffolk County land — the Society has been one of Long Island's most effective champions of natural resource preservation for nearly five decades. The Pine Barrens Society involves the public through lectures, hikes, contests, and special programs, and produces a monthly television program covering current environmental topics. Their advocacy has secured nearly $500 million in state, county, and local funding to purchase Pine Barrens land, protecting Long Island's drinking water and preserving irreplaceable habitat for generations to come. VIEW POSTS>
The Nature Conservancy (LI)
The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive. Founded in the U.S. through grassroots action in 1951, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has grown to become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than a million members and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and over 1,000 scientists, we impact conservation in 83 countries and territories: 39 by direct conservation impact and 44 through partners. Our Mission: To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. Together, We Find A Way: We must boldly address the biodiversity and climate crises. We're overcoming barriers to the change our planet needs. VIEW POSTS>
North Shore Animal League America
North Shore Animal League America is the world's largest and longest-running no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization. Since 1944, NSALA has saved over 1.2 million defenseless dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens — and counting. Based in Port Washington, NY, NSALA pioneered no-kill animal rescue decades before it became a movement, and has spent more than 80 years proving that every animal deserves a second chance. Their campus includes a full-service adoption center, the Alex Lewyt Veterinary Medical Center, a rescue transport operation, a foster care program, community outreach, and the Mutt-i-grees Curriculum — a nationally recognized humane education program for PreK-12 students built on the human-animal bond. NSALA's mission is simple and relentless: Rescue. Nurture. Adopt. Educate. They place nearly 18,000 pets annually into responsible, loving homes and assist thousands more through a global network of shelter partners spanning 44 states and 16 countries. A 4-star Charity Navigator organization and Candid Platinum-rated charity, North Shore Animal League America is one of Long Island's most trusted and impactful nonprofits — and one of the great animal welfare institutions in the world. VIEW POSTS>
North Shore Land Alliance
Founded in 2003, North Shore Land Alliance is an accredited Land Trust that has been instrumental in working together with land owners, municipalities and government agencies to protect 1,500 acres of conservation-worthy lands on Long Island, including the facilitation of 600 acres of local government acquisitions. The organization holds 27 conservation easements on public and private land, owns and manages 16 preserves and maintains an additional 132 acres of forest, meadows, wetlands, trails and a community garden. The Land Alliance is dedicated to educating the community about the importance of protecting land and water resources and biodiversity and how conserving land can mitigate and abate the harmful impacts of climate change. VIEW POSTS>
Peconic Land Trust
The Peconic Land Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was established in 1983 by John v.H. Halsey and a small group of local residents to ensure the protection of Long Island’s working farms, natural lands, and heritage. Since 1983, the Trust has worked diligently with landowners, communities, municipalities, and partner organizations to protect nearly 14,000 acres of land, conserving more working farms on Long Island than any other private conservation organization, and securing millions of dollars from the public and private sector for land protection. VIEW POSTS>
Planting Fields Foundation
Through a balanced approach to preserving and creating, the Foundation stewards the built and natural environment of Planting Fields as a public center of learning and life. Planting Fields is a dynamic and vibrant site that features numerous historic structures, Olmsted Brothers-designed landscapes, and world class art and horticultural collections. As a former Gold Coast estate, it is preserved today as a celebration of art, architecture, landscape, and the people that resided on its land. Located in Oyster Bay, New York, the name “Planting Fields” referenced the fertility of the land and its rich agricultural value originally for the Matinecock People and later for Dutch and English colonists. VIEW POSTS>
ReWild Long Island
ReWild Long Island is a volunteer-led nonprofit with six regional chapters spanning Queens to Montauk, bringing communities together to protect and improve Long Island's biodiversity through native plant gardening, composting, and habitat restoration. Founded in 2018, ReWild believes that every yard, garden, and public space is an opportunity to support the insects, birds, bees, and butterflies that native plants have co-evolved with for thousands of years. Through community gardens, weekly volunteer workdays, native plant sales, library talks, and hands-on programs for all ages, ReWild is turning Long Island's lawns into thriving micro-habitats — one pollinator patch at a time. Their community gardens program supports 74 native plant gardens across Long Island, and their organic produce is donated to local food pantries — completing the cycle of sustainability. Whether you have five minutes or five hours, ReWild has a way to get you involved in making Long Island greener, wilder, and more alive. VIEW POSTS>
Sands Point Preserve Conservancy
The Sands Point Preserve Conservancy secures a vibrant future for the Guggenheim Estate's mansions and natural environments on Long Island's Gold Coast. The Conservancy enhances and promotes the 216-acre Sands Point Preserve as an accessible community resource, offering four seasons of cultural, educational, horticultural, and wellness programming and immersion into the restorative power of nature. VIEW POSTS>
Save the Sound
Save the Sound leads environmental action across the Long Island Sound region — fighting climate change, saving endangered lands, protecting the Sound and its rivers, and working with nature to restore ecosystems. For more than 40 years, their team of lawyers, scientists, engineers, and advocates has been one of the most effective environmental forces in the Northeast. What makes Save the Sound unique is the breadth of their toolkit: legislative advocacy, environmental law, hands-on restoration, community science, and grassroots organizing — all deployed together toward a healthier Sound. Their work spans the full region, from Connecticut's inland watersheds to Long Island's North and South shores, protecting the clean water, open lands, and coastal ecosystems that define life here. From grading beach water quality at 200+ Sound-area beaches to removing dams that block migratory fish, to organizing cleanups and planting living shorelines — Save the Sound turns science and community into action that lasts. VIEW POSTS>
Seatuck
Seatuck Environmental Association is dedicated to conserving Long Island wildlife and the environment. The organization pursues its mission by advocating for wildlife and advancing conservation projects, engaging community scientists in wildlife research, and offering high-quality environmental education opportunities for Long Islanders of all ages. VIEW POSTS>
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University is New York's flagship and the #1 public university in the state. Part of the SUNY system, Stony Brook is an internationally recognized research institution offering world-class education, cutting-edge research, and one of the region's leading university hospital systems. As Long Island's largest single-site employer, Stony Brook supports more than 15,000 full- and part-time jobs and contributes billions annually to the regional economy. From research laboratories and clinical care to arts, athletics, and community engagement, the university's mission spans education, innovation, healthcare, and public service — all on Long Island. VIEW POSTS>
Sweetbriar Nature Center
Sweetbriar Nature Center is a private not-for-profit, 501c3, corporation which exists to provide natural science education services for Long Island residents of all ages and to engage in native wildlife rehabilitation services. Through education and examples, ECSS encourages responsible decision making, appreciation, and respect for the unique wildlife and ecosystems found on Long Island. A 54-acre wildlife rehabilitation center and nature preserve on the Nissequogue River in Smithtown, NY. Home to resident wildlife ambassadors, a butterfly house, and year-round programs for children, families, and adults.
United Way of Long Island
United Way of Long Island advances the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all — focusing on three key building blocks: education, health, and financial stability. For over six decades, United Way has been at the forefront of driving meaningful change, empowering families, and strengthening communities across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. With deep local roots, United Way of Long Island mobilizes communities to action so all can thrive. Through programs spanning youth education, workforce development, military family support, clean energy training, and a 211 helpline connecting Long Islanders to essential services, United Way touches every corner of the Island — and every stage of life. Donations made on Long Island stay on Long Island. United Way of Long Island holds a 4-star (highest) rating from Charity Navigator and is a Candid Platinum-rated charity, meeting all BBB Standards for Charity Accountability. VIEW POSTS>
Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum & Reichert Planetarium is one of Long Island's most extraordinary cultural destinations — a unique combination of historic mansion, marine and natural history museum, planetarium, and 43-acre waterfront park in Centerport, NY. Built as the summer estate of William K. Vanderbilt II between the 1900s and 1930s, Eagle's Nest is a stunning Spanish Revival mansion overlooking Northport Bay. In 1947, Vanderbilt bequeathed the estate to Suffolk County, and it opened to the public in 1950 as one of the region's first public museums. Today it serves more than 25,000 students annually and welcomes visitors year-round for planetarium shows, mansion tours, Shakespeare in the courtyard, laser light shows, science programs, and community events. The Vanderbilt is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and proudly participating in the America 250 celebration of the nation's semiquincentennial. VIEW POSTS>
The Whaling Museum
The Whaling Museum & Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor brings communities together to cultivate knowledge and celebrate creativity through the arts, science, and history of Long Island's whaling heritage — the region's biggest story. Founded in 1936, the museum is home to 6,000 artifacts documenting Cold Spring Harbor's storied role as one of three whaling ports on Long Island. Its crown jewel is the only fully-equipped historic whaleboat with its original gear on display in New York, alongside one of the finest scrimshaw collections in the Northeast. Long Island's whaling industry shaped the economic and social foundation of the region and helped establish America as a 19th-century maritime power — and this museum keeps that story alive. Today the museum serves more than 20,000 Long Islanders each year through changing exhibitions, school programs, family events, scout programs, summer camp, and community outreach reaching 4,100 children and teens annually. It is among the 4% of museums nationwide accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Open Thursday through Sunday, 11am–4pm, at 301 Main Street in Cold Spring Harbor. VIEW POSTS>
Wildlife Center of Long Island
Wildlife Center of Long Island (formerly Volunteers for Wildlife) is a 501(c)3 Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center founded in 1982 in Huntington, NY, dedicated to the preservation of Long Island's wildlife and natural habitats. The Center fields over 10,000 hotline calls and admits more than 2,000 injured and orphaned wild animals annually, drawing from Queens, Nassau, and Western Suffolk counties. Alongside its rescue and rehabilitation work, the Center runs education programs for children and adults, cares for 20+ non-releasable animal ambassadors, and offers hands-on volunteer roles in rescue & transport, education, and hotline/office support. VIEW POSTS>
