Your main goal: make it easy on people who want to get involved by providing them with information about where they can go to help out, whether through donating time, clothing, money, or another resource.
Another goal: find someone to interview for your project—learn more about your topic by speaking with someone who works “in the field.” You will learn a lot, and it will make your presentation stronger. Conduct the interview in person or over Zoom or another website platform.
Why do you need to find these organizations? If you are going to advocate for your issue, if you’re going to convince others to help out, you need to make it easy for them to get involved.
Here are some ways that you can find the helpers of your topic:
Search for key words on the Internet. If your topic is homelessness, enter the key words “homeless shelter” along with the name of your town, or “organizations that help the homeless” and the name of your town.
Use your contacts: ask any adults you know—parents, older siblings, guardians, teachers, coaches, religious leaders, friends’ parents—if they know of anyone who works on your issue that you can speak with.
Towns usually have websites with information about local services. Look for your town’s website and search for services, or social services.
Local newspapers or magazines (online or paper) will likely have articles or advertisements for organizations working on local community issues.
Identify organizations that clearly describe what they do and who to contact. How will you know? Simple: When you read through their website you will have a clear picture of
what they do to help (example: offer housing for 10 homeless people each evening)
how they do it (example: through volunteers, staff, donations, accepting clothing and other donations)
who you can contact to learn more (example: the person who runs the volunteer program, or maybe there is only one or two people running the organization)
Choose 2-3 organizations doing great work. Include them in your presentation, and briefly describe how they are helping to address the problem. Don’t forget to include contact information; make it easy for them to get involved!