5 under-the-radar causes, projects, and organizations where just $20 can make a real difference

• Even if you only have $20 or less to give, charities like the ones listed below appreciate your support this holiday season.
• Help Transanta give gifts to transgender youth who don’t have support from their family and community.
• Help Jesús Morales raise funds for street vendors in LA by donating as little as 50 cents at a time.
• Read more stories from Personal Finance Insider.

With last-minute Christmas shopping and big meals to prepare, you may only have $5, $10, or $20 to spare for end-of-year charitable giving. You may think to yourself, “What’s the point? There’s not much an organization can do with $5.” But that’s actually not true.

No matter how little you can give, every dollar and penny adds up. For example, 25-year-old TikTok influencer Jesús Morales raised $160,000 in cash to donate to street vendors in Los Angeles, starting with donations as little as 50 cents at a time from his 1.5 million followers.

Additionally, in a world where Amazon drivers are told to keep working during a tornado, you can give a glimmer of holiday cheer to organizations that prioritize purpose and goodwill over money.

Here are five organizations that can use your support, where $20 or less can go a long way.

1. Transanta

Founded by actress Indiya Moore, designer Kyle Lasky, and lawyer Chase Strangio, Transanta is a mutual aid social media campaign that allows donors to purchase gifts personally selected by transgender youth, who are more likely to face financial instability because their families do not support them.

Through Transanta, trans youth select gender-affirming clothes, makeup, electronics, home goods, and toys that donors can send directly. The platform ensures that the donor’s payment information and the recipient’s address are private, making the process safe for both parties.

You can also donate to their fiscal sponsor, Allies in Arts. Transanta will gather all cash donations to buy any gift requests that weren’t filled before Christmas.

2. Unique Women’s Coalition

According to the National Women’s Law Center, transgender people face incredibly high rates of poverty, with Black, Indigenous and People of Color more heavily affected. Additionally, one in five transgender people are discriminated against when applying for housing, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.

The Unique Women’s Coalition supports the Black trans community in Los Angeles by providing mentroship, scholarship opportunities, housing support, and more.

Donate to The Unique Women’s Coalition on their website. If you’re a landlord who would like to make your listings available to the transgender community, consider filling out this form.

3. The Free Black Woman’s Library

The Free Black Women’s Library is a social project that celebrates the work of Black Women writers like Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, and bell hooks.

Founder OlaRonke Akinmowo plans on launching a Reading Room in Bedford Stuvesant, Brooklyn where people can access her collection of 4,000 books written by Black women. Akinmowo also plans on launching a Bookmobile that can host performances and events for people of color in Brooklyn.

Donate to The Free Black Women’s Library’s GoFundMe page, support them with monthly donations on Patreon, and follow them on Instagram (@thefreeblackwomenslibrary) for more updates.

4. Support street vendors with Jesús Morales

Many street vendors are undocumented immigrants who did not qualify for government pandemic relief programs. With decreased foot traffic over the last few years, street vendors struggled to keep up with the downturn in the economy.

Morales (@juixxe on TikTok) is giving street vendors hope in the form of $1,000 cash gifts, using donations he gathers from his followers. When he first started raising money for street vendors, he challenged his followers to donate anything they can, even as little as 50 cents. Now that he’s built a larger following, Morales has attracted sponsors that will match or add to his followers’ donations.

Send your donations via Venmo (@juixxe) or CashApp ($JUIXXE).

5. ARD

ARD, which stands for Anti-Racism Daily, is a platform to explain and amplify causes and issues standing in the way of anti-racism. Along with a daily email — recent topics include global vaccine inequity, looted artifacts, and food insecurity — ARD also offers a podcast. It is reader-supported by a community of 250,000 subscribers and accepts donations of any size, and the team is currently working on raising $25,000 for the new year.

Note that donations to ARD aren’t tax-deductible, but you can make a tax-deductible donation of any size to its fiscal sponsor, Creative Visions.