On this thirteenth annual #GivingTuesday (created in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y), consider donating to a theater company or theater organization in New York City.

Below, a sample, listed alphabetically, of 25 New York theaters and theater companies, with links to their home page or donate page. Beneath that, a list of 10 charitable, service, advocacy and educational theater organizations based in New York. These are all non-profits. Donations to them are tax deductible.

All of the theaters I’ve listed have done work I consider worthwhile; they have made me feel welcome; and Charity Navigator has given its highest rating (four stars) to each of them, which means they fulfilled at least ninety percent of the criteria for accountability, transparency, financial health, impact and results. (It need be said that some theaters and theater organizations are too new, or too small, for Charity Navigator to rate them: “The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.”) Also: None of the theaters on the list are losing money while paying their artistic director close to a million dollars.

The theaters below are only a sample. There are many more in need of support; perhaps you have a favorite?

I encourage you to look up any individual charities to which you’re thinking of donating on the Charity Navigator site, even those listed here. Some of the information available, such as “salary of key persons,” is eye-opening and might help you determine which to support. Another great resource: ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer

Apollo Theater
Ars Nova
BAM
Bedlam
Classical Theatre of Harlem
Elevator Repair Service
En Garde Arts
Ensemble Studio Theatre
HERE Arts Center
Irondale Ensemble
La MaMa ETC
Manhattan Theatre Club
Ma-Yi Theater Company
Mint Theater Company
New York City Center
Pan Asian Repertory
Park Avenue Armory
People’s Theater Project
Playwrights Horizons
Signature Theater Company
Tectonic Theater
Theater Mitu
Theatre for a New Audience
Vineyard Theatre
Waterwell

Theater Service/Education/Advocacy Organizations

Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York
American Theatre Wing, creators of the Tonys
Broadway Advocacy Coalition, “founded in 2016 by members of the Broadway community as a direct response to the nation’s pandemic of racism and police brutality”
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Dramatists Guild Foundation
Entertainment Community Fund (formerly the Actors Fund)
The Lilly Awards – developing and celebrating women artist
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
Theatre Communications Group, NY , NY-based national organization of American theaters, publishers of dramatic literature and American Theatre Magazine
The 52nd Street Project, theater artists mentor young people (ages 9 – 18) who live in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood