Alongside backing entrepreneurs, there's a second way to help: charitable giving to vetted humanitarian and faith-based nonprofits that reach vulnerable Cubans directly — the elderly, children, the sick and disabled, and families hit by disaster. OFAC authorizes donative remittances and donations to religious and charitable organizations in Cuba (§515.570). The trusted channel is the Church and independent charities — never the regime, the military, or GAESA.
These groups are already on the ground. A donation today buys food, medicine, and hope for the Cubans who need it most.
In May 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the United States is ready to provide $100 million in direct assistance to the Cuban people — on the condition that it is distributed by the Catholic Church or other trusted charitable groups, not the Cuban government or its military. Earlier, after Hurricane Melissa, the State Department worked “in close partnership with the Catholic Church,” with Catholic Relief Services delivering U.S.-funded emergency supplies to Cuban families.
The policy logic is the same one this Atlas is built on: route support around the state, straight to the Cuban people. The nonprofits below are the channels that do exactly that.
Hand-verified nonprofits reaching the Cuban people through independent faith communities and civil society — Catholic, evangelical, Jewish, and Anabaptist — and never the Cuban state. Donate on each organization's own site — no card details touch this page.
The U.S. donation vehicle for Caritas Cuba — a committee of Catholic Charities of Boston since 1999, incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2005. Funds reach the elderly, children at risk, and people with disabilities on the island. The cleanest U.S.-tax-deductible path to Caritas Cuba's work.
The Catholic Church's humanitarian network inside Cuba — the largest independent NGO on the island, operating across all 11 dioceses with ~40 staff and some 12,000 volunteers. Serves the most vulnerable: the elderly, sick, disabled, and disaster victims. This is the on-the-ground partner the U.S. has named as a trusted distributor.
The official overseas relief arm of the U.S. Catholic bishops. CRS partners with Caritas Cuba to strengthen its capacity and delivered emergency food, hygiene, and water-treatment kits after Hurricane Melissa — the network that carried U.S.-funded storm aid to Cuban families.
The national network of U.S. Catholic Charities agencies. Partnered on the delivery of critical relief to storm-ravaged Cuba, working through diocesan and Church channels to reach families directly.
A Miami-based faith organization delivering humanitarian aid and supporting independent civil society across Cuba — one of the Protestant and evangelical networks (alongside the Catholic Church) that maintain extensive reach on the island.
Since 1995, B'nai B'rith has kept the pharmacy at Havana's Patronato synagogue stocked with medicine and supplies — distributed to Jewish families across the island by the community itself, not the state. A direct channel to one of Cuba's oldest minority communities.
The Anabaptist relief agency sends food, canned meat, and hygiene kits to Cuba through the independent Brethren in Christ Church, whose congregations distribute locally — church to neighbor, never through the government. (MCC restricts online gifts earmarked for Cuba; give to its general relief or contact them to direct support.)
The Salvation Army runs 22 corps (churches) across Cuba — plus a seniors' home and an addiction-recovery program — staffed by Cuban officers. Its U.S. World Service Office (SAWSO), an independent 501(c)(3), funds that church-based work directly.
Two nonprofits focused on Cuban entrepreneurship are profiled in the Ecosystem directory:
Give — tax-deductible charitable donations to the humanitarian nonprofits above. Support — OFAC-authorized remittances to licensed private-sector entrepreneurs via QvaPay. Both route around the state; neither takes equity.
We are not affiliated with the organizations listed and receive nothing from linking to them. Listings are informational; verify each nonprofit's current programs, charitable status, and OFAC compliance before giving. This is not legal, tax, or investment advice.