Micro Budget = Major Impact: Highlighting Local Nonprofits for Give STL Day 2026
Give STL Day is the St. Louis Community Foundation’s annual 24-hour signature community giving event, raising money and awareness for over one thousand local nonprofits serving the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan area year after year.
We are just three weeks away from Give STL Day 2026! We recently wrote a blog post highlighting a few “Mini, but Mighty” nonprofits in the St. Louis region. Check out our most recent blog here.
Today, we want to showcase a few of the nonprofits in the region who are operating with a “Micro” budget of $50,001 – $250,000 and creating “Major” impact. The following organizations are some of the “Micro” organizations operating locally.
Founded in 2022, the TechArtista Foundation creates space for St. Louis artists and entrepreneurs by providing resources and cultivating a community that enriches our region’s cultural and economic landscape.
As a nonprofit grassroots organization based in St. Louis, Missouri, the TechArtista Foundation hosts four programs – one of which is STL Startup Week, expressed as “region’s premier event series designed by and for the local entrepreneurial community” through week-long programming featuring inspiring talks, hands-on workshosp, dynamic panel discussions, pitch competitions, and more. Moreover, the TechArtista Foundation offer a Fiscal Sponsorship Program to creatives, entrepreneurs, community builders, and emerging arts/entrepreneurship in addition to its Artist in Residence Program which has supported local St. Louis artists such as Jayvn Solomon, Lu Ray Waldemer, Macarena Sotelo Bieg, Edo Rosenblith, and Damon Davis’ “FarFetched.”
The Foundation recently announced its Inaugural Cohort in March for its newest program LaunchPad 725, “a new accelerator program built to support early-stage entrepreneurs here in St. Louis” from a grant received from the St. Louis County Port Authority. The accelerator aims to help entrepreneurs in a way that strengthens their own financial futures and the broader St. Louis ecosystem.
Learn more about the Inaugural LaunchPad 725 cohort, and the work of the TechArtista Foundation by visiting their website here.
“Helping families cope with the unthinkable” is a critical part of the mission of the Michael Brown Sr Chosen for Change Organization.
After the devastating murder of Michael “Mike” Brown Jr., to police brutality on August 9th, 2014, Michael Brown, Sr. decided to turn his pain into purpose by creating the “Chosen for Change Foundation” in loving memory of his son. With the unwavering support of Michael Brown Sr.’s wife Cal Brown, they have been able to provide community support, outreach programs, activities, and events that are responsive, reflective, and holistic for families affected by, or at risk of becoming and/or experiencing grief resulting from the loss of a child due to a tragic unforeseen circumstance. The program offerings include, “Sisters with a Task (S.W.A.T.)”, “Mother’s of An Angel”, “Chosen Fathers”, “Cookies N Convos”, and “1st 48 Responders.”
The first cohort of the organization’s newest program – C.O.P.E.S. – was scheduled to launch on January 3rd of this year, as reported by St. Louis Public Radio. C.O.P.E.S. “Children Overcoming Painful Experiences with Support,” was born from Cal Brown’s experience watching her children navigate grief, loss, and trauma after the loss of their brother in 2014. Cal Brown created the program to ensure other kids would have a safe space to cope, heal, and reinvent themselves.
Learn more about Michael Brown Sr., Cal Brown, and the work of the Michael Brown Sr. Chosen for Change Organization by visiting their website here.
Forai’s origins began around Jennifer Owens’ kitchen table on Thanksgiving in 2008.
In 2008 the United Nations stepped in and began the process of granting asylum and resettlement to the Nepali-Bhutanese, and two refugee families broke bread with Jennifer Owens soon after. After hearing their story, Owens’ couldn’t stop thinking about them. By October of 2009 Forai held its first gathering of American volunteers and women from Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Togo, and Kenya. By 2017 Forai incorporated as a nonprofit, received their 501(c)3 status, launched an online store, and moved into a permanent workshop/office space on the campus of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Forai, Inc., “is a faith-based, Christian 501(c)3 organization partnering with local refugee and immigrant women to enable the realization of economic, educational, and social goals through training and peer support, and by expanding market opportunities for artisans.” Forai’s name itself stands for “Friends of Refugees and Immigrants” and each year the organization works alongside 8-12 refugee and immigrant women on the artisan/artisan-admin team and 20-30 women who take part in community sewing classes.
As of June 2025, what began at the kitchen table has bloomed into a Kirkwood storefront, as reported by St. Louis Magazine. Each purchase of jewelry contributes to fair wages for the women, and ongoing opportunities for empowerment – which is one of Forai’s three core values, alongside dignity and community, values they’ve held since 2009.
Learn more about Forai’s jewelry, mission, vision, and impact by visiting their website here.
Find More Organizations
Give STL Day’s website hosts a directory of nonprofits in the Greater St. Louis region who have registered for the philanthropic day of giving. If you’re curious about the plethora of “Micro yet Major” nonprofits in the area, visit the website at www.givestlday.org.
This Give STL Day, consider donating to support the micro nonprofits cultivating major change. Early giving starts April 22nd, 2026 and Give STL Day starts at midnight on May 7th, 2026.