Mapping the Haitian Diaspora Nonprofit Sector: 5,047 Organizations Across the United States

Centre NGO completed the most thorough mapping of Haitian diaspora nonprofit organizations ever conducted in the United States. Through systematic data collection, hand verification, and cross-checking across multiple databases, we identified 5,047 organizations working on Haiti-related issues or serving Haitian communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Of these organizations, 952 (40%) maintain active, verified websites, a key indicator of organizational capacity and public-facing operations. Collectively, these organizations generate an estimated $350-500 million in annual revenues and sustain approximately 267,184 jobs, including both direct employment and volunteer engagement.

Key Findings

Scale and Distribution

Sectoral Focus

• Education (404 organizations)
• Health (277 organizations)
• Youth Development (215 organizations)
• Environmental Development and Agriculture (145 organizations)
• Economic Development (115 organizations)
• Disaster Response (107 organizations)

Organizational Capacity

The verification process showed marked variations in organizational capacity. While 40% of organizations maintain active websites, a basic indicator of public presence, 60% lack accessible online information, implying possible capacity constraints or purely grassroots operations that function through informal networks and personal relationships rather than digital infrastructure.

Financial data, where available, shows a sector dominated by small to mid-sized organizations. The majority operate on budgets under $500,000 annually, yet collectively their impact is substantial, reaching communities across Haiti and serving diaspora populations throughout the United States.

What’s Inside the Full Report

• Geographic Analysis: State-by-state breakdown of organization distribution, with maps and concentration patterns.
• Sectoral Deep Dives: Comprehensive profiles of organizations working in education, health, youth development, economic development, disaster response, and environmental sustainability
• Financial Analysis: Revenue distribution, asset holdings, and employment impacts based on available IRS 990 data.
• Temporal Trends: Organization founding dates and sector evolution over time, including responses to major events like the 2010 earthquake
• Recommendations: Strategic guidance for funders, policymakers, and sector leaders on strengthening the Haitian diaspora nonprofit ecosystem

How This Research Was Conducted

This study represents months of systematic data collection and verification of data. We started with IRS records of 501(c)(3) organizations whose mission statements or names indicated Haiti focus or Haitian community service. These records were checked against Centre NGO’s existing nonprofit directory, state registers and multiple nonprofit databases.

Each organization’s website was manually verified to confirm active operations, with validation status recorded. Financial data was extracted from the most recent IRS Form 990 filings available. Mission statements, sectoral focus areas, and organizational contact information were systematically documented to create the most comprehensive database of Haitian diaspora nonprofit work to date.

Why This Research Matters

For too long, the Haitian diaspora nonprofit sector has been invisible in aggregate. Individual organizations are known to their immediate communities and donors, but the sector as a whole, its scale, its capacity, its geographic reach, has never been systematically documented. This research changes that.

Funders can now identify potential partners across sectors and geographies. Policymakers can understand the existing infrastructure that serves Haitian communities. Researchers can build on this baseline data to track sector evolution. And Haitian-led organizations themselves can see the ecosystem they’re part of, the collective power of thousands of organizations working toward shared goals of community empowerment and sustainable development.

Download the Full Report