Charity Finder
Back to guides

Guide to Charity Classifications

We're continuously refining and improving our categories and classifications. Below we have further explained the labels and classifications we use for our charity directory.

Categories

Because of no current official category classification of charities in Hong Kong (beyond what constitutes as "charitable purposes" as specified by the HK Inland Revenue Department – see Appendix 1 in Tax Guide for Charitable Institutions and Trusts of a Public Character), we have proceeded to create our main charity categorization based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities used among others by the IRS in the United States. These are as follows:

Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Charities whose primary purpose is to promote appreciation for and enjoyment and understanding of the visual, performing, folk, and media arts; the humanities (archaeology, art history, modern and classical languages, philosophy, ethics, theology, and comparative religion); history and historical events; and/or communications (film, video, publishing, journalism, radio, television).

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Education
Charities whose primary purpose is education-related.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Environment and Animals
Charities whose primary purpose is to preserve, protect and improve the environment. And private nonprofit organizations whose primary purpose is to provide for the care, protection and control of wildlife and domestic animals that are a part of the living environment; to help people develop an understanding of their pets; and to train animals for purposes of showing.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Health
Charities whose primary purpose falls within the following areas: Health Care, Mental Health & Crisis Intervention, Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines, Medical Research and related private nonprofit organizations.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Human Services
Charities whose primary purpose falls within the following areas: Crime & Legal-Related, Employment, Food, Agriculture & Nutrition, Housing & Shelter, Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness & Relief, Recreation & Sports, Youth Development, and other human services.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

International, Foreign Affairs
Charities whose primary purpose is to provide services or other forms of support to increase mutual understanding across countries, encourage social, economic or political development outside of its jurisdiction, and/or impact national, multilateral or international policies on international issues.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Mutual/Membership Benefit
Charities whose primary purpose is membership benefit-related.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Public, Societal Benefit
Charities whose primary purpose falls within the following areas: Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy, Community Improvement & Capacity Building, Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations, Science & Technology, Social Science and other related public & societal benefit organizations.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Religion-Related
Charities whose primary purpose is religion-related.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

Unknown/Unclassified
If unsure, or unable, to identify other relevant categories, this is selected.

See all listed charities in this category in the charity directory

In the future, we may further implement sub-classifications to these categories, such as utilized in the NTEE-CC classification system.

Target Beneficiaries

Our target beneficiary list is work-in-progress and may be further expanded with additional labels. Should you have feedback on what you think should be added to this list, please do not hesitate to contact us.

  • Youth (age between 15-24)
  • Women
  • Those Under the Poverty Line
  • Sexual Minorities
  • Refugees
  • Physically Disabled
  • Other Chronic Illnesses
  • Other (for whenever any other target beneficiaries are not applicable)
  • Nature and Environment
  • Migrant Workers
  • Mental Disorder
  • Men
  • Homeless
  • Ethnic Minorities
  • Elderly
  • Children (persons under the age of 14)

Sustainable Development Goals

These goals refer to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. You can also learn more about these goals here.

Last updated February 28, 2026.