Giving back is a lesson I learned early in life. I grew up with the notion of tithing – even as a little girl I was encouraged to give 10% of my allowance to the church. Beyond that, my parents also made sure I understood the importance of giving what I could to those in need.
This notion has stayed with me throughout my life – and it’s one that shapes our mission here at NICABM.
That’s why in 2023, we gave away $449,700 to organizations making an impact locally, in the US, and around the world.
We did not just give to the biggest names. We carefully selected charities both locally and around the world that align with our values. And I believe in the value of every dollar we gave. Here’s a look at where the money went:
The World – $218,000
Save the Children (Global Hunger Fund) – $58,500
To fund Ukrainian kid’s mental health
The Citizens Foundation – $25,000
Builds gender-equal schools in Pakistan
Innovations for Poverty Action – $20,000
Runs randomized controlled trials to assess interventions to reduce poverty
Evidence Action – $20,000
Scales evidence-based programs to reduce the burden of poverty
CouldYou? Cup – $15,000
Provides menstrual cups for girls in Africa
GiveDirectly – $15,000
Allows donors to send money directly to those in need with no strings attached. All funds will go to recipients in Africa.
Partners in Health – $10,000
Provides high-quality healthcare in some of the world’s poorest places
Doctors Without Borders – $10,000
Provides medical humanitarian assistance to those who need it most
The Baa Foundation – $5,000
Provides free health care and education in developing areas of India
Village Impact – $5,000
Provides educational opportunities for children in rural Kenya
Amnesty International – $10,000
Helps fight abuses of human rights worldwide
American Near East Refugee Aid – $10,000
Helps refugees in Palestine and Lebanon
Camfed – $5,000
Provides educational opportunities for girls in rural areas of Africa
Human Rights Watch – $5,000
Conducts research and advocacy on human rights
World Wildlife Foundation – $2,500
Fights for wilderness preservation
Friends of Ecole Agape – $2,000
Supports the only free girl’s school in Haiti
The United States – $102,600
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIAS) – $10,000
Dedicated to serving immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the United States
Hebrew Immigration and Refugee Service (HAIS) – $10,000
Provides vital services to refugees and asylum seekers around the world
Equal Justice Initiative – $7,500
Provides legal support to the illegally convicted and unfairly sentenced
The Innocence Project – $7,500
Works to free the innocent and prevent wrongful convictions
Exodus Transitional Community – $5,000
Provides support for those in transition from incarceration
Legal Outreach – $8,000
Provides social and academic support to underserved youth in New York
New City Kids – $7,500
Offers after-school programming for low-income youth
Per Scholas – $5,000
Providing skills training and access to employer networks to individuals underrepresented in tech careers
GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders)– $5,000
Ensures fair and inclusive representation for LGBTQ acceptance
Human Rights Campaign – $5,000
Fights for LGBTQ+ rights
The Bowery Mission – $7,500
Serves homeless and hungry New Yorkers
Salvation Army– $3,000
Meets human needs without discrimination
PBS Foundation – $5,000
Uses media programming to educate, inspire, and entertain
RIP Medical Debt – $5,000
Buys medical debt from collections agencies and forgives it
Alzheimer’s Association – $1,000
Provides Alzheimer’s care, support, and research
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – $1,000
Aims to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide
ASPCA – $1,000
Fights to prevent cruelty to animals
Barre Center for Buddhist Studies – $1,000
Offers the integration, study, and practice of Buddhism
Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC – $1,000
Offers meditation programs and sangha gatherings
Mass Eye and Ear Foundation – $1,000
Dedicated to eye and ENT care and research
Michigan State University – $1,000
Supports development at MSU
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)– $1,000
Dedicated to improving lives of those affected by mental illness
Provincetown Art Association and Museum – $1,000
Supports local art and artists
Sierra Club -$1,000
Fights for environmental and social justice
Taylor University – $1,000
Supports development at Taylor
Wikimedia Foundation – $600
Hosts Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, created, edited, and verified by volunteers around the world
Local – $129,100
Covenant Soup Kitchen – $20,000
Provides food and access to basic services in the Windham community
UCONN Foundation – $12,000
Windham No Freeze Shelter – $10,000
Windham Area Interfaith Ministry – $5,500
Holy Family Home & Shelter – $5,000
IRIS of CT (Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services) – $10,000
Manchester Community College Scholarships – $10,000
Scholarships for first generation college students in need
Community Foundation of Eastern CT Scholarships – $10,000
Scholarships for first generation college students in need
Eastern CT State University Scholarships – $10,000
Scholarships for first generation college students in need
Joshua’s Trust – $10,000
Center for Medicare Advocacy – $5,000
Mansfield Downtown Partnership – $5,500
Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network – $6,000
Community Foundation – Windham Women and Girls Fund – $2,000
Willington Dollars for Scholars – $2,000
Mansfield Holiday Fund – $1,500
Storrs Congregational Church food pantry – $1,100
New England Public Media– $1,000
Access Community Action Agency – $1,000
Benton Art Museum – $1,000
Town of Mansfield – Farm to Families Fund – $300
Our Companions Animal Shelter – $500
Lock Haven Foundation – $300
In memory of John Douglas
Total (World, USA, Local) $449,700
Now, I’d like to hear from you. What inspires you to give? I’m always eager to hear how you give back to your community, whether that’s with time, money, or resources. So please, leave a comment below to share the important work you do.
Appreciate your willingness to support other organizations that help others – this is SO different to most human institutions where is it all about promoting themselves and the big profit motive – well done.
I love seeing all this. I support a child “Abigail” through Compassion International. I support the Budapest Garden House, which is a get-away for Global Workers all over Europe. It provides debriefing, counseling, encouragement for global workers and is run by Ministry Essentials, Intl. I contribute blogs for that ministry – anxiety, depression, addiction, suicide ideation hit many of the global workers and their children as they work far from home. This, incidentally, is also how I was born and raised. Giving and grace. Infinitely necessary.
Thank you for sharing your list of charities and organizations you donated to.
My way of giving is by volunteering and sharing my knowledge with an organization in The Netherlands that helps cancer patients and their relatives. I give pro bono training sessions for the employees of the organization and in 2024 I deliver a keynote on Stress and Resilience on their jubilee conference. Besides that I organize days for cancer patients on my sailing yacht.
Michiel (The Netherlands)
Thanks for sharing this, and for the generosity of spirit that motivates such giving! I especially appreciate your transparency about where these gifts are distributed.
I work with some clients at reduced fees and have done some pro bono work when a person is facing extreme need. Also volunteer and donate funds and food to local feeding missions through my church community.
peace and blessings to you 🙏🏼
Bless you for your generous giving to so many wonderful causes! One of the non-profits I like to support is Covenant House, who helps homeless and trafficked youth get off the streets into shelter and into a safer life. They’re all over the U.S. and one is in NYC.
When I was 16 years old and I started an apprentice ship earning a first salary of 540. I gave 30 each month for an organisation wich helps children in poor countries all over the world. Up from then I always let a part of my gain to différent organisations. And I am happy to help the marginals of our society by my profession.
I’m impressed by all of the charities, particularly the variety of groups and projects locally and internationally. I considered volunteering at a women’s refuge but realised with my professional trauma and therapy work, it would be too much. I volunteer at a local zoo that has breeding programs to help endangered animals. I find it incredibly rewarding and soothing, I’m very mindful while I’m there, and the sense of awe I get from interacting with the animals is amazing! I give to a local and international child abuse and animal/environmental charities.
Wow! so impressive, thanks so much and also for your wonderful free conferences throughout the year.
I give back through my spiritual center Unity and also by providing free counseling for people who can’t afford counseling or therapy.
My wife and I follow the same pattern – donations to multiple organizations local, nation wide and international. Not at your level until we win the Lottery. 🙂
Thank you Ruth.
Your giving is making a real difference.
God bless you all
Bob
I like to volounteer in several organisations, giving of my time.
I am very interested in your work.
Have done alot of volunteering and I often have seen the distress people face in life.
Your courses help us all manage problems better.
Thank you.
I am impressed and grateful for all of the places Nicabm gives to very generously, I might say.
I am a member of the Daughters of Charity, we are a worldwide community of women who give themselves to Service of the Poor. We do works w/prison ministry, soup kitchens, the elderly in Education, Healthcare and Social works. Presently, I give my time to taking care of our sick and retired Sisters – ages 70’s to 97years in Albany, NY. I am a nurse and have been able to take advantage of some of your presentations. Thank you for your wonderful work also.
Sister Karen, DC, RN/BSN
Wonderful! God bless you!
Wow there are some great organizations listed here. And I so appreciate your generous donations. Thank you for your good work.
In 2024 I will volunteer with my local NAMI chapter to lead both Peer-to-Peer and Family & Friends seminars on mental illness.
I’m so honored to help my community through volunteer efforts with a local (Idaho) nonprofit, Courageous Survival, an organization focused on helping military/ veterans, first responders, and their families access culturally competent mental health resources, and receive the peer support they seek. It’s an amazing org and I’m always humbled by the effects we can have as we care about others one by one.
Thank you for sharing with us your list of donors – it’s inspiring to me and probably many others here, and gives me some ideas.
A few years ago I became concerned about the disproportional heat suffered by residents in some areas of Philadelphia. I found that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) had recently begun programs planting trees in those neighborhoods, and they have been my prime areas of support. Another one is an organization funding research into the effects of meditation on health and well-being.
Ruth, every Christmas we involve our grandchildren in choosing a special donation. Usually, it has been chickens or a goat through our Church denomination. I work to instill gratitude and giving in our family.
We are excited this year to give to RevelationMedia. They developed iBible Story videos that are translated into many languages. Seeing pictures of children in foreign lands watching the story of Jesus on their cell phone really touches our hearts.
Thank you for letting me in on what NICABM has given. It is inspiring! God bless you all.
Thank you for providing quality, relevant, helpful, life-changing resources and for including all people in the availability of these resources. I have learned MUCH; it has made a difference for those I serve and walk alongside in difficult journeys. It has made a difference in my own healing from Trauma as well. The generosity of this organization speaks to the humility and genuine care of individuals and the world!
Blessings on you Ruth and your nicabm team!
~ Deborah, Canada
Hi Ruth, I also learned to give as a child. I’ve always had a tender heart for others. If I saw a child or a person that didn’t have, I would help in anyway I could. I was raised poor, but my heart was not poor. As a young adult I started a feeding program. That served a hot breakfast every morning to those in need. Started a counseling center for people who could not afford counseling. I’ve always loved to give to the homeless, so I keep shoes and socks and snacks in my car. Or if I am buying myself something I will buy the person a meal also. It warms my heart to get to know them. I give to my church and other outreach programs. Thank you for sharing Ruth.
After having so much pain and loss in my own life, I don’t want anyone to go through the same thing. So my heart is filled with compassion, and I feel what others feels, and want to help them.
A feeling deep in my soul…
Yes to life!
An educational institution that integrates scholarship with social justice and spiritual principles and practices.
A shelter that works to move residents toward permanent housing.
A church home that, in addition to its liturgies, provides help to people just released from prison to adjust to their new life, sponsors immigrant families, etc.
This is so inspiring and I love that I now have a ready made list of worthy organizations to share with those who are oriented in this direction.
Thank You!
Here, here, Claire! I thought the very same thing!
Ruth
Thank you for living your values! Giving away the first 10% helps us remember that money is not an end but a means for doing good. The financial advice I most value is “give 10%, save 10% and spend the rest with joy and abandon.”
Thank you for all you do in benefit of our common humanity.
Bruce
I also like to give to New Life Center, a DV shelter for families who are experiencing IPV. In Goodyear, AZ.
Also, Streetlight, a program in Glendale , AZ that shelters and educates girls and young women who have been rescued from sex trafficking.
Thanks for your generous giving to such worthwhile charities!
I have always worked in healthcare by choice, and give a great deal of my time to those in need. I volunteer at a private cancer wellness support organization where I once worked as a young man many years ago. It provides a variety of emotional wellness support to cancer survivors and their families. The organization is completely philanthropic so there are a number of ways I give back, with my time, money and resources.
I read a comment and thought that I wanted to say the exact thing! The example of my father and of my mother too was always to help others. I am thankful that you exist as a community of practitioners.
It warms my heart to see all the places in the world that your generosity has touched. My father always stopped for people broken down on side of road to help. His actions seeded my commitment to sharing. Thank you
I give mainly with my time, I have always made time to volunteer since I was a teen, I’m now 30 and still volunteering in one way or another. Whether it’s a couple of hours at the nursing home talking with residents or running bingo, helping with reception and admin at the community centre, being a missionary for a year in a soup kitchen for homeless and addicts, teaching sre in state schools, volunteering to help run the youth group at church… a lot with my time, and helping one to one or behind the scenes.
What inspires me to give is the invaluableness. With volunteering there’s no dollar on it, no value for your time – it’s invaluable. And in a world where we’re sometimes taught to count the cost, and look after ‘me’ it’s lovely to do something that contributes to the greater whole, and means more than I or anyone could put a value on – what that chat means to the lonely old lady sitting in her room. it means more than just the half hour you spent, it may stay with her, (or it may not), but either way you’re giving without knowing the greater value. There is a peace in this, leaving it in the hands of one greater and above it all to value as He knows best. To not be in control of that but simply do the kind thing in this moment, that’s something inspiring for me. to do my little act in this present moment and let it be turned into something greater that I don’t know the value of.
That inspires me. It reminds me of the greater good.
I belong to a local social justice organization. I also am a mental health advisor to a few people pro bono
I was very impressed by the many good causes you support. Personally I support throughout the year by monthly donations to Save the Children,
Animal welfare, local church, Altzheimers and Heart charities, Smile for those with cleft palates, and two charities for the homeless in the UK.
We have also supported Ukraine and countries experiencing famine.
We have raised our children to be aware of those in need and believe they support causes close to their community and countrywide. Christine Paske