Charitable Gold Stars: A Giving Guide

We Get What We Give.

To My Community of Hope,

Since the diagnosis of my testicular cancer recurrence in June, I’ve been continually humbled and awed by the outpouring of support I’ve been offered, in the form of kind words, uplifting prayers, and contributions to my fundraiser. Ongoing gratitude to you all!

Today, instead of asking for another donation to me, I want to share some of the causes that I support, in the hopes that you’ll join me in making an impact on the world around us (and our inner lives) by giving generously to some meaningful organizations.

I am a firm believer in charitable giving. Even in times of financial strain and struggle (including this most difficult year of undergoing costly treatment for cancer), I do my best to donate a portion of my resources to those less fortunate and to causes that inspire me. That includes a cut of the income and gifts I’ve received this year.

Spiritual traditions the world over encourage devotees to give. The Christian tradition encourages tithing, or donating a tenth of one’s wealth back to the common good. The third pillar of Islam is the principle of zakat, systemically giving at least 2.5% of one’s wealth annually to the poor. Judaism’s tenet of tzedakah is a philanthropic form of social justice in which donors benefit from giving as much as the recipients.

Similarly, in Buddhism and Hinduism, the central tenet of dana encourages believers to continually cultivate generosity by giving what they can, and the related concept of karma reminds adherents that all actions have consequence.

In the spirituality of many indigenous cultures, with collective interdependence deeply ingrained in all aspects of society, the concept of “charity” doesn’t even exist; any surplus is held in common, ensuring through rich traditions of sharing that nobody slips through the cracks or becomes “needy” to begin with.

For those not spiritually inclined, the mere existence of happiness and suffering, the universal notion of fairness, and an acknowledgement that we are all sharing a common planet can form a solid basis for the practice of giving.

I strive to share a sizable portion of my resources with the less fortunate and to support causes of social, racial, environmental and economic justice — both by providing material financial donations to organizations like those listed in this giving guide, and by taking direct action locally in service to those in need.

My daughter Satya has been my charitable companion for many years now. I give her a weekly allowance, which is ritually split between three envelopes: one for discretionary spending (so she can learn the value of a dollar by being responsible for buying things on her own), one for saving long-term for larger projects like buying her first car and attending college, and one for giving (which includes gift-giving as well as making regular charitable offerings).

My young partner in giving often leads the way when it comes to more engaged forms of giving back locally. Before we moved to Cotati last year, Satya and I lived for three years in downtown Santa Rosa, right across the street from a highway overpass that often served as an encampment for the unhoused, three blocks away from the local Redwood Gospel Mission that provides services for those in need, and a about mile from the town’s largest tent city of our home-free brothers and sisters.

This year, we brought two large deliveries of freshly purchased socks and underwear (the most in-demand items, according to staff) to the local mission where they are distributed — and we just launched a clothing and food drive in our school community that will continue through the end of 2021. Last year, we prepared over 100 bag lunches (sandwiches, chips and fruit) and hand-delivered them to people dwelling in tents and makeshift tarp structures in the large encampment along a creekside trail. The year before that, we ran a lemonade stand on a sweltering summer day, netting hundreds of dollars for one of our favorite charities, Transition US, the national nonprofit where I formerly served as Communications Director.

I’m sharing these anecdotes not to brag or because I think we’re special, but to inspire and encourage more charitable giving and direct action in a world that increasingly needs it. I also humbly hope to plant and nurture the seed of this idea (as expressed in spiritual traditions like tzedakah and karma) that the act of giving actually benefits the giver just as much as the recipient. What goes around really does come around.

Giving is as much a statement of our solidarity and interdependence as anything else — an acknowledgement of our oneness in this often unjust and scary world in which we all need a little help sometimes. It is a receipt to Great Sprit for whatever blessings we have been given. It not only feels good and right; it helps to create a world in which all can flourish, and it brings us ever-closer toward common justice and our mutual liberation.

In the words of Murri indigenous artist and activist Lilla Watson, “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Also, on some level, giving is a declaration of abundance to the Universe. Even if we have a story that we “can’t afford it” — and perhaps especially if that is the case — it is imperative that we give. It shows the unnamable force that moves in all things that we are active conduits of wealth, that resources will not stagnate in our hands. After all, even the word “currency” is related etymologically to the flowing concept of current, from the Latin currere and the proto-Indo-European root kers, meaning “to run.” Like a river.

I have been living mostly paycheck-to-paycheck for my entire adult life, only beginning in the last few years to gesture in any meaningful way toward saving for the future, starting a college savings account for Satya and a retirement account — because, as Robert Kiyosaki reminds us, “It's not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.”

But this whole time, financially lean and scrappy though I may be, I’ve done my best to give what I can. And while I’ve continued to see my share of struggle, I’ve also seen a gradual increase in what I’ve been able to give over the years.

For many readers, I am likely preaching to the choir. If my healing fundraiser this year has been any indication of where most of you stand on giving, it is clear that I am in the company of some very generous human beings, indeed. And that makes me feel happy.

However much or little you’ve been able to give up to this point, I urge you for the sake of our mutual liberation to make some offerings this holiday season — to allow the current of wealth and abundance to flow through you — to be not a closed fist, but an open palm.

And in the spirit of this giving project, I humbly offer this index of causes I’ve contributed to most recently. Every cause here has been a part of my tithing practice this year. Most of them are 501c-3 nonprofits, meaning any donations you give will be tax-deductible. But the benefits you’ll receive from giving are much greater than a write-off.

Do it for future generations. Do it for our mutual liberation. Do it for your soul.

Whatever you do for the common good, thanks for doing it.

Yours in mutuality and eternal kinship,

Nils

View Complete Giving Guide

LET'S GET GIVE IT!

A guide to rippling out our impact and increasing abundance for all!

This “Season of Giving,” I’m sharing some of my favorite organizations and charities to invite my friends to join me in rippling out our impact.

Declare your abundance by donating to some of these worthy causes today!

FEATURED ORGANIZATIONS

Every cause listed below is one that I have personally contributed to this year as part of my tithing/zakat/ tzedakah practice.

Most of them are 501c-3 nonprofits, meaning any donations you choose to give will be tax-deductible. But the benefits you’ll receive from giving are much greater than a write-off!

Scroll down for the mission statements and descriptions of all these organizations, or just follow the links directly to the organizations below.

Please give generously : )