Good News Asks Leaders About Their First Causes Supported

As the 10th Annual Leading Charities and Foundations Thanksgiving issue recognizes founders, executive directors and CEOs of area charities and foundations, Good News asked them to name the first cause they ever supported. Their answers ranged from pro-life work and local churches to missions, foster care and disability research.

Several leaders described early giving rooted in their churches. One said the first cause they remember supporting was the local church, a habit instilled in childhood. Another said that before becoming a believer, they supported local community initiatives, including chairing the Christmas Boat Parade and serving on the first Riverwalk Committee. After becoming a believer, they directed their support toward foster care and marriage and family work through 4Kids and Relate Well Live Well.

Missions and child sponsorship appeared often. One leader said the first cause they supported was a project to build a Christian school in Africa, and said missions is “the Church putting feet to faith and voice to vision.” Another said that as a missionary kid in Africa, their first giving went to Nigerian pastors sponsored by their small church, and that in college they began supporting missionaries in Nigeria through SIM. A couple said the first cause they supported together, apart from their local church, was Compassion International, introduced to them by a friend who volunteered with the organization. They said they have supported it for more than 35 years and have watched sponsored children grow into adults. Another leader said they have supported Compassion International for at least ten years.

Other answers reached toward the poor, the sick and the lonely. One leader, raised in a household that gave to the church first, later gave to a feeding, housing and clothing mission for the poor where their mother volunteered, and to a community eldercare ministry. Their mother also took them to visit shut-ins and nursing homes. Another leader recalled that as a Boy Scout in a small town in Iowa, they took part in a fundraiser to help single mothers who could not afford groceries. Such giving to the poor reflects generosity toward neighbors (Hebrews 13:16).

Some leaders described how their first gifts shaped their later work. One financial author and speaker recalled giving $29 as a young, poor person to a pro-life ministry, and said the act of giving changed how they saw their own finances, moving them “from neediness to confidence and capability.” They called giving “a powerful accelerant.” Another leader said that around age 18 they began managing operations for a nonprofit founded by their aunt, who traveled to Afghanistan to bring education, healthcare and hope to women and children. The leader said her bravery and conviction left a lasting impression.

The CEO of the Community Foundation of Broward said the first donation they remember making was to Southeastern Guide Dogs, given through their gift to the United Way of Tampa Bay. Before that, they had given to their church and to Girl Scouts through cookie sales. Another leader said the first cause they supported was The Shepherd’s Way, led by Fred Scarborough, which later became HOPE South Florida around 1995.

Other leaders named disease-focused and outreach causes. One said their first paycheck supported Jerry’s Kids, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and that they also gave time to mobilize men in their church and community to attend Promise Keepers conferences across Florida. Another leader said that, looking back on their first support of Compassion International, their heart now goes out to missionaries who lack the advertising platforms that many national and local causes have.

Source: Read the original report