Every year I choose one or two causes to back pro bono with full exemption preparation. Not for trendy "awareness" projects or vanity foundations, but for nonprofits stepping into the hardest fires: war zones, disasters, epidemics, trafficking, hunger. Money is never the filter here. The only test is: does your organization show up where no one else will?
Current Causes for This Year
Ukraine Relief — Since 2022, it's stayed on my list every year. As much as I'd love to see Russians turned into sunflowers and Putin hanging upside down from a light pole, Mussolini style, your nonprofit can't fund weapons. That's not 501c3 501(c)(3). But feeding refugees, clothing families, and getting medical aid to the frontlines is fair game, and I'll keep backing it until this war becomes history.
Child Hunger & Exploitation — This year I've added children's causes: hunger, abuse recovery, exploitation rescue... If your mission is to protect kids who can't protect themselves, I'll listen.
Think You're a Candidate?
I'm brutally picky. Matching this year's focus doesn't mean automatic acceptance. I get flooded with "great ideas" that have no plan, no budget, and no business being near a Form 1023.
If I'm giving 40+ hours of my life to your cause, I expect something real: funding with actual money, not hugs and kisses or "start it and we'll see what we can do", solid logistics, and the spine to pull it off. If you're still at the "brainstorming on a napkin" stage, this isn't for you.
Causes Covered in Past Years
- 2024 – Ukraine Relief / Hawaii Wildfire Recovery
- 2023 – Ukraine Relief / Earthquake Survivors in Turkey & Syria
- 2022 – Ukraine Relief / Domestic Violence Shelters
- 2021 – Afghan Refugee Resettlement
- 2020 – COVID-19 Frontline Community Relief
- 2019 – Rohingya Refugee Aid
- 2018 – California Wildfire Survivors
- 2017 – Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico
- 2016 – Flint Water Crisis
- 2015 – Syrian Refugee Relief
- 2014 – Ebola Crisis in West Africa
- 2013 – Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines
- 2012 – Human Trafficking Recovery Programs
- 2011 – Japan Tsunami / Fukushima Relief
- 2010 – Haiti Earthquake Relief
