Any time of year is the perfect time to give, just ask these generous authors, some of whom have started their own foundations, and others who are dedicated to giving to the organizations they support. Here we’re highlighting some of our favorite philanthropic authors and the causes they support!
John Green
John Green is a YA author known for writing best-selling books like The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska. He also has come to be known for himself and his brother, Hank Green’s many educational projects, including their YouTube channel Crash Course, but did you know that the Green brothers also co-founded a non-profit organization?
The Foundation to Decrease World Suck (FTDWS) is John and Hank Green’s non-profit organization, which aims to build awareness and raise funds for hundreds of charities through their annual fundraising event, Project for Awesome. Project for Awesome usually takes place in February as a 48-hour livestream tele-thon event. In 2024, the Project for Awesome raised a total of $3,530,889.25. The money is divided, Partners in Health and Save the Children receiving half of the funds, while the other half is allocated to charities chosen by the participants of Project for Awesome. How awesome is that?
Glennon Doyle
Glennon Doyle is an author and activist known for her inspiring nonfiction novels, including Untamed, Love Warrior, and We Can Do Hard Things. In 2012, she co-founded Together Rising. Although the organization was sunsetted in 2024, while active, it helped raise $55,118,582 for various organizations that provided resources and aid to refugees from natural disasters, unhoused queer youths, teen parents in addiction recovery, and many other important causes.
When concluding the efforts of Together Rising, Doyle also chose to amplify three organizations by promoting and investing thousands of dollars into their continued efforts. First, Al Otro Lado (AOL), an organization that actively works to reunify families separated due to separation policies. Second was Holler Health Justice (HHJ), which is an organization that helps to fund abortion healthcare and reproductive resources with a focus on marginalized communities. The final organization was Out Youth, which is committed to being an ally for queer youth, helping them to find safety and acceptance through counseling and support. Doyle always has a new project and a new cause that she stands up to support.
Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende is an author best known for her books The House of the Spirits and City of Beasts. She is the founder of the Isabel Allende Foundation, which she created in honor of her daughter Paula Frias, who died young at the age of 29. Allende contributes her income from her books to help fund the foundation, which she started through the income from her memoir about her daughter, Paula.
The Isabel Allende Foundation aims to remember Paula’s heart and constant generosity as a young woman who spent much of her life volunteering in Venezuela and Spain. The foundation gives grants to a number of non-profit organizations, many of which provide support for immigrant and refugee rights, women’s reproductive rights, and girls’ right to education around the world. This foundation is so much more than a non-profit organization; it is a memorial to a woman who gave so much of her love to this world.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an author known for her books Americanah, Dream Count, and Purple Hibiscus. She has been an outspoken advocate for literacy and sharing African stories. She aimed to achieve this as the founder of the Purple Hibiscus Trust Creative Writing Workshop, formerly known as the Farafina Trust, which hosted writing workshops in Nigeria. It was based on the idea that reading and literacy are essential tools for social development, and with the intention of providing a space to share more African stories.
Although this initiative of hers is no longer active, she remains an advocate for the cause and supports many other organizations, including Action Against Hunger and PEN America. She has spoken out on many platforms on the importance of more diverse stories and continues to use her platform to help others.
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho is the best-selling author of classic books such as The Alchemist and The Pilgrimage. He founded the Paulo Coelho Institute in Brazil, which is an organization in which the money earned from his royalties as an author provides financial support to children and marginalized members of society in Brazilian communities.
Coelho’s charitable efforts go so far that he has even been recognized by the United Nations as a Messenger of Peace for his work in combating poverty in Brazil, his work to end violence against women, and his support of many of the goals of the United Nations, such as enhancing multiculturalism and sustainable global development.
Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness is an author of children’s and YA novels, his most well-known being A Monster Calls. He was also known for leading a fundraising drive for Syrian refugees in 2015. Ness took to social media and raised over a million dollars for Save the Children. He was joined on social media by other authors, including John Green and Jojo Moyes. He is also outspoken about his support of the LGBTQ+ community, and especially the LGBTQ+ youth.
Ness has also publicly supported the Siobhan Dowd Trust, an organization that aims to promote reading and literacy among young people. The money is earned through author Siobhan Dowd’s book royalties. Ness attributes the ideas in A Monster Calls to having been inspired by Siobhan Dowd. He has spoken out in support of the importance for young people to not only have access to read but also the freedom to read complex books that deal with real-world issues.
Matt Haig
Matt Haig is best known for his books The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, and Reasons to Stay Alive. Many of his books tackle topics of mental health, so it is no surprise to learn of Haig’s charity work with many mental health organizations.
Haig is an ambassador for Mental Health Mates, an organization founded by author and journalist Bryony Gordon. He has donated money to organizations like Grassroots Suicide Prevention and has endorsed To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit movement that helps to combat depression and suicide with messages of hope. Haig supports many of these organizations and is dedicated to helping those who feel hopeless find the support they need.
The world needs more givers, and it is always important to highlight the good people who actively work against the bad. Not only did these authors change the world with their words, but they have also taken it a step further and changed the world with their actions. We hope the words and the actions of these authors can inspire you to do what you can to make the world a better place.
For more stories that inspire kindness in the world, click here.
Check out more inspiring true stories on our Non-Fiction Titles for the Enlightened Mind bookshelf on Bookshop.org.
