Cause area
Leave a legacy for Mental Health & Addiction
About one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness, and addiction touches millions of families. Effective treatment exists; too few people can get it.
Why it matters
In 2025, about one in five U.S. adults (54.6 million people) had a mental illness, and 44.6 million Americans aged 12 and older had a substance use disorder.
Effective treatments exist, from talk therapy to medication for opioid use disorder. The gap is access, which philanthropy can help close.
Sources:
Where an extra dollar goes furthest
These are the kinds of programs our research looks at first in this cause. With a research-guided gift, specific organizations are chosen when your gift arrives, so it can go to what works best then.
Access to therapy
Evidence-based therapy delivered by trained counselors, in person and online.
Crisis care
Crisis lines and suicide prevention programs.
Addiction treatment
Medication and recovery support for opioid and alcohol use disorders.
Youth mental health
Early help for young people, when problems are easiest to treat.
Three ways to give to mental health
Recommended
Research-guided gift
Your will dedicates the gift to mental health and asks your executor to choose the most effective organizations working on it when the time comes, guided by published research.
A charity you name
Leave your gift to a specific organization you already know and trust.
Your own named fund
Start a fund in your name or a loved one's that gives to mental health every year. How it works
Sample wording for your will
Our builder fills this in for you. If you already have a will, share this wording with your attorney.
I give ____ percent (____%) of my residuary estate to one or more charitable organizations described in Sections 170(c) and 2055(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, selected by my Executor, to be used for the prevention and treatment of mental illness and addiction. I ask that my Executor consider the research and recommendations published by MyLastWill.org at the time of my death.
Sample language for discussion with your attorney. Not legal advice.
Questions about giving to mental health
Can I honor someone I lost?
Yes. Many people name a legacy fund in memory of a loved one. Add their name and story to your fund's mission statement.
Can I support a specific clinic or hospital?
Yes. Name it as a specific charity in your plan.
Add mental health to your plan
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