As IMG’s seventh annual Leave Your Mark initiative kicks off for 2023, the 2022 winners are excited to share how they put their winnings to use throughout the year to further their global outreach efforts.

IMG’s Leave Your Mark Grant is an annual grant opportunity, and for the first time this year, IMG is excited to be granting funds to seven winners — two mission or social good organizations and five individuals participating in a mission, volunteer, or service trip. The two winning organizations will receive $2,500 each, and the five winning individuals will receive $1,000 each.

Applicants are asked to describe how they're working to overcome current obstacles facing the world and how this grant will help support their global outreach efforts. The applications are then judged and scored, and IMG awards the top-scoring organizations and individuals with money to invest toward their global outreach programs.

We caught up with two winning organizations from 2022 to see how the funds from Leave Your Mark benefited their organization and the people they serve through their global outreach.

Forward Edge

Forward Edge is one of the winning organizations from 2022 and works throughout the world to assist children in need (especially those with disabilities) and their families by providing meals, education, healthcare, and more. Forward Edge impacts more than 8,500 lives throughout the world through its various programs.

Forward Edge’s Director of Development, Nancy Hellmann, said they were so excited when they learned the organization was the first place Leave Your Mark winner for 2022. With their $5,000 in winnings, Forward Edge says they were able to provide support and nutrition assistance to 20 families with disabled children connected to their program. These families have received a wide range of assistance including nutrition supplementation, medicine, diapers, doctors’ appointments, food packages, and more, all based upon each family’s needs.

“Thanks to the generous gift from IMG, this care will continue for these families,” said Hellmann.

Dare for More

The third place Leave Your Mark winner for 2022, Dare for More, provides hope and healing to women facing crises, such as abuse, poverty, and human trafficking. In Guatemala, the organization has started a new initiative to establish women's training centers, aiming to empower those in crisis through education, skills training, access to food, clean water, job opportunities, and more.

Dare for More says the funds they received from Leave Your Mark were instrumental in launching a training center that specializes in sewing skills. With the Leave Your Mark funds and generous contributions from others, the organization was able to procure new sewing machines, improve the lighting conditions for work, train three women to serve as instructors, and successfully graduate their first class of women from the program. 

“We were ecstatic to be chosen as one of the 2022 winners,” said Reba Bowman, Dare for More Founder & CEO. “We express our deep gratitude for impactful programs like the Leave Your Mark Grant, which play a significant role in transforming the lives of women in Guatemala.”

2023 Leave Your Mark Grant

IMG is accepting both written essay or video applications for the 2023 Leave Your Mark Grant. Essays should be approximately 500 words, and videos should be approximately 3 minutes in length.

Submissions should answer the following questions:

• Organizations: How is your organization working to overcome the current obstacles impacting the world? How would this grant support your continued global outreach efforts?
• Individuals: Explain why this mission, volunteer, or service trip is important to you. How will this grant support you and your global outreach efforts?

IMG has insured mission and social good organizations since the early 1990s, providing key benefits and assistance services for thousands of members who travel or live internationally with the purpose of serving others. The company launched its Leave Your Mark program on June 1, 2017, as a way to give back to organizations serving charitable missions.

To learn more about the grant and to apply, please visit the Leave Your Mark page.