When Giving Builds Community
Not a programme, not a structure – but a feeling. In the second season of NADE! – Women Donate Together, 27 women gathered month after month not only to give, but also to listen, ask questions, and learn. By the end of the process, giving itself had become a shared community experience.
“When I think about NADE!, the first thing that comes to mind is not a programme or a structure, but a feeling. A feeling that is hard to describe, yet very powerful: arriving.” – said the youngest member of the NADE! circle at the award ceremony.
Perhaps nothing captures more precisely what happened during the second season of NADE! – Women Donate Together, run by the Roots and Wings Foundation.
Arriving to One Another
What happens when 27 women come together ten times, listen, ask questions, debate, and share – while also contributing donations month by month? You have to be there to truly experience it, as the familiar phrase goes. Still, we will attempt the impossible: to tell what came out of it.
January 13, 2026, was that icy, rain-soaked day when airports were shutting down and almost everyone stayed home. Yet a few people decided to set out and celebrate together the nearly year-long journey during which a group of strangers – women of different ages and backgrounds – became a community. At the MagNet Community House, NADE! members, representatives of supported organisations, beneficiaries, and supporters gathered to close the second season together.
The decision-making process in November, when members decided on the allocation of funds, was described by one participant as “a rare and true catharsis” – and this experience deepened further during the ceremonial handover of the grants in January. Members put their year-long experiences into words, greeted one another with moving reflections, and delivered laudations for the organisations whose work they collectively deemed important and worthy of support.
More Than a Women’s Circle, More Than Giving
NADE! is more than a giving circle; it is a kind of refuge where we can feel safe, pause, recharge, and connect with ourselves and each other. As one participant put it: “A safe space that feels like strong roots: it holds and nourishes you, allows you to pause for a moment. A place where you don’t have to appear strong. Where you can ask, doubt, share – or simply remain silent.”
This environment provides not only stability, but also space for growth, creativity, and curiosity. Wings grow from these roots: they offer inspiration and courage to think together, explore new perspectives, and speak honestly about the situation of women in Hungary, including difficult and often taboo topics. This idea was highlighted in the opening speech of the January closing event and reflects well the spirit of the NADE! community.
Decisions Beyond Formulas
During the second season, 27 members contributed monthly to a shared fund. They met ten times in total and worked through six themes they had brought themselves:
- the situation of single women
- violence against women
- being over 40 – visibility, labour market situation, mental health, menopause
- sexuality across different life stages
- the situation and opportunities of former state care leavers
- the period before and after childbirth
The total amount collected – 3,337,470 HUF – was allocated through collective decision-making based on members’ own values and perspectives. The funding policy served as a compass, emphasising sustainability, prevention, direct impact, community orientation, visibility, and awareness-raising.
Final decisions, however, were not based purely on calculations, but on discussions, differing viewpoints, and in-person consensus-based voting. In this way, decision-making itself became a shared experience: affirming, inspiring, and educational.
Five Initiatives, Diverse Impact
A total of five women-led initiatives received support from the collected funds, formally awarded on January 13. Behind the decisions were not only professional considerations, but also personal encounters and stories – a few of which we share below.
- Anonymous Paths Foundation
Sometimes life does not begin in the safety of a family home, but within institutional walls – and sometimes the first “relationship” brings not protection, but exploitation. “The first step towards change is not turning away,” as stated in the laudation. Anonymous Paths does exactly this: it shows up. It does not rescue, but accompanies; it does not promise quick solutions, but offers a slowly built chance for a different life. From the 1,000,000 HUF grant, three women in recovery will receive scholarships, travel passes, and essential tools for three months. - Care for Our Children Foundation
Some families receive an especially heavy burden with the gift of a child. “What they fear most is what will happen to their children when they are no longer there.” The foundation’s community consists of parents raising children with severe and multiple disabilities, and their children, who support each other with extraordinary strength, love, and perseverance. NADE!’s 1,000,000 HUF contribution supports their long-standing annual one-week summer holiday at Lake Balaton – a week of breathing, togetherness, and support. - Dajer Foundation
The story of Dajer is one of renewal born from scarcity – when momentum, resources, and security run out, yet the core idea lives on. “The core idea of Dajer never rested,” as heard in the speech. The 500,000 HUF grant supports the renewal of their community space, where women over 40 can become visible, learn, create, and remind one another: it is not too late, and we are not alone. - Life.Feeling Association
There are moments when one stands before closed doors – in hospital corridors, between examinations, carrying unspoken fears. “Where the state system offers only walls, they often have a key.” The association provides hope and support through carefully selected experts to families facing fertility challenges or genetic conditions. NADE!’s 500,000 HUF contribution enables medical examinations, therapies, awareness trainings, and community programmes. - SoulSkin – Community Theatre Project
This initiative grew out of the NADE! circle itself – from inner experiences and untold stories. SoulSkin is a community theatre production weaving together women’s life stories and exploring themes such as freedom and self-sacrifice, instinct and adaptation. “Without us, the SoulSkin project could not come into being.” The 337,470 HUF grant provides space, time, and opportunity for these stories to find a voice and spark dialogue.
The supported teams are free to use the funds according to their own priorities – reflecting that for NADE!, not only the cause but also the people behind it matter.
Celebration and Continuation
The January evening was not only about awarding grants, but also about pausing to recognise the strength of the community that had formed. A community where giving goes beyond numbers and becomes an experience, a connection, and a shared responsibility.
During the event, we also asked the audience: how would the world be different if women’s perspectives were more present and women had more opportunities to shape it? The answers envisioned a future where competition gives way to cooperation, solidarity becomes more natural, violence recedes, social sensitivity grows stronger, and women can safely and courageously embrace their own vulnerability.
The second season of NADE! has officially come to a close – but the circle continues. In spring, it will carry on with a mix of new and returning members, a similar structure, new themes, and new organisations to support.
Support Continues
The featured organisations and the fund for the next NADE! season can be supported by anyone until spring 2026. If you would like to contribute to multiplying the impact, you can do so here:
https://gyokerekesszarnyak.hu/nade-tamogatas/
Arriving sometimes means pausing. Sometimes it means connecting. And sometimes it means moving forward together. The story of NADE! is about all three – and it continues this spring.
