Amplify Austin Day raises $12.5 million for Central Texas nonprofits

AUSTIN, Texas - I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH) says that the ninth annual community-wide day of giving, Amplify Austin Day, raised more than $12.5 million in 2021 for 686 participating nonprofit organizations spanning seven Central Texas counties.

The 24-hour day of giving began at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 4 and ended on Friday, March 5.

In addition to providing the online giving platform, through the Amplify Fund, ILHIGH says it raised more than $325,000 in matching gifts and prizes available to participating nonprofits to incentivize their campaigns.

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP

Donating to local nonprofits on Amplify Austin Day

Executive Director of The New Philanthropists Paulina Artieda and Founder and CEO of RISE Child Development Center Dr. Choquette Hamilton talk more about their organizations and the day of giving.

As part of this effort, on February 19, as Central Texas began to thaw out from the historic winter storm, ILHIGH designated a special ILHIGH Fund match for organizations on the frontlines whose missions fall into at least one of the following cause categories: Disaster Relief & Emergency Response, Basic Needs, Human Services, and Housing, Shelter & Homelessness. To date, the Amplify Disaster Relief Fund has raised more than $191,000, and donors can continue to support the community’s needs via this special designation through March 14.

Officials say local families, individuals, and groups also advocated for the causes important to them by serving as peer-to-peer fundraisers for participating nonprofits. More than 2,713 community members led their own fundraisers and it resulted in $1,297,155 raised.

Grand prizes ($5,000 each) were given to nonprofits with the most funds raised and most unique donors by a large nonprofit, medium nonprofit, and small nonprofit in the 24-hour period of Amplify Austin Day, including Central Texas Food Bank, Highland Lakes Canine Rescue, Good Work Austin, Austin Pets Alive!, Austin Siamese Rescue, and Central Texas Tortoise Rescue.

Helping nonprofits on Amplify Austin Day

Founding member of Good Work Austin Adam Orman and Executive Director of I Live Here I Give Here Courtney Manuel talk about the big day of giving to help local nonprofits.

Early Giving prizes ($2,500 each) were given to nonprofits with the most funds raised and most unique donors by a large nonprofit, medium nonprofit, and small nonprofit during the early giving period of January 19th - March 4th at 5:59 pm. These top prizes went to Hospice Austin, Highland Lakes Canine Rescue, Good Work Austin, Central Texas Food Bank, Leander ISD Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF), and Central Texas Tortoise Rescue, respectively.

In addition, a grand prize ($5,000) was given to Hospice Austin for achieving the most dollars toward a match they solicited.

Black Mama’s ATX, MEASURE, E4 Youth, Six Square - Austin’s Black Cultural District, Hearts 2 Heal, The New Philanthropists, 100 Black Men, DivInc, Code2College, Austin African American Book Festival, Partnerships for Children, Circle of Hope Community Center, Austin Youth River Watch, Anthropos Arts, Austin Soundwaves, Art All Summer - an Arts Enrichment Program of Govalle Elementary PTA, Fundamentals for Foster Care, Carrying Hope, Austin Threads, and HopeAustin were awarded the Reissa Relay Prize ($2,000).

SIGN UP FOR FOX 7 AUSTIN EMAIL ALERTS

Give to local nonprofits and help those in need on Amplify Austin Day

Executive Director of Foundation Communities Walter Moreau and Executive Director of I Live Here I Give here Courtney Manuel talk about the day of giving.

The Reissa Relay Prize, sponsored by the Reissa Foundation, recognized excellence in collaboration among small- and medium-sized nonprofits whose work and missions support (1) at-risk children and vulnerable families or (2) who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)-led or BIPOC-serving.

Over the past nine years, Amplify Austin Day has had an $81.5 million impact on Central Texas nonprofits.