NEW! GivingCity Austin Issue 3

 
CLICK HERE to download
(file size 14 mb – download time 10 sec.)
Thanks for your feedback! Post a comment below.
Inside this issue:
The New Philanthropists
We photograph the young, active, and engaged people making a difference in Austin now.
Are There Too Many Nonprofits in Austin?
“Yes, no… maybe. That depends.”  We let the experts have their say.
Unscripted Collaboration
The We [...]

Red McCombs: “I want the joy of giving while I’m living”

I grew up in the shadow of that big American Indian chief statue on NW Loop 410 in San Antonio, the one that sits on the Red McCombs car dealership, so I’ve known the name Red McCombs all my life. For a while, I thought he was an Indian chief.
I was able to meet him [...]

Guess who gives the most during a downturn?

BTW: Along the lines of this article, consider giving $5 to a charity this month. Every bit helps, or as the badass Pamela Benson-Owens puts it: “Even a donation that jingles is a donation.”
I spent yesterday afternoon with seven volunteer leaders from the Capital Area State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC), learning about how the campaign [...]

How to tell your friends to Give5

The United Way Capital Area is a great opportunity to get first-time donors keen on the idea of philanthropy. It’s happening now and through Memorial Day weekend… but they’ll probably take your $5 any time of the year.
So YOU give money, and you want to encourage your friends, co-workers, and family to give some money… but [...]

Update from GC HQ

Wanted to update you on some of what we’re working on…
1. GC3: This issue is our biggest to date, and the most hands-on effort so far. There are probably three times as many photographs and five times as many people included in this issue, and we have to check every single caption, name, word, punctuation, [...]

THURS MAY 14: AmeriCorps Idol – That’s right, folks, it’s a singalong

Did you know it was AmeriCorps week? These are the fabulous young people who do the important work at nonprofits all over the country. Well, tomorrow night, they’re singing… and you’re invited!
See this:  
Known as the “domestic Peace Corps,” AmeriCorps is part of a growing national initiative to eliminate poverty and address critical, unmet needs right here in [...]

Thank goodness for Recognize Good, new Web site that lets you thank someone

See? I was just talking about this exact thing the other day: A public recognition site for volunteers. Except the RecognizeGood people have made a site with the potential for much more than that.
I’ve tried the site. First you register – name, city, etc – then you just fill out the thank you. You include [...]

The Silent Auction … of Doom.

I’m with Alan. From his most recent post:
Live and silent auctions are what really kill me. You go out and panhandle every merchant you can find to give you stuff to sell then you present it in such a way to the consumer to make them feel philantropic while they shop for bargains at your [...]

So why would a local restaurant donate to a local nonprofit anyway?

Yesterday, I posted about Rio Grande’s Philanthropy Week, during which they’re donating 10% of bar sales during happy hour to a different nonprofit each day. You can see the details here.
Lots of local businesses contribute a portion of their sales to a local nonprofit from time to time. Why? Is there anything in it for [...]

VIDEOS: We ask McCracken/Leffingwell about growing culture of philanthropy in Austin

The United Way’s Spring Day of Caring event always brings out the crowds, and the most recent on April 24 was no different. This time, though, it also brought out the mayoral candidates.
Candidates addressed the crowd of volunteers, encouraging them and mostly staying away from any campaign talk. It was nice to have their support. [...]