Win a FREE Wish List Jersey!

In 1999, Alissa Magrum and Tammy Stanley met while training for a Texas AIDS ride. Both had HIV-positive family and friends and both were avid “ride for the cure” participants.
“The riders are incredible, and their stories are just so moving,” says Magrum. “We all just bond.”
Wanting to tell their story, Magrum and Stanley reached out to Brian Andreas, a writer [...]

If your nonprofit message matters, design matters

This post is for nonprofit boards and the nonprofit staff who love them.
I was reading this blog post from Good magazine, and it made me think of those board meetings, when everyone’s sitting around listing all the to-dos for the annual fundraiser. This is for those of you who, when you start to wonder how [...]

Winner of the $50 Target Gift Card

Thanks to all of you who signed up to become GivingCity Austin subscribers at the Vivir Unidos event. We’ve finally picked a winner:
Robert Andrada
Robert, please email me at monica@givingcityaustin.com with your mailing address and we’ll send you the $50 Target Gift Card!
Thanks! And please tell a friend about GivingCity Austin.
Monica

“Happiness Is” not found in a solid-surface countertop

It’s hard to write a thoughtful reaction to a film that left me so emotional. And I wasn’t the only one. There were quite a few beefy guys walking out of the theater with puffy, watery eyes last night, too.
But “Happiness Is” by Austin’s Andrew Shapter will do that to you. It’s not that it’s a [...]

A smart, easy way to double your donation

This is genius.
We’re obviously fans of GiveRealty’s business model; the real estate broker donates 25 percent of its commission to the charity of the seller/buyer’s choice, in their name. But using the new website RecognizeGood- also born and raised in Austin – GiveRealty was able to double that donation.
A recent home sale through GiveRealty resulted [...]

JULY 31-AUG 1: World’s First Nonprofit Film Fest -in Austin!

Have you ever been moved by a public service announcement? Have you watched a video on YouTube that inspired you to reach out to the community and do something?
We’ve all seen those little videos on YouTube, another website, or even television, and usually we’re alone in front of the screen. But there’s something powerful about [...]

For Sale: Elliot Smith’s Passat, with money to be donated to SIMS Foundation

The legacy of singer Elliot Smith  lives on, this time in his car, a 1999 Passat GLX, listed on the Austin Craigslist for $4000. Smith’s brother has listed the car, with the entire amount being donated to the Austin-based SIMS Foundation, which provides access to and financial support for mental health and addiction recovery services [...]

Austin author releases new book about the orphans of India

For three years, Shelley Seale would travel to the orphanages of India, bags loaded with treats and toys to share with the children who had made such an enormous impact on her. After all, these were the same children who inspired the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Each time she got to know the children’s stories a little [...]

Video Wanted: Lights.Camera.Help. entries due JUNE 30!

There’s a little more than a week to submit your entries to the nonprofit film festival, Lights.Camera.Help; the deadline is June 30, in fact. I highly encourage you to submit any film, YouTube video, PSA or series, and be a part of this first-ever film fest in Austin.
Austinites who launch these projects-with-a-cause continue to amaze [...]

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 [...]