8.4 Million Actions for Good Create a Culture of Generosity in Central Texas
Your actions for good inspire us! Thank you for giving local on #GivingTuesday.
You showed up. You were kind to your neighbors and coworkers. You volunteered with and made donations to local nonprofits and shared how you give back to the causes you are passionate about. You inspire us.
I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH) is excited to share that the Central Texas community successfully surpassed the 2019 goal of 5 Million actions for good by participating in over 8.4 million actions for good over the course of this past November and GivingTuesday, generating positive impact for many nonprofits, initiatives, and the people in our community.
GivingTuesday 2019 broke records at both the local and national levels, with online giving in the United States increasing from $411 Million in 2018 to $511 Million in 2019.
For a third consecutive year, ILHIGH served as the official Central Texas Community Leader for GivingTuesday, the annual global event that takes place on the Tuesday immediately following the consumer-based shopping events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Throughout GivingTuesday, we tracked volunteer data over 750 local nonprofit member organizations, monetary donations to Central Texas nonprofits and actions for good through social media posts using the hashtag #ILiveHereIGiveHere.
In total, 8,463,261 actions for good were recorded in Central Texas alone, which includes a total of $4,581,010 given by local residents and businesses in our 7-county region, contributing to the success of the GivingTuesday campaign on December 3. Last year, ILHIGH surpassed its goal of 2 million actions-for-good by recording 4.1 million actions during GivingTuesday 2018, which included over $1.3 million dollars in donations. This year’s totals show tremendous growth in terms of monetary giving in the region, with an approximately 350% increase over last year. According to the global GivingTuesday campaign results, Texas came in as the third-most giving state in the United States, following California (#1) and New York (#2).
Included in the total monetary funds raised in Central Texas are donations to local nonprofits from notable Austin-area businesses and organizations, including Preservation Austin, Austin Disaster Relief Network, Hill Country Conservancy, HomeSlice Pizza, and more.
Local nonprofits also saw volunteer participation spike during this month of giving, with over 11,000 local volunteers giving over 30,400 hours, totaling over $760,000 in value for ILHIGH nonprofit members including Austin Habitat for Humanity, Austin Parks Foundation, Central Texas Food Bank, and many more.
Reports of donation amounts and pledged volunteer hours are still being received from local businesses and nonprofits and totals are expected to climb even more through December.
This year marked the introduction of ILHIGH’s roaming actions-for-good booth, which helped to create a community-wide motivational note exchange by inviting locals to leave an anonymous note of inspiration and take a note written by a fellow Central Texan. Stops throughout the month-long campaign included Big Medium’s East Austin Studio Tour, Hill Country Conservancy’s Family Nature Scavenger Hunt on the Violet Crown Trail, Treaty Oak Distilling’s Local Artisan Fair, and Home Slice Pizza’s third annual DOUGHvember finale dinner to close out the festivities on #GivingTuesday. Hundreds of visitors took action for good through this new traveling installation and interactive booth.
Through charitable actions from the community on GivingTuesday, several hundred nonprofits across Central Texas were able to benefit from both monetary donations and an array of actions-for-good.
Actions for Good Highlights:
Here is just a small sampling of the 8.4 Million inspiring actions you took to make Central Texas a better community for all.
Waterloo Greenway welcomed 60,000 visitors to its 2019 Creek Show, where they experienced local art and design and learned about the important role of public green space and the ongoing transformation of the 35-acre urban park system.
Preservation Austin hosted 240 Preservation Merit Award attendees, who raised $57,000 to support the organization's advocacy efforts and educational programming, furthering its mission to promote Austin’s diverse cultural heritage through the preservation of historic places.
The Girls Empowerment Network activated 263 volunteers at the 2019 We Are Girls Conference. These volunteers helped empower 1,612 girls!
The Marbridge Foundation raised $328,801 to provide transitional and lifetime care to adults with a wide range of cognitive abilities.
Down Home Ranch’s Ranchers committed to 100 actions for good, sponsored by donors who could choose how the ranchers could pay kindness forward by giving a DHR Poinsettia to a local Elgin Nursing Home Resident, donating a dozen fresh DHR chicken eggs to the Sacred Heart Mission Food Pantry, delivering a card and coloring book to a child at Dell Children’s, or by giving a Rancher-made treat or toy to a pet at the Bastrop County Animal Shelter.
Austin Disaster Relief Network set a new record for their GivingTuesday fundraising, raising over $28,000 in less than 24 hours.
Big Medium’s EAST 2019 saw over 60,000 attendees support local artists and contemporary art.
Hill Country Conservancy raised $28,969 for clean water, wildlife, and access to nature in Austin and the surrounding Hill Country.
United Way for Greater Austin received the support of 828 community volunteers during its Feast of Sharing.
5,086 volunteers gave 15,258 hours of service to Central Texas Food Bank.
Austin Community Foundation distributed Hispanic Impact Fund Grants to six community-serving organizations, including AVANCE Austin, Catholic Charities of Central Texas, EGBI of Austin, Grameen America, Todos Juntos, and VELA Families.
DISCO employees gave over 142 volunteer hours, hosted food, water, clothing and toy drives, and adopted 347 kids for their office Angel Tree, one of the largest Salvation Army Angel Trees in town.
HomeSlice Pizza raised over $30,000 during its third annual month-long charity-driven event series that supported four local charities — Austin Parks Foundation, SAFE Alliance, Carrying Hope, and Austin Bat Cave, all of which are ILHIGH nonprofit members — by donating a percentage of sales from all three of their locations.
GivingTuesday goes beyond a single day. It’s a 24/7, 365 call-to-action to embrace generosity and contribute to your community. Thank you for exemplifying what it means to be generous here in Central Texas — and in the biggest Texas way! We look forward to keeping the generous spirit going throughout the year. Get involved with a cause that personally moves you at AmplifyATX.org.