Nonprofit Collaboration Can Help All Central Texans Take Part in the Region's Growing Prosperity
By I Live Here I Give Here and United Way for Greater Austin
This article originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of Austin Monthly’s I Live Here I Give Here Magazine. Read the full magazine here.
Austin consistently tops lists of the best places to live, work, and play. And, it’s easy to see why! From exciting job opportunities to renowned music and restaurant scenes to over 6,000 local nonprofits that help sustain our culture of kindness, creativity, and healthy living, our city can’t be beat. But not everyone is enjoying the promise of Austin – yet.
As our community grows, so do its disparities. The gap between those who enjoy and participate in Central Texas’ prosperity and those who cannot is widening by the day. The issues in our community are complex, but both I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH) and United Way for Greater Austin believe that those issues can be solved when we work together. That’s why we’re issuing a joint call to action to Central Texas nonprofit organizations: Let’s boost generosity through partnership and collaboration to ensure every person can reach their full potential.
We’re confident that when nonprofits work together and share data and resources, creative solutions arise. When we step back from the ill-informed conception that we’re competing for donors and embrace the idea that our community members appreciate partnerships and multiple opportunities to show their generosity to help shape their city, the possibilities are endless.
We’ve seen this theory in action.
I Live Here I Give Here and United Way both serve as conveners. United Way brings together nonprofits, people with lived experience, policymakers, philanthropists, and community and business leaders to create solutions for our community’s biggest social and humanitarian challenges. ILHIGH connects community members and corporations passionate about local causes with nonprofit organizations advancing those causes to increase philanthropy and raise money to invest in the solutions to those challenges. Both organizations assemble philanthropists so that they can exchange ideas and share their passion with one another, discover meaningful volunteer opportunities, and participate in cause-oriented events to foster a community of giving.
This act of bringing together various stakeholder groups in the community has allowed United Way to make a lasting, sustainable impact in its focus areas of education, health, and financial stability. For 95 years, United Way has been an integral part of the fabric of Austin, and every year we step closer to our vision of a city where everyone reaches their full potential. In just the last year alone, United Way – together with donors and partners – impacted 47,677 children and families, answered 390,389 calls for assistance, mobilized 3,980 volunteers who provided 23,205 hours of service, and partnered with more than 4,000 donors and 30 community organizations.
Bringing together a diverse spectrum of community groups has allowed ILHIGH to mobilize Central Texans for a day of giving – Amplify Austin Day – to raise $57 Million in 7 years for 750 local nonprofits, inspire over 8 Million actions for good on Giving Tuesday, prepare 247 new nonprofit board members from over 135 local companies, and empower over 2,243 young professionals to incorporate giving back locally as a key component of their lives.
“Together, we are tireless in our efforts to create opportunities that include everyone. There’s no ‘us’ and there’s no ‘them.’ We are all connected through our shared humanity,” says United Way CEO David C. Smith. “When we bring together people with different voices, experiences, and ideas, that’s when real change happens. For example, our Family Advisory Leadership Council elevates the lived experience and extensive expertise of parents and caregivers in our community. By partnering with parents and caregivers, we engage them in our strategic work with children and families and are able to incorporate their ideas to make our programs even more impactful. Time and time again, we’ve seen the impossible become possible when donors, volunteers, advocates, and community champions come together around collective goals. When we work together to build a stronger community, we are sparking a movement bigger than anything we can do alone. Something amazing and radical happens when we Live United.”
“When nonprofit organizations, community members, and business leaders come together to give back to their local community and work for the collective good, we are able to move the needle in tangible ways,” says ILHIGH Executive Director Courtney Manuel. “Bringing together key parties, representing different viewpoints and sectors, is crucial to address important community issues. For example, issues like improving the health of our children, protecting animals, revitalizing public spaces, caring for our homeless, and healthcare, all benefit from creative solutions driven by diverse perspectives. We’ve seen the measurable impact of collective giving on Amplify Austin Day to support these critical needs, when thousands of small gifts result in millions of dollars raised for hundreds of local nonprofits. And after Amplify Austin Day, we have seen the qualitative impact of connecting motivated, budding philanthropists with established philanthropic mentors and nonprofits in need of their time, talent, and treasure. Central Texans have so much to offer, and, through our programs, they can spark lifelong connections and passions in their personal and professional giving journeys.”
What can we, as a nonprofit community, do to move forward? We can take collective action to communicate the value of generosity and advocacy for our organizations. We can come together to share insights on best practices, successes, and challenges. We can share data to help us all tackle overarching shifts in the culture of our community. We can make giving more accessible by creating new touchpoints, platforms, networks, and forums, and we can empower the entire community to embrace the idea that everyone has something valuable to contribute, and anyone can be a philanthropist. With more than 6,000 nonprofits in the Austin area, we believe that working together can make our pool of participants, volunteers, ambassadors, and donors larger for all of us.
The ILHIGH and United Way partnership is a powerful demonstration of two organizations that serve unique needs through distinct channels while complementing each other’s missions.
Together, ILHIGH and United Way have found common ground and have created a culture of collaboration that can serve as a model for the larger nonprofit community. We have invested in this partnership because we believe working together inspires and ignites the untapped generosity of Central Texans.
We invite each of you to join our collaboration movement. Let’s come together and embrace diverse perspectives to solve our community’s most pressing needs and make Central Texas a more generous and prosperous community.
ILHIGH + United Way: There’s a lot that makes us similar. So what makes us unique?
United Way focuses on fighting poverty and creating solutions for the community’s biggest challenges, while raising money to invest in the solutions to those challenges. ILHIGH focuses on increasing philanthropy in Austin.
United Way offers opportunities for people to learn more about the issues in our community (and how you can effectively make a difference on those issues), connects like-minded philanthropists through donor networks, creates volunteer and advocacy opportunities, and even hosts fun events like the annual Ruthless Good scavenger hunt.
ILHIGH provides mentorship to people on their philanthropic journey, from training and preparation for nonprofit board and committee service to tools that allow people to discover and engage with causes they’re passionate about.
Learn more about United Way for Greater Austin and get involved at unitedwayaustin.org.
Learn more about I Live Here I Give Here and get involved at ILiveHereIGiveHere.org.