Staff Reports
AUSTIN, TX — Due to the unprecedented need this year caused by COVID-19 and the devastating impact of last week’s winter storms, Amplify Austin Day 2021 is looking to make an unprecedented impact on the community. I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH) is preparing for their ninth annual community-wide day of giving, which begins at 6 pm on Thursday, March 4, and ends at 6 pm on Friday, March 5, 2021.
ILHIGH has multiple partnerships with beloved local organizations and businesses in support of their initiative. Amplify Austin Day is calling on the community to double their participation from prior years to 60,000 unique individual donors while raising critical funds for the over 675 participating Central Texas nonprofits.
Over the past eight years, Amplify Austin Day has raised more than $69 million collectively for hundreds of Central Texas nonprofits, including $12.3 million in 2020 for more than 760 Central Texas nonprofit organizations. Amplify Austin Day connects the community with hundreds of nonprofits over the course of 24 hours to raise funds critical to sustaining and growing a vibrant nonprofit sector, as well as aid in the path to recovery from the recent catastrophic events.
Early giving for Amplify Austin Day is now open at AmplifyATX.org and includes more than $375,000 in matching dollars and cash prizes for participating nonprofits. In response to the urgent immediate needs and subsequent aftereffects due to the winter storms that wreaked havoc across the state during the week of February 14, the ILHIGH Amplify: Disaster Relief Fund was established.
The disaster relief fund is designated to support 130+ Central Texas organizations whose missions focus on one of the following cause categories: Basic Needs, Disaster Relief & Emergency Response, Human Services, and/or Housing, Shelter & Homelessness. Also new this year, I Live Here I Give Here is partnering with The New Philanthropists to provide an additional $13,500 matching gift pool for organizations that participate in both Amplify Austin Day and The New Philanthropists Board Matching Program, which offers board of directors placement opportunities to leaders of color and provides programming opportunities for nonprofits looking to create a more inclusive environment.
According to ILHIGH, any individual in these seven central counties: Travis, Hays, Williamson, Burnet, Bastrop, Caldwell, and Blanco can plan ahead and make donations to area nonprofits. Participants can make a gift of any value of $5 or more using ILHIGH’s AmplifyATX.org platform to search for organizations by keyword, location, and/or across 19 cause categories, including racial equity, civil rights, civic engagement, the environment, animals, the arts, poverty, basic needs, education, and more.
More details on Amplify LIVE:
The first-ever Amplify LIVE, produced in partnership with C3 Presents, will air March 4-5, 2021, on AmplifyATX.org. Primetime hours for this round-the-clock Livestream are 6-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 4, and 8:30-9:30 a.m, and 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 5. The Livestream will feature the local nonprofit community, Amplify Austin Day’s leading sponsors, Central Texans who inspire generosity, celebrity guests, businesses, and media leaders, as well as music performances filmed at Grammy Award-winning Adrian Quesada’s Electric Deluxe Recorders Studio in East Austin. This new celebrity-driven virtual experience will be presented by Judy Maggio, host of “ATX Together” (Austin PBS); Trevor Scott, host of “We Are Austin” (KEYE-TV CBS Austin); and Joah Spearman, CEO and founder of Localeur. Primetime hours will be kicked off with sets by DJ Mel.
Local musicians include David Ramirez, Mélat, Alex Maas (The Black Angels), and Loulou Ghelichkhani (Thievery Corporation and Night Glitter), with band members featuring John Michael Schoepf (Night Glitter), drum dynamo J.J. Johnson and Anthony Farrell (Greyhounds).
Merchandise is available for preorder via the merch tab on AmplifyATX.org for those wanting to show their support with items, including a 2021 Amplify Austin T-shirt designed by C3 Presents, and an I Live Here I Give Here tote bag or mask, and a Super Supporter pack that includes a bundle of all three.
More details about sponsors:
This year, multiple local businesses and foundations are participating with special challenges and incentives, including the following:
Reissa Foundation will be sponsoring a Reissa Relay Prize that recognizes 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.
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- During early giving, the Reissa Foundation will initiate a relay in which nonprofit organizations will be selected by peers in their category to receive $2,000 toward their fundraising campaigns. A total of 20 prizes (10 in each category) will be awarded, and winners will be formally announced on Amplify Austin Day. The Reissa Foundation is also making a $10,000 general gift to the ILHIGH Amplify Fund.
- The Hood Endowment Fund of the Greater Round Rock Community Foundation will provide $30,000 in matching gifts to support Williamson County nonprofits whose missions are in the service of military veterans and animal welfare. An additional $5,000 contribution will cover nonprofit registration fees for select Williamson County-based nonprofits.
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka continues to be a dedicated sponsor and significant supporter of Amplify Austin Day. Tito’s will provide $20,000 in matching funds for the Arts & Culture cause category as well as $7,500 for The New Philanthropists Challenge.
- Netspend will provide $20,650 to support Austin Pets Alive!, Center for Child Protection, Central Texas Food Bank, Girls Empowerment Network, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, Latinitas, and Manos de Cristo.
- Rowing Dock is hosting Paddle for a Cause, which will raise funds for the Trail Foundation, Flatwater Foundation, and #bossbabesATX while also providing Austinites with the opportunity to experience Lady Bird Lake by kayak, canoe, or SUP. All sales proceeds will be donated to the ILHIGH Amplify Fund, and Rowing Dock will match all purchases with an additional donation (total donation potential is $20,000).
- Shield-Ayres Foundation is making a $10,000 grant in support of all nonprofits in the Basic Needs cause category.
- Longtime residents and active community volunteers Lee & Roger Kintzel are sponsoring the Housing, Shelter & Homelessness cause category with a $10,000 matching grant.
- Social Solutions, our first donor to the ILHIGH Amplify: Disaster Relief Fund, provided a generous $10,000 contribution to inspire others to give.
- Austin Community Foundation, Circuit of The Americas, Germania Insurance, NXP, Enverus, Google, and Moreland Propertieshave collectively invested $80,000 in the ILHIGH Amplify Fund, which supports every single participating nonprofit organization while motivating others to give at the same time. Overall, the fund has raised almost $375,000 in matching dollars and exclusive prizes that energize the 24-hour campaign. Since its inception in 2016, the ILHIGH Amplify Fund has given back more than $1.3 million to nonprofits.
See a full list of sponsors on AmplifyATX.org.
More details about how to get involved:
Community members can visit AmplifyATX.org to get involved as Fundraising Champions to advocate for nonprofit causes they are passionate about. When visiting their chosen nonprofit’s profile at AmplifyATX.org, click the “Fundraise” option to set up a personal fundraising page to share with friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbors.
Local businesses are also invited to join the local generosity movement by signing up their company to become a Business Fundraiser. Business Fundraisers encourage their employees to participate by making a gift of $5 or more to a nonprofit of their choice on Amplify Austin Day. When you sign up as a Business Fundraiser, you create a custom fundraising page, set team goals, and celebrate our community’s annual day of giving.
Awards and recognition will be given to the top business fundraisers based on employee participation and the dollars raised. And the company with the most dollars raised or the highest percentage of employees participating will be entered to win one of two Fender guitars, signed by all the members of Charlie Sexton’s Amplify Austin Day Supergroup!
To learn more about Amplify Austin Day 2021, participating nonprofit organizations, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit AmplifyATX.org. Follow I Live Here I Give Here on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for the latest news and updates. Official hashtag: #ILiveHereIGiveHere