|
Greetings, fellow members.
Excitement is building at Impact Austin!
At June’s Annual Meeting, we will cross another threshold in community impact. As we award 2025 grants totaling $294,000, our historic grantmaking will surpass $9 million! You have helped to make this possible.
Now you have an opportunity to be part of 2025 grant decisions via member vote!
What’s ahead:
- May 9 – Two finalists will be announced in each of our three focus areas
- May 23 – Deadline to join, re-join, or renew your membership to qualify for voting
- May 27 – Finalist Packets emailed to current members, and electronic voting opens for anyone not attending Annual Meeting
- Jun 4 – Absentee voting concludes at 5:00 PM
- Jun 9 – Annual Meeting with Finalists’ videos and in-person voting; Check presentations
Unsure of your membership status? Email Alyssa at contact@impactaustin.org to verify if/when your renewal is due. Renew by May 23 so that your voice counts.
Do you know a friend or colleague who might value the impact made possible by collective giving? Invite her to join by May 23 so that she, too, can be part of our grant decisions and the celebration that follows at Annual Meeting!
If you do not receive a Finalist Packet despite having current membership, contact grants@impactaustin.org. Your vote matters!
Looking forward to celebrating with you,
Grants Committee
| | Girls Giving Grants Announces 2025 Community Partner | | |
Congratulations to the 55 members of Girls Giving Grants (g3), who announced Saint Louise House as recipient of their $6,500 grant award for 2025. Read the details on our blog!
The g3 members launched review in November after two training sessions to educate them in the grantmaking process. After deep-dive reviews and site visits, they announced their award on Apr 27 and will share the news again at Impact Austin’s Annual Meeting.
To date, Girls Giving Grants have contributed $130,600 through 21 grants to 19 nonprofits! Just wow! We are so proud of these young philanthropists.
| | GRCs Complete Site Visits with Semi-Finalists | | Volunteers with the Community, Education, and Health & Well-Being focus areas conducted site visits among 9 organizations during Apr 24-26. GRCs will meet for the last time May 5-7, to identify two finalists each. Member vote will determine which finalist in each focus area receives the primary grant of $80,000 and which receives the secondary grant of $18,800. All grants will be unrestricted. We'll meet our Finalists at Annual Meeting! | | Looking for GFC Coordinators | | Each spring, our Grants Committee uses volunteers to review the financial statements of our nonprofits moving forward in the grants process. This team of financially savvy women is led by two coordinators who recruit and train members, assign applications to our volunteers, and review their reports. We are looking for two members with financial experience to lead this team for our 2026 cycle. Our longtime GFC Coordinator, Margaret Ballinger, will act as advisor throughout the process. Please contact grants@impactaustin.org if you are interested, and someone will reach out to you. | | Nominate Members for Volunteer Awards | | |
Impact Austin's work is member-powered! Since 2019, we have celebrated a few of each year's outstanding volunteers. By May 31, please take a few minutes to nominate members you believe should be recognized in the first three categories below. Nominations will be tallied, and award recipients will be announced at our Jun 9 Annual Meeting.
Val Kirk Above & Beyond Award - The highest honor Impact Austin bestows annually on one volunteer whose contribution of time and talent fundamentally and substantially strengthens and improves the organization. First awarded at the 2019 Annual Meeting, it honored Val Kirk and declared a new recognition in her honor.
Committee of the Year Award - The highest honor Impact Austin bestows annually on one committee whose contribution of time and talent fundamentally and substantially strengthens and improves Impact Austin.
Allison Marshall Volunteer of the Year Award - Newly named in honor of an outstanding member and community volunteer who sadly passed, this award gives thanks to a volunteer who keeps showing up and contributing, perhaps in ways not seen by many members.
Recruiter of the Year Award - New for 2025, this honor goes to the member who has recruited the most new members during the current fiscal year. Award determined by member data.
| | Virtual Membership Info Session | | This is an easy way to learn more about Impact Austin from the comfort of a computer desk or favorite chair. We’ll gather on May 9 at noon via Zoom. (Once registered, attendees will receive the Zoom link.) Members, if you have a friend or colleague who is curious about Impact Austin, share this event with her. All who join by May 23 will be qualified to vote on 2025 grants. | | Bookending May are two very different Member Connections gatherings. How lucky are we? On May 1, we’ll meet for an Uno de Mayo celebration. Then, on May 31, we will explore downtown on an urban hike, through the Austin Public Library, and onto the Pfluger Bridge. We’ll follow that with a picnic in Pease Park. Check out Eventbrite listings for helpful details on each event, plus registrations. These are great opportunities to introduce a non-member to Impact Austin friends. | | Join/Renew/Rejoin to Vote for 2025 Grants and Fund 2026 Grants | | Members in Multiple Giving Circles | | Do you belong to more than one giving circle? If so, please alert the Marketing Committee through contact@impactaustin.org. The growth of collective giving is a powerful story, and it’s one that we’d like to share through the lens of Impact Austin members. We’ll start with a blog article and see where it grows from there! | | |
Registration is open for our Annual Meeting on June 9. By popular demand, we’re returning to the Austin Public Library Special Events Center at 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. Paid parking is available on site. Also returning will be Favor Catering with light bites and bar. More details will be shared on our Events page soon!
With a tight agenda, we have just 45 minutes for registration and reception, 5:30-6:15 PM. Come on time to enjoy refreshments, socialize with new friends and longtime members, and create photo memories! Speaking of photos…..
In addition to professional shots, we want to have your photos and video clips. You can text these to Impact Austin at 512-553-6083. Similarly, we love your social media posts about any Impact Austin events! Tag Impact Austin, please, so that we can reach new audiences and potential members.
| | What a treat to be part of the Apr 10 learning lunch focused on Trust Based Philanthropy. Thank you to co-host I Live Here I Give Here, Cirrus Logic's event space, panel facilitator Simone Talma Flowers, and panelists Laila Scott (Reissa Foundation), Sharon Vigil (Communities in Schools of Central Texas), and Michelle Flores Vryn, (MFV Consulting). SO inspirational! | | Coming up May 23-25 is Philanthropy Together’s virtual We Give Summit. Of special note are two amazing keynote speakers. Dimple Abichandani spoke to Impact Austin members at our 2021 Town Hall Meeting, providing an early introduction for us to Trust-Based Philanthropy. Hali Lee will join Sara Lomelin (CEO, Philanthropy Together) to discuss Democratizing Philanthropy, One Kitchen Table at a Time. The “kitchen table” has important meaning in Impact Austin’s earliest days, too! Consider joining online for all or part of this three-day summit. | | Community Partner Spotlight | | |
Girlstart was founded in Austin in 1997 and has since served more than 220,000+ girls, families, and educators across Texas, in Boston, MA, and in California’s Bay Area. Girlstart is focused on STEM education to empower and equip girls in grades 4-8 and young women through year-round, informal education and programming. Its nationally-recognized STEM education programs are diverse and women-centered with real-world connections to STEM careers via guest speakers and career-focused curriculum.
In 2022, Girlstart won our $18,800 Equity Grant with unrestricted support of their mission and programs. Girlstart partnered with 35 schools in 6 districts during 2023, reaching 1,352 4th and 5th grade girls in Austin and Central Texas. Partner school districts included Austin, Georgetown, Hays, Leander, Pflugerville, and Round Rock. All of Girlstart’s after-school lessons and activities are designed to bridge learning gaps by increasing girls' learning hours in STEM and preparing girls for advanced math and science in middle school and beyond.
Check out our Grant Outcomes video featuring Girlstart!
| | |
We have a team of amazing individuals working hard to keep you up to date with what is happening at Impact Austin.
Visit our blog to find event info, press releases, member profiles and so much more! And don't forget to #JoinImpactAustin on your favorite social media sites!
Please "like" and "share" our posts! You'll help to promote Impact Austin to a wider audience and potential members. We would love to hear from you...what do you want to learn more about? What type of information is useful for you?
Email us at contact@impactaustin.org.
| | | | |
