Renew or #JoinImpactAustin soon and push our total giving beyond $8 million next year!

Will the New Year open up time for you to get more involved at Impact Austin? If so, several volunteer opportunities await. “Hot” positions include Events, Advancement, Technology, DEIB, and Zones. For those interested in serving on a GRC, registration will open Jan 10. And see below for "shadow" opportunities with Grants.

Get all the details on our blog!

Impact Austin is assessing and measuring our impact, both with numbers and with members’ stories. It’s helpful for us to know how membership might have inspired you: to support a Community Partner as an individual; to volunteer with an organization or in a sector you came to know as a member; to take a leadership role with a nonprofit or event because Impact Austin provided the introduction; to design your personal philanthropy with tools you learned through Impact Austin’s grantmaking process. Please share your story in a paragraph or bullet points; your message can be very simply written. It’s valuable to us!

If you joined 2021 Town Hall, you met our four Community Partners, two of whom are brand new to Impact Austin! We awarded $226,200 to the partners listed below, taking our total grantmaking for 2021 to $430,000. Read all the details here. 

Con Mi MADRE - $90,500

Jolt Initiative - $22,600

Texas Advocacy Project, Inc. - $90,500

Austin Asian Community Health Initiative - $22,600

Two long-time Grant volunteers will step down as of Jan 1. Kathryn Drew has been Grants Co-Chair for three years, previously serving as Nonprofit Coordinator and on GRCs. Kathryn is planning some well-deserved time-off. Becky Austen will continue as Co-Chair of the Strategic Advisory Council but will step away from recently chairing Grantmaking & Strategic Partnerships and serving as Grants Chair before that. 

If you are interested in learning more about leadership positions in Grants, the team is looking for Shadows for the Spring 2022 grants cycle. A Shadow is a "committee chair in training" and works with the Co-Chairs to plan meetings and activities during the grants cycle. If you are interested in hearing more, please email Karen McLinden.

The g3 team announced their $9,200 grant opportunity in October. They have received 28 applications for funding. Serious review work began Dec 5. In 2022, Girls Giving Grants will exceed $100,000 in awards to Austin nonprofits serving youth. Stay tuned!

On November 30, Impact Austin hosted three other giving circles to share how collective giving is making a difference across Texas. Two groups from the Texas Women’s Foundation spoke – The Orchid Giving Circle and The Village Giving Circle – as did a new circle, Impact 100 Houston. Each circle is unique, yet all celebrate the sisterhood of collective giving as a force in contemporary philanthropy. Check out our blog and video for details about the session, the giving circles, and our presenters. So inspiring!

On October 15, Impact Austin’s DEIB Committee presented the third webinar in their series on Equity. Insights on LGBTQ+ Equity in Philanthropy was a powerful session that included thought-provoking topics and numerous audience questions. We thank the DEIB Committee for writing a blog recap. The video is available on our YouTube channel; both share content and links to our fabulous presenters and their bios. As a learning organization, we welcome the opportunities to change individual and collective mindsets and to better execute our mission, vision, and values.

Are you in a position to contribute above and beyond your annual dues to Impact Austin? An additional donation to the Annual Fund supports our philanthropy education, nonprofit outreach, signature events, and member programming, while also helping us cover general operating expenses. Gifts of $250 or more are recognized within our Philanthropy Circle. Donations made by December 31 will be matched up to $20,000 by member Melissa Patel and her husband Hiten Patel. Thank you to both! Found out how your year-end gift could be doubled or even quadrupled!

With 103 grants and 83 Community Partners since 2003, we have much to celebrate! In each newsletter, we’ll choose a past partner to highlight, while urging members to See Our Impact online.  

The $80,600 Catalyst Grant invested in Seedling’s re-brand efforts with multiple goals: to increase awareness of their young clients (children challenged by parental incarceration); to recruit mentors; and to engage new school districts as potential partners. Learn more about their work and watch their video here. Thank you for your partnership, Seedling!

Dec 31 - Patel Match Challenge ends; Membership deadline for Spring Grants funding

Jan 6 - Nonprofit Workshop, 4:00-5:30 PM

Jan 10 - Spring Grants open; GRC registration opens

Jan 21, Feb 4, Feb 18 - Discovery Days (details coming soon!)

If you missed some of our great content in 2021, check out our Past Events page!