Being Part of the 1%

Blog article originally posted on Austin Gives on July 15, 2013.

LaurieOK, not THAT part – the Austin Gives part!   It feels really good to give back to our great community and to make it stronger.  To know my company and employees are making a difference.

I was very naïve about the giving component in my business when I started Give Realty.  There are two things I learned about nonprofits that really opened my eyes and allowed me to realize the big impact my small company was having.

Unrestricted funding.  I had no clue as to how important donations with “no strings attached” are to an organization.  This is very different than grants, which are awarded to nonprofits for very specific purposes.  Unrestricted funds can also be used to get matching funds from grants and government entities.  At the nonprofit LifeWorks, an unrestricted donation of $100 can be leveraged to get up to $700 in matching funding.

Impact.  Nonprofits are masters at getting the most bang for your buck!  You don’t have to give a large amount of money to have a considerable impact.  Below are a few examples of what nonprofits can do with $1, $10 and $100.

$1 donated to the Capital Area Food Bank can be leveraged to purchase $5 worth of food which will provide the ingredients for 3 nutritious meals.

$10 will provide 600 nails for an Austin Habitat for Humanity Home build.

$100 invested in spay/neuter surgery will prevent the need for 12 dogs or cats to be put in a shelter.  Did you know the average cost to shelter an unwanted pet costs is $40 per day?

See how easy it is to have a considerable impact?  You don’t have to be wealthy to do a wealth of good in Austin!  My sincere thanks to all the Austin Gives members for committing to give 1% or more of pretax earnings back to the community on an annual basis.