Behind the Scenes at Austin’s Giving Day

Tamir Kalifa for The Chronicle

Amplify Austin is one of the country’s older giving days. It’s run by an experienced team that operates smoothly, with no tech meltdowns so far, and a steady trajectory of growth.

Since they first took hold 10 years ago, giving days have helped charities find new donors and raise millions in unrestricted cash. In this report, we go behind the scenes of Amplify Austin, a successful seven-year-old event in a fast-growing Texas city full of millennials and tech wealth, to see what it takes to get people to give in one action-packed 24-hour period.

You’ll learn how the nonprofit that runs Amplify navigates the logistical and technology challenges of its philanthropy marathon, how it supports more than 740 charities in their search for gifts, and what it’s like to push toward that final goal. The report also spotlights what’s new in how giving days are run nationwide and offers a timeline of how the phenomenon has grown — and sometimes stumbled — over the past decade.