The Big Give Overview

Once a year, Brownsville’s “The Big Give Brownsville” was held citywide. The Big Give Brownsville was a 24-hour day of giving benefiting charities across the city and fostering charitable giving by encouraging Brownsville residents to give where they live.

Unlike other fundraising initiatives, Brownsville’s Big Give promoted personal giving to all of the participating nonprofits equally through its unique and highly visible live and online platforms.  In addition to encouraging continued support to Brownsville’s favorite causes and campaigns, the Big Give Brownsville introduced donors to new nonprofits and causes attracting first-time donations.

All participating nonprofits were registered 501 (c) (3) organizations eligible to participate and receive donations from the 24 hours event. Brownsville Independent School District high schools participated through a partnership with The Brownsville Community Foundation and The Brownsville Foundation for Health and Education with an initiative called Youth in Philanthropy (YIP).

Our first ever Big Give Brownsville was held on May 6, 2017, donors and participating nonprofits and public high schools were encouraged to attend the giving day celebrations.  A kickoff rally and celebration for the giving day took place at the event headquarters, the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art.  Here, the Big Give Brownsville’s leadership and elected school officials spoke on the philanthropic impact and importance of Brownsville’s Big Give.  Later in the day, donors and the community-at-large were invited to stop by the official headquarters and there was a conclusion celebration.   

The Brownsville Big Give believes in the power of each person to make a positive difference in our community.  The Big Give celebrated that positive impact and promoted charitable giving by providing a live and an online platform through which to support nonprofits or search for new causes. 

During the pandemic, Brownsville’s Big Give was done virtually once and then had to be suspended.  The Brownsville Community Foundation will now move on and support our community in other ways.  We will always celebrate the successes of the Big Give Brownsville and our collaboration with our community nonprofits.  Please read about our Youth in Philanthropy Initiative to see how we are still collaborating with those same nonprofits! 

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