Indy tech community comes together to further social good

This summer, 12 Indianapolis technology groups joined forces for the Third Annual Indy Tech Gives, a social fundraising campaign to raise donations for central Indiana charities. Participants compete as individuals and teams, raising funds for the benefiting charity selected by their company.

This approach to corporate social responsibility unites employees around a common goal and empowers individuals to expand their impact by raising donations from their friends and family.

Since 2019, Indy Tech Gives has grown from four participating companies to 12, engaging nearly 700 Indianapolis technology professionals and raising more than $155,000.

This year’s Indy Tech Gives was the biggest yet, raising $91,803 for 10 local charities. The 2021 fundraising challenge ran from June 7 to July 16 with 325 challenge participants from:

• Boardable
• CSpring
• DeveloperTown
• Fire Starters, Inc.
• Indy CIO Network
• Leaf Software Solutions
• OneCause
• Salesforce
• Socio
• Springbuk
• SIM Indy
• Zylo

The 2021 Indy Tech Gives competition featured creative fundraising strategies to raise awareness and donations through the OneCause peer-to-peer fundraising software. It was this creativity that helped Indy Tech Gives stretch beyond the central Indiana community to inspire 1,308 donations from 44 different states. Check out some of the most fun and motivating fundraisers we saw this year.

Cause-Connected Fundraising Events

DeveloperTown hosted an evening of Beer & Bots recruiting teams for a robot competition raising $3,600 for TechPoint Foundation for Youth to help provide STEM education access for underserved Indiana students. The STEM mission was brought to life as participating companies over engineered pre-built robots for a friendly battle and networking.

OneCause organized a Bend and Brew – Yoga for a Cause event bringing together supporters under the Carmel Gazebo hosted by employee, Kelly Alford. Attendees were encouraged to donate a minimum of $20 in exchange for a 45-minute yoga class, $5 gift certificate to the Carmel Sun King Brewery, and a chance to win six fitness classes donated by The Yoga Studio and InCycle at Carmel City Center. The yoga event raised more than $1,000, helping OneCause reach a total raise of $35,956for the Indiana Chapter of The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Volunteer Days

The fundraising teams from Socio raised more than $10,000 for the Dayspring Center Family Emergency Center, a local organization that helps homeless guests with children. This summer, they not only doubled their fundraising goal, but also volunteered their time at the Dayspring Center. From water balloon fights to relay races, the team came together to bring joy to the children during field day. The volunteer opportunity was a highlight for all those who participated, beyond a team building experience, it gave the Socio team the opportunity to see the impact of their fundraising firsthand.  

Personal Activity Challenges

One of the most popular ways to fundraise this year was through personal fitness and activity challenges. We saw push-up challenges, virtual karaoke competitions, and running commitments with more than 1,000 miles tracked. Two teammates from OneCause even went head-to-head in a bike riding competition, collectively cycling 1,200 miles in just 6 weeks.

Throughout the fundraising competition Marty Bird from Leaf Software Solutions vowed to “Row for Bosma,” completing 10+ rowing workouts of over 6,800 meters. Marty rowed more than 12,850 meters and donated $5 every time he rowed over 6,800 yards, while his supporters helped him raise a total of $1,000 for the Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation.

Whether it was fitness motivation, an opportunity to gather or see the mission in action, this year’s Indy Tech Gives truly showed the passion, commitment, and creativity of the Indianapolis tech community.

For more information about joining the 2022 Indy Tech Gives campaign, please visit: https://bit.ly/36OaXNX.