2019 has been a year of growth, new ideas, and a renewed sense of purpose for TUGG and our mission that lives at the intersection of Boston's tech community and some of its most innovative nonprofits. We've had a busy year with two flagship events and new programming, and we wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the highlights with you.
Finally, we want to make sure that TUGG events are on your radar for 2020! We have another busy year ahead and if you are not already a member of the TUGG community, we hope you or your organization will consider reaching out to say hello. Here's what we're proud of this year:
In May, TUGG's renowned Wine & Tequila party made its highly anticipated return to the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts. Over 1,100 Boston tech stars, representing 100+ companies, came out to celebrate social innovation with us. After evaluating 87 nonprofits, TUGG invited five organizations to share their stories and compete for cash prizes at the event. ARCK, a nonprofit that empowers students to become creative thinkers through art, and ThinkGive, a nonprofit that inspires young people to use kindness to engage with the world, made their TUGG debut this year. Three returning nonprofits, MediaGirls, Catie’s Closet and Resilient Coders, rounded out the cohort.
It was a close competition this year but in the end, Resilient Coders walked away with the grand prize: $50,000 in cash AND a $50,000 consulting contract donated by our friends at Engaged Giving Partners. Overall, $160,000 in prizes were rewarded to all the participating nonprofits.
HUGE thank you to our 50+ sponsors who made Boston’s best night of the year possible! In addition to their financial support, the energy they brought to our event made it one of the most unforgettable nights of 2019.
Mark your calendars, TUGG’s Wine & Tequila Party returns again on March 5th, 2020.
Buy your tickets by 12/31 to receive 30% off!
Save the date!
Our newest programming push, the TUGG Lunch n’ Learn series, kicked off in early 2019 and results have been overwhelmingly positive. From light-lift team volunteering to companies holding mini-hackathons after-hours for our nonprofits, 16 Boston tech companies welcomed 17 nonprofits in to their offices to speak about their mission this year. All in all, 50+ Lunch n’ Learns were held in 2019; a number we look to increase in 2020.
We continue to tweak the format, but the results speak for themselves.
85% of employees were more likely to volunteer after attending a Lunch n’ Learn and 99% of employees surveyed would recommend the program to a friend.
Are you interested in bringing some of Boston’s best nonprofits into your office for a Lunch n’ Learn?
Get a jump start on your 2020 CSR initiatives and sign up here!
2019’s Tech Gives Back was the largest and most impactful industry service event on the planet. Over 100 nonprofit volunteer projects were filled with over 2,400 volunteers from 80 Boston companies, who came out to serve their community despite a looming Nor’Easter! That’s not to mention the additional 1,300+ global volunteers who worked in 11 American cities and 5 countries around the world through our partnership with Silicon Valley Bank.
This Tech Gives Back was a special one. We thank all of our sponsors, especially Silicon Valley Bank, for their unwavering support of TUGG and for making Boston a model for corporate citizenship around the world.
To the 90+ nonprofits we were able to assist this year: thank you for the vital work you do in some of our most vulnerable communities around Boston. Simply put, you are everyday heroes and we all are privileged to be able to volunteer to work with you.
And to the 3,700+ tech workers who donated their time this year…we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for being the most important part of Tech Gives Back.
In 2020, Tech Gives Back turns 10 years old! So let’s get out there and do it even bigger next year!
Lastly…
Oh yeah…and we were named one of Bostinno’s 50 on Fire for 2019! Shout out to Sri and Rowan at Bostinno for the invite, and to whomever anonymously nominated us for this honor. The work we do to bring Boston tech and Boston nonprofits together is a great reward in itself, but this was a real nice surprise this year.
In closing…
2020 is going to be a a great year for Boston, its amazing (and philanthropic) tech community, and the nonprofits that we are so fortunate and grateful to serve.
What can we do together to make 2020 even better? Is this the year you become a part of the TUGG community?
We sure hope so.
Come to our parties. Host a Lunch n’ Learn. Volunteer at Tech Gives Back.
At the very least, reach out to community@tugg.org to say hello.
Thank you all for 2019. Now let’s rest over the holidays and come back ready to take 2020 to another level.
Excelsior!
~Mike