Partner Spotlight: Autism Speaks

At Team Butter, we believe fundraising can do more than help groups reach their goals—it can also create meaningful impact for organizations doing important work every day. Through Hearts & Hours, schools, teams, and families can support nonprofit partners while building stronger communities.

This month, we’re spotlighting Autism Speaks a nonprofit dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan. We asked their team to share more about the impact of their work, why community support matters, and what this partnership means to them.

Meet Autism Speaks

Mission: Autism Speaks is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan. We do this through advocacy, services, supports, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.
Who they serve: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their families
Why they partnered with Hearts & Hours: Support through Hearts & Hours helps expand access to trusted resources, services, advocacy, research, and community programs that support autistic individuals and their families.

Q&A with Autism Speaks

What impact does every Hearts & Hours donation make for the people or communities you serve?

Every donation helps Autism Speaks create a more inclusive world where all autistic people can reach their full potential. Autism affects every community—1 in 31 children is diagnosed with autism, and more than 6 million autistic adults live in the U.S. today. Support through Hearts & Hours helps expand access to trusted resources, services, advocacy, research, and community programs that support autistic individuals and their families across the lifespan.

Can you share a story or example of how your organization has made a difference?

For more than two decades, Autism Speaks has been a leading voice in autism advocacy, helping drive research, services, supports, and policy change that improve quality of life from early diagnosis through adulthood. Through our work, families gain access to reliable information and guidance, communities become better equipped to support autistic individuals, and workplaces and schools are encouraged to build more inclusive environments. Autism Speaks focuses on practical solutions across the lifespan—including early intervention, transition to adulthood, employment, housing, health and wellness, and community connection.

What excites you most about students and families supporting your mission through Hearts & Hours?

What excites us most is the opportunity to turn awareness into meaningful action. When students and families support Autism Speaks, they help build understanding, acceptance, and inclusion in their own schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities. Every hour volunteered and every dollar raised helps advance a future where autistic individuals have greater access to opportunities, resources, and support.

How do service hours and charitable giving work together to create a greater impact?

Service hours and charitable giving are powerful together because they combine hands-on engagement with the resources needed to expand impact. Volunteering helps raise awareness, strengthen community connection, and promote inclusion. Charitable giving helps fuel programs, advocacy, research, and resources that support autistic individuals and families. Together, they create momentum—turning compassion into action and action into lasting change.

What would you say to someone considering supporting Autism Speaks?

Your support can help ignite change and open doors for autistic individuals and their families. Autism Speaks is a trusted leader with national reach, driving advocacy, research, services, and partnerships that improve lives in communities across the country. By supporting Autism Speaks, you are helping create more inclusive schools, workplaces, and communities while ensuring families have access to reliable information, resources, and support when they need it most.

Want to support organizations like Autism Speaks through Hearts & Hours?

Autism Speaks is a powerful example of what Hearts & Hours is all about: connecting people to causes that create meaningful change. By supporting organizations like this, students and families are doing more than participating in fundraising—they’re helping expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and invest in the future.

At Team Butter, we’re proud to support programs that make giving back feel accessible, engaging, and community-driven through Hearts & Hours.

Want to support impact like this through Hearts & Hours?

Learn more about how Team Butter through Hearts and Hours helps groups combine fundraising, service, and community support at TeamButter.com.