Brenham State School in Brenham, Texas, is home to 400 people with mental retardation from ages 12–82. State and federal funding provides for the basics of life—a place to live, food, medical care, and minimal recreation. Anything extra comes from fundraising. After trial and error with other fundraising approaches, the school has embraced the Benevon Model. Today, the school, sprawled over 200 acres, feels almost like a camp, complete with a pool, chapel, wheelchair-accessible recreational park, and soon-to-be-built gazebo. There is also a cabin where residents can go for pet therapy and cooking classes.

When Tamy Metzger started working for the Brenham State School fifteen years ago, she was put in charge of fundraising as well as public information and volunteers. But the former schoolteacher and restaurant owner had no background in raising money, so she started attending every fundraising seminar she could find.

"I was really thirsty to know more about fundraising, and I heard from a lot of people saying, 'You need to do this,' or 'You need to do that,'" said Metzger.

Then she heard Terry Axelrod, the founder and CEO of Benevon, speak in Houston at one of the events sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

"Not only did she tell you, 'Here's what you need to do,' but also, 'Here's how to do it.' She impressed me so much when I saw her," Metzger said.

Metzger hurried back and told her volunteers about Axelrod's speech, but it took a few years for the others to get on board. The volunteers continued with their golf tournament, fashion show, and direct-mail campaign. After some frustrating fundraising experiences, they turned to Benevon.

"We knew if we were going to get serious about fundraising, this [Benevon] was the avenue we had to go," said Metzger.

Metzger said one of the volunteers on her team, Dottie Schaer, suggested they ask one of the grandsons who started Blue Bell Creameries—home of the legendary Blue Bell ice cream—to pay for their workshop tuition. (According to Metzger, "The cows think Brenham is heaven.") The grandson agreed, and in early 2003, a team from the Brenham State School went to a Benevon 101 Workshop in Dallas.

"I just remembered all of us had a lot of 'a-ha' moments," said Metzger of the workshop. "It was like little lights going on. But at the same time, we were thinking, 'Is this really going to work? Are we really going to find Table Captains? Are people going to donate?'"

Metzger characterizes the Benevon system as a "leap of faith" because you are not creating a single special event that is guaranteed to generate money, but are creating a system with free events, accompanied by lots of personal cultivation and involvement, to educate and inspire the community about the organization's mission. That concept ran counter to her belief that you had to entertain donors to get them to give money.

But right away, the school got a great response from the introductory Point of Entry^® Events they dubbed "Sneak a Peek Tours." Although the school is the biggest employer in Brenham, most people in the community had no reason to come to the campus. As part of the Point of Entry, Metzger's team put guests on golf carts and gave them a mini-tour.

Metzger said the volunteers had a great time asking people afterward what they thought of the tours. Most people, she said, had no idea about the level of activities that went on. "We thought people just sat around," was a common response, said Metzger.

Once people learned about the great work going on at the school, they naturally wanted to help. Metzger was surprised at the number of enthusiastic supporters who were eager to get involved with the organization.

After establishing a system for Point of Entry Events and following up individually with each guest, Metzger's team was ready to put on their first Ask Event^™ in the fall of 2003. The touching event included a school choir and a state representative as a Table Captain, and it raised $125,000 in gifts and pledges from 193 guests.

"We were like little kids," Metzger said of their success. "It was so exciting."

Bonnie Schulte, the assistant director of community relations, added, "We had to count it two or three times to make sure it was right."

With the money, the school spent $90,000 on new vehicles to transport residents to medical appointments and special outings, such as the Houston Livestock Parade. They are also building a huge gazebo (forty-four feet in diameter) in the common area behind the four big buildings housing the residents. "We want the area to feel more home-like," said Metzger.

Metzger said all of the school's fundraising is now centered around the Benevon Model.

"[Benevon] is our culture," she said. "At first it didn't sink in that all our fundraising activities should be centered around our mission. It took us awhile to figure that out."

Schulte credits the coaching calls for keeping them focused. "Without the coaching we may have drifted," she said. Without coaching, she pointed out, they would have been tempted to make the program more than an hour, or they may not have spent the money to produce the high-quality video that still brings staff to tears even after seeing it a hundred times.

"I think we are really lucky to have found [Benevon]," said Metzger. "We give our residents a real wonderful place to live, and [Benevon] is helping us do that. We are able to provide a much better quality of life than we could with only our federal/state funding to rely on."