Donna Batter, the fund development director for Washington Women in Need, a nonprofit that provides funding for education and healthcare for women in Washington state, first bought the Benevon books and tapes in 2000 but could not get a team of people to buy into the system. "It fell on deaf ears," she said. Then, in 2003, after joining the staff at WWIN, a board member became interested and convinced the rest of the board to adopt the Benevon Model. The nonprofit implemented the system and increased fundraising by 330% in two years. Now, everyone is convinced it works...

Washington Women in Need was founded in 1992 by Julia Pritt, a co-founder of a major software company who weathered a divorce, the loss of involvement in her company, breast cancer, and a death in the family. At a time when most would turn inward, Julia turned outward to help others by establishing WWIN. The nonprofit provides funding to over 300 women each year with grants for dental work, education, and other healthcare needs. The average salary of the women they help is just $8,000 a year, and the demand for their services is huge.

Donna Batter, WWIN's fund development director, calls the problem of women in poverty a "silent epidemic." She said that approximately 225,000 women are living in poverty in Washington state and that 38% of WWIN's clients have dependent children. Every month, Washington Women in Need announces a program opening for dental care; mental health counseling; physical, hearing, and eye care; health insurance premiums; or education, and they then take applications over the phone. On these days, the seven phone lines are constantly busy.

"When we have a dental opening, the phones ring off the hook and the opportunities are gone in just twenty minutes," said Batter. "We spend the rest of the day saying, 'Sorry, call back at the next opening.'"

Pritt provides the $500,000 for yearly operating costs and some program funds for the nonprofit, but to meet the demand to help more women, they needed to raise more money. Batter learned about the Benevon approach back in 2000 when she was affiliated with another organization and thought it could help expand their capacity, but it wasn't easy for her to convince others.

What finally led WWIN to adopt this system, Batter said, was when a board member went to an introductory session and recruited a new board member she met there. "They were on fire about using this system," Batter recalled.

She said they told the twenty-member board, "This is what we need to be doing." It took the board's commitment to make the investment and adopt the Benevon system. Washington Women in Need sent a team to their first workshop in October of 2004.

Batter said their coach really helped them to hone their stories and create a buzz in the community about their work.

The organization set a five-year strategic goal of raising $1 million in outside funds by 2010, and they were amazed to find that the Benevon system made it possible for them to hit their five-year target in the very first year with two Ask Events.

"It's kind of a shock. We just didn't expect to reach our strategic plan goal the first year," said Batter of their huge success.

Now, the board is convinced of the Benevon approach. Their team has joined Benevon's Five-Year Sustainable Funding Program^™ and is on the track to financial sustainability.

"Getting buy-in from the board was the critical piece," said Batter. "You can buy the books and tapes and say you are going to implement the system, but unless you have a team approach and the coaching, it doesn't work."