Gilda's Club, a worldwide network of twenty organizations that provide emotional and social support for anyone affected by cancer, is developing a novel approach for supporting its affiliates and helping more of them to implement a system for mission-based fundraising...

Gilda's Club was named in honor of Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner, who died in 1989 from ovarian cancer. Gilda valued the social and emotional support she received when she had cancer. The first Gilda's Club opened in New York City in 1995, and they have since expanded across the United States and Canada. The mission of Gilda's Club—to help anyone affected by cancer—is often lost in the branding. Those who are old enough to remember Gilda Radner think the clubs are for women with ovarian cancer, and those younger don't remember who Gilda Radner was.

The Gilda's Club program is provided free of charge for all men, women, and children living with cancer, so the organization depends entirely on philanthropic support to sustain its efforts. A recent generous donation of $150,000 from a donor in Dallas has generated another $150,000 in matching gifts, all with the intent of making it possible for Gilda's Club affiliates to implement the Benevon Model.

"A handful of the clubs have already tried the [Benevon] system, and they have found that powerful storytelling and connecting donors to their mission is just what they needed. "Our mission is a little complex," said Kelly Counts, the development manager of Gilda's Club North Texas. "How do you show what emotional and social support looks like?"

After their Benevon training, Gilda's Club North Texas shows their mission in part through powerful Point of Entry tours they call "Come as You Are." "Once we get people into our building, it's really easy to connect them to our mission," Counts said.

Counts' team held their first Ask Event^™ in October 2005, and they raised more than $400,000 in gifts and pledges with 435 people in attendance. "There was not a doubt in my mind that the people who came understood our mission and what it meant to our members," said Counts.

A team from the North Texas club participated in a Benevon Workshop after the great success of the Gilda's Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The executive director from Grand Rapids visited Dallas and spoke to board members about the Grand Rapids club's experience with Benevon.

Word about this successful fundraising model spread quickly across the country. Now the newly opened Gilda's Club in Buffalo, New York, has enrolled in the training and has been conducting Point of Entry^® Events since January.

Nancy Holiman, the development director at Gilda's Club in Buffalo, said nonprofits that are event-focused often miss the opportunity to follow up with donors after the event. She said the Benevon approach puts that important follow-up process into the rigor of an overall system.

"A big part of what I like about [Benevon] is the discipline and packaging of it," Holiman said. She said five to six nonprofits in Buffalo are now supporting each other in implementing the Benevon Model. "We are trying to go to each others' events and give feedback," she said.

With their unique program being developed for donations specifically intended to allow all Gilda's Club affiliates to implement this model, we expect that more and more Gilda's Clubs will be supporting each other in mission-based fundraising and connecting with donors who are passionate about their work.