NOTE: Please do NOT contact these organizations directly with your questions about the Benevon Model. They, just like all nonprofits, are busy fulfilling their missions, and have generously contributed their stories with the understanding that readers of our Web site will not contact them directly. Instead, please direct any questions about Benevon to info@benevon.com or (206) 709-9400. Thank you for your consideration.

Lauren S. Johnson remembers clearly how nervous she was when she was hired as the Development Officer for Portland Waldorf School. “I was in my first year as a Development Officer and had to learn fast. Our school was buying a site in a new location and had to raise awareness and friends in the community. And we had to raise a lot of money.” When a consultant recommended that they consider the Benevon training, Lauren did a little research and decided to take her team to the Benevon 101 Workshop.

Waldorf schools are nondenominational private schools which have been operating in Europe and the United States for over 80 years. They emphasize arts and movement as the basis for learning. The Waldorf system teaches the whole child—the head, hands, and heart. Therefore, rather than taking a place in the sidelines of the school as “extra curricular” classes, all children at Portland Waldorf School experience painting, sculpture, music, movement, drama, and practical arts, such as knitting and woodworking, as an integrated part of their learning in the humanities, mathematics, foreign languages, and the sciences. Waldorf Schools are well-respected by those familiar with their educational philosophy, but Lauren's team was concerned about the pre-conceived ideas others might have about how this arts-based education works. Lauren and her team were determined to make this mission understood and valued within the Portland community as a whole. “We needed to connect people other than parents of our students to the mission.”

They started by inviting guests to their Point of Entry^® Events, which take the form of a breakfast discussion and classroom tour. The discussion familiarizes guests with the school, but it is the classroom visit, says Lauren, which really gets their point across. “We wanted to give new people an authentic experience of a Waldorf school. The basis of the education is experiential and we want to give people an experience of experiential education—not just talk at them. The Waldorf classroom is really a magical place.” The Point of Entry demonstrates to guests how the Waldorf teachers bond with their students over an eight-year period, and how this relationship shapes more than just a student's intellect. Guests leave the Point of Entry with the message: “Discover how magical a school can be.”

Though their Point of Entry Events were going well, it wasn't easy at first for the Portland Waldorf team to convert those guests into donors. People within the surrounding community quickly became more familiar with their work, but even today cultivation remains the greatest challenge for Lauren and her team. According to Lauren, the problem is “how to do it, how to carve out time to make the calls. Getting people to the second meeting is really hard.” (In order to ease the cultivation process, Lauren's team is currently converting to Next Step^®, Benevon's Web-based donor tracking software.) But, with help from their Benevon Coach and a tightly structured model to follow, Lauren and her team were well prepared for their first big Ask Event^™.

Portland Waldorf's first Ask Event, entitled “The Wonders of Waldorf Luncheon,” included moving testimonials and a slide-show about the work of the school and its impact on specific students' lives. One particularly moving testimonial was given by a teacher who witnessed a late-blooming student of hers who had a fear of reading and had made very slow progress, transform over his years at Waldorf into a student gifted in both literature and drama. The response from guests at the Ask Event was so powerful that Lauren's team had enough new Table Captain volunteers that they were able to hold a second Ask Event in November of that same year. Combined, the two Ask Events were attended by over 400 individuals, and the financial results “stunned and exhilarated” Lauren and her team.

Thanks to the Benevon training and coaching, the Portland Waldorf School team began to feel that their fundraising finally had a sense of continuity. As Lauren explains, “The model combines all of the elements of best practices in development. It synthesizes common sense and tried-and-true methods into one system that our parents, board members, and staff could understand and embrace.” This model has helped re-inspire and build the team's confidence in their ability to sustain funding for the cause they are passionate about. Adds Lauren, “Our fundraising now seems less like money grabbing. It connects people to the whole point of this school and education. It also makes us get re-inspired—it helps us put our best foot forward and reignites our passion.”

To anyone considering implementing the Benevon Model, Lauren advises, “If you want to implement the model, you should go to the 101 Workshop. There is nothing like being there for the hands-on training. We found the Essential Story development and Ask Event preparation are hard to do one one's own, and the coaching support that accompanies the workshop is invaluable.” On a more personal note, Lauren reflects that the Benevon training “has been a great tool for my own learning and development. This model has been a real life-saver for me!”