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.

Before encountering the Benevon Model, Sojourner Center of Phoenix, AZ had routinely achieved modest success with traditional, time-consuming special event fundraisers. At the recommendation of another nonprofit, staff members at Sojourner attended a Benevon Introductory Session. What Donor Relations Manager Tracey DeGoey and her team learned there inspired them to take the next step toward sustainable funding by attending the Benevon 101 Workshop. They gained such valuable training both during the workshop and the subsequent coaching that they went on to attend Benevon 201, and are now registered to participate in the 2004-2005 Benevon 301 Program.

The mission of Sojourner Center is “To overcome the impact of domestic violence, one life at a time. Sojourner Center provides shelter and services to women and children who are victims of domestic violence.” For Tracey and her team, it is of a vital and often very personal importance that they are able to provide these services. “Our programs emphasize empowerment, and our methods have proven to be successful in the fact that we have a high percentage of women not returning to or getting into another abusive relationship. Our program has been adopted nationally because of its success,” says Tracey. What Sojourner Center needed most was a way to “promote our mission with individuals and retain them as continuous supporters.” This was exactly what they gained by implementing the Benevon Model.

Initially, it wasn't easy for Tracey and her team to implement the highly structured Benevon Model. This fundraising approach was so different from what they had been taught that it took some major adjustments. “So often we as a staff want to fall back into the success of one-time special events despite ourselves. The challenge we had was actually approaching a comprehensive model that was organized and mission-driven.” In spite of these challenges, with the help and support of their Benevon Coach, the team persisted in the groundwork of Point of Entry^® Events and cultivation that paved the way for their successful Ask Events^™.

During their Point of Entry Events and subsequent cultivation of guests, Tracey's team attracted 400 attendees for their first Ask Event breakfast, where they established their “Sojourner of Truth Society.” With the help of their Benevon Coach, the team put together a very emotional program for the Ask Event, with powerful testimonials from clients and even staff members who Sojourner had saved from a life of domestic violence. At Sojourner's first Ask Event, they had a staff member “read a letter from a woman who grew up in, married into, and struggled with domestic violence in every relationship she knew. It took being at Sojourner Center for her to find her voice, change her life and break the cycle of domestic violence for her daughter. It took this woman over 35 years to discover her worth and value as a person, and it was all due to Sojourner Center.” After reading the letter, that staff member revealed to the audience that it was her own personal story. At Sojourner's second event, that same staff member's daughter provided a testimonial, emphasizing in her speech that “We both would have a much different life, or not one at all, if it was not for Sojourner Center.” Guests at the event were very moved and inspired by these powerful testimonials that demonstrated the life-changing value of Sojourner's programs.

After the event, Tracey and her team were excited to discover that their hard work in cultivation and preparation had paid off in both dollars and new friends for the organization. Their successful first Ask Event formed an excellent foundation for their base of lifelong donors, and the results at their second-year event were even more impressive than the first. At a one-hour lunch with 800 guests, Tracey proudly points out that Sojourner “secured over $600,000 in gifts and pledges. That was over six times what we had raised in our previous special events that took longer to plan, solicit, and sell; not to mention those events were always over four hours!” In addition to the financial rewards, the Benevon team at Sojourner discovered that “We received priceless support through recruiting more volunteers, acquiring new resources, and awareness of our programs. It has afforded us the privilege to include our supporters in our mission, not just see them as money or resources. We now have partners.”

The Sojourner team attributes its success to the tools they gained by attending the Benevon Workshops. Tracey emphasizes that the most valuable information they received were “the detailed outlines, examples, and in-depth presentation of the model” at the workshop that made this system easy to apply and implement, and the subsequent coaching that customized the model to their organization's specific needs.

Tracey also points out the freedom the Benevon Model provides from the conventional, exhausting, entertainment-style fundraising methods. In her view, two of the major reasons to use this model are: “No silent or live auctions, and no sponsorships to sell!!!” And her “warning” to those considering attending a Benevon Workshop? “Prepare to be overwhelmed with excitement! This workshop will reignite the passion you have for your organization because it is mission-based and provides the steps to obtain what all nonprofits strive to have: lifelong donors.”