Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, Inc.
Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, Inc. (BNPCFI) is a 501(c) (3) organization founded in 1992 by Kathleen A. Casey. The foundation is named in memory of her eight-year- old son, Barrett "Bear" Krupa, who died after a courageous five-and-a-half year battle with Wilms Tumor, a pediatric cancer. During his long stay in the hospital, Bear expressed more concern for other pediatric cancer patients than he did for himself. He and his mother learned of the many “hidden needs” of both patient and family members—simple things like having games to play while in the hospital and transportation and parking for family members to and from the hospital. Prior to his death on January 9, 1993, Bear and Kathleen discussed and planned the formation of Bear Necessities to fund those hidden needs. To this day Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation is dedicated to eliminating pediatric cancer and to providing hope and support to those who are touched by it.
Highlights
- Greater Giving Event Software provides a centralized source for all the details of their annual Bear Tie Ball.
- Using Greater Giving, there are no long check-out lines, even though the event draws up to 700 guests.
- Bear Tie Ball attendees quickly accepted the new Express Pay system at check-in when check-in workers promoted the advantage of not waiting at check-out.
Challenge
In the beginning, the auction details for the annual Bear Tie Ball were all managed on paper, then in Microsoft® Excel®. As the event has grown over the years, however, tracking all the individual items for 250 packages had gotten to be overwhelming. Susan Mura, BNPCFI’s Director of Finance & Operations explained that “It was bulky to have to move the items around in the spreadsheet to make pages, and creating the bid sheets was time consuming.” They began looking for a software solution and selected a small local startup company. Even with this basic software, though, managing the event continued to be a fairly manual process. With the auction representing at least 50% of their annual fundraising efforts, they needed a more efficient solution.
Solution
In 2005, when Bear Necessities saw a demonstration of the rich features of Greater Giving Event Software and Auctionpay terminals, Mura decided it was time to make a switch.
“Having a tool where all the items can be tracked centrally and easily turned into auction packages has saved the team a lot of time,” said Mura. She also enjoys the fact that they can add the cocktail raffles and the Miracle Auction to the database. The Miracle Auction is Special Appeal for the Small Miracle Program for children undergoing cancer treatment — a Miracle for $500 or less. It also offers financial support to families in the program. ”Guests who’ve pre-swiped their card for Express Pay just have to put a bidder number on a slip of paper to have the amount added to their night’s total,” explained Mura.
Tips from Bear Necessities
- Use Greater Giving Online Payments for golf outings and other small events throughout the year.
- Coach volunteers on explaining Express Pay to guests at check-in.
Results
Mura was pleased with the rapid adoption of Express Pay by their event attendees. While no group likes change, the ease of registering their cards with the magic words, “You won’t have to wait in line!” sped up check-in and check-out lines. Exclaimed Mura, “Lines are almost non-existent now at our event!”
Bear Necessities started using Online Payments in 2006 to collect online registrations for the Bear Tie Ball. Mura explained that most of those sales come from corporate sponsors, who buy a table and send employees or guests. It’s just another way to allow sponsors and donors to pay quickly and conveniently. BNPCFI also uses Online Payments for their golf outing and other fundraising events throughout the year.
In February of 2009, Bear Necessities hosted their 16th annual Bear Tie Ball, and in combination with other fundraising efforts, raised over half a million dollars to support their cause and keep Bear’s dream alive.
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