Overview
About: This section will feature a short blurb describing what our client does or what their mission is.
The Challenge/Opportunity: This section will outline the challenge or opportunity the client brought to us, as well as background on the issue.
Co-creating a Solution: This section will summarize the plan/execution method to help the client find a solution to their challenge, including why the client approached Ignite Philanthropy for help and how we helped identify a strategy to achieve the goal.
The Plan in Action: This section will depict the execution of the campaign. Any hurdles should be discussed here, as well as how they were overcome. It should also include fundraising data and the total dollars raised.
Impact: This section is the conclusion, where we will discuss the outcomes of our joint effort. This section will summarize the positive impact on the community or beneficiaries, ideally through a quote and/or anecdote.
About Bethany House
Bethany House Services was founded in 1983 when sisters Mary Stanton and Dee Sizler brought a dream to fruition. Together, they secured a house which served as a shelter for a family in need.
Today, Bethany House has transformed from the small, faith-filled initiative of two Catholic sisters to the largest provider of family homelessness services in Greater Cincinnati. Bethany House now serves families of all configurations—single parents, two parent households, multi-generational families, and more—but the founding priorities remain: nearly 90% of families are led by single women and 67% of the people served by Bethany House are children.
This is an H3
As the needs of families continue to evolve, Bethany House remains steadfast as a place of refuge, hope, and empowerment.
The Challenge
In 2019, Bethany House Services was operating out of seven disconnected and geographically distant facilities, none of which were designed to shelter families experiencing homelessness.
In the four years prior, they had tackled an urgent need for temporary housing when Cincinnati’s largest family shelter closed. While Bethany House was able to increase its response and materials to meet the community’s needs, including acquiring 140 beds and three additional apartment-based shelters, operating out of several buildings limited the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission.
The solution was apparent: Bethany House had to consolidate their facilities by commissioning a new family shelter and a comprehensive services center. It would take $16.5 million dollars to complete the project, an ambitious and considerable undertaking for an organization that had never received a seven-figure gift.
Co-creating a Solution
Bethany House reached out to Ignite Philanthropy to co-create a campaign using the public/private funding model, engaging key stakeholders and funders. After the planning process, Bethany House appointed Ignite to manage the activation and execution of the campaign fundraising plan. In coordination with the Board, donors, and key stakeholders, Ignite rallied public and private support for the project and provided administrative support for the campaign.
The campaign, designated as One Step Closer to Home, launched in October 2019—with the COVID-19 pandemic not yet known but looming darkly on the horizon.
The Plan in Action
The execution of One Step Closer to Home resulted in the cultivation and stewardship of 21 new major donors to Bethany House, all making gifts of $50,000+ to the project. Working in tandem with Bethany House, we developed and refined the messaging platform for the campaign, which increased awareness of Bethany House’s mission and philanthropic needs within the community.
It wasn’t long before our joint efforts paid off. The first seven-figure gift, totaling $1.25 million and donated by the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund—at that point the largest donation in Bethany House history—provided momentum for the campaign, and fundraising continued at a steady pace even as the global pandemic emerged and presented additional challenges. A year later, another hurdle presented itself in the form of the final cost of construction for the shelter and services center, increasing from $16.5 million to $18.5 million.
This is superscript
Despite these obstacles, Bethany House’s One Step Closer to Home campaign exceeded its goal of $16.5 million. Bethany House received five additional seven-figure gifts and even with the unexpected pandemic and goal increase, fundraising finished two months ahead of Ignite’s projected timeline.
Impact
The shelter and comprehensive services center will benefit the Cincinnati community for generations to come, helping to end the intergenerational cycle of poverty and family homelessness. Ignite is honored to have partnered with Bethany House Services to bring this project to life.
Client Coordinator
CEO & Founder, Co-Owner