Special Events Campaigns of the Year: MIND Research Institute and Avow Hospice

GOLD AWARD

Avow Hospice

2011 Butterfly Weekend

Submitted by Avow Hospice

The Numbers

Number of Recipients: 9,189

Response Rate: 5 percent

Total Cost: $30,269.27

Income Generated: $122,710.50

Average Gift: $275.14

Cost to Raise a Dollar: $0.25

The support materials for the Avow Hospice 2011 Butterfly Weekend were just stunning and decidedly uplifting — depicting both the elegant Butterfly Ball and the whimsical butterfly release that made up the weekend. But then again, how can you go wrong with butterflies? And that is the point that makes this special event so special. Hospice care is about death and dying, but Avow's Kit Chamberlain was quick to point out that it is also about life and the celebration of it. And the Butterfly Weekend was a perfect way to convey that.

Our judges agreed with Chamberlain's comment, "We like the unusual combination of events that make up Butterfly Weekend. The ball is elegant and top-drawer; the (butterfly) release is wide open to the community and the many tourists and part-time residents who join us in the winter months.

"People who were not connected to us were drawn to the novelty of the walk-through butterfly tent and the spectacular image of the butterflies being released en masse," she wrote. "It was truly a weekend with something for everyone!"

The clever theme and events, along with impressive fundraising numbers and the weekend's success in drawing the attention of the community to the hospice's work, combined to make this a Gold Awards winner. The best comment from our judges? It came from Paul Bobnak who wrote, simply, "Winner!"

SILVER AWARD

The Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research

Eye Ball Gala

Submitted by The Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research