{"id":25431,"date":"2023-02-21T14:14:23","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T22:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pro-migration.local\/?post_type=resource&p=25431"},"modified":"2025-10-22T05:50:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:50:28","slug":"shriners-childrens","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/gofundme.to\/__proxy\/pro.gofundme.com\/c\/case-studies\/shriners-childrens\/","title":{"rendered":"Shriners Children\u2019s exceeds event fundraising expectations with Live Events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Celebration of the Century results with Live Events:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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$1.6M<\/h3>\n

raised<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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$500k<\/h3>\n

raised from auction items<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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700<\/h3>\n

in-person guests<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

Shriners Children’s<\/a>\u2122 opened its first hospital 100 years ago in 1922 with the mission to provide the highest quality medical care to children and their families regardless of their ability to pay. Since opening its doors, Shriners Children\u2019s has served 1.5 million children across the world with more than 100 access points of care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marty Quessenberry was the Executive Director of Digital Projects and Innovation\u2014a long title to suit his long list of responsibilities. Marty and his team oversee not only the development and integration of GoFundMe Pro at Shriners Children\u2019s 21 locations, but also develop, design, and launch all digital fundraising campaigns on a national level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, he executed the Celebration of Century, powered by Live Events<\/a>, to celebrate 100 years of Shriners Children\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A partnership made in heaven<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seven years ago, when Marty first joined Shriners Children\u2019s, his first task was to evaluate the entire fundraising ecosystem from a technology perspective and put in place new opportunities to improve the overall donor experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He researched other nonprofits and reviewed the tools they were using. GoFundMe Pro kept popping up, and after talking with other nonprofits using the software and meeting with the GoFundMe Pro team, he decided it was the only way to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, GoFundMe Pro’s software was small yet mighty, and Marty saw an opportunity to not only use the tool but partner with the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live Events helps throw the event of the century<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flash forward 6 years later, and Marty and his team are working on their biggest project yet\u2014pulling off a once-in-a-century event celebrating Shriners Children\u2019s anniversary, its mission, the children, community, and just how far the organization has come in 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shriners Children\u2019s hosted an in-person event on November 12, 2022, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX, while simultaneously live-streaming the event and offering curated content for virtual attendees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the first event of this magnitude for Shriners Children\u2019s, making it challenging to set expectations. However, this wasn\u2019t just a fundraising event. The primary goal of the event was to celebrate the children and the past 100 years of care, all while raising funds to propel Shriners Children\u2019s into the next 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Live Events, GoFundMe Pro’s event software, the event went on without a hitch. <\/strong>In-person attendees were swiftly checked in and could enjoy the day\u2019s festivities which also featured a live auction<\/a> and a Dierks Bentley concert. While on the virtual side, along with the day\u2019s festivities being live-streamed, attendees enjoyed recorded interviews with patient families, a silent auction<\/a>, and more.
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Live Events backend<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I was sitting in Tampa with all my monitors, talking with the on-site crews and I\u2019m thinking, \u2018We\u2019re pulling this off. It\u2019s working. We\u2019re not running into any major issues.<\/p>\n\n \n