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Hamilton woman leads effort to raise money for children's hospital

Bethany A. Deines, Director or Annual Gifts, Dayton Children's, is a Hamilton resident. Dienes is in charge of fundraising and gift giving at the hospital. Behind her is the Soin Pediatric Trauma & Emergency Center which will open in May.

Ty Greenlees/Staff photographer Bethany A. Deines, Director or Annual Gifts, Dayton Children's, is a Hamilton resident. Dienes is in charge of fundraising and gift giving at the hospital. Behind her is the Soin Pediatric Trauma & Emergency Center which will open in May.

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 8:53 AM Monday, April 26, 2010

DAYTON — Beth Deines landed the best possible job at the worst possible time.

The Hamilton resident was thrilled to fill the position of Director of Annual Gifts at Dayton Children’s Hospital two and a half years ago, but then the economy went south along with people’s ability — and/or willingness — to make charitable donations.

“It’s a tough climate to raise money in right now,” Deines says. “It’s harder to get smaller gifts, ironically. The people who used to give $100 now are giving $25, and the people who used to give $25 now don’t give.”

But the 42-year-old Deines, whose career in fundraising began more than 20 years ago when she was still in college at Arizona State, didn’t ascend to where she is now by throwing up her hands and retreating from every “won’t,” “don’t” and “can’t.”

The economy may be tough right now, but Deines is tougher, which is why the amount of money raised by Deines and her staff continues to rise.

“It was so important to get the right person for this job,” says Debbie Butner, the hospital’s Children’s Miracle Network manager who has been raising money for the hospital for more than 40 years. “A lot of us have been doing this for a long time, so to have someone come in with fresh eyes and new ideas has been great.”

In addition to using social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Deines also drew inspiration from the Haiti earthquake relief efforts and helped create a mobile donor program where people can text in donations.

“We’re trying to tap into the 20s and 30s generation and hope they continue to be donors for their whole lifetime,” Deines says. “We just keep going and going. We always want to raise more money.”

A juggling act

Growing up in a Fort Collins, Colo., home with anywhere from six to 12 siblings, Deines developed a passion for child health care and a penchant for multi-tasking.

“My parents took in a lot of foster children, so there was always a lot of activity going and we had to learn how to balance schedules with everyone going different places,” she said.

“When you work in a field like this, you have to get used to juggling an awful lot of balls in the air,” she adds. “Right now I’m planning no less than six major fundraising events, and I know that any one phone call can completely change my plans for the day.”

While some people would prefer to find a more stable line of work, Deines wouldn’t think of it. She developed such a love for fundraising during her college days that it steered her off the path to law school, and nothing has changed since she landed at Dayton Children’s Hospital two and a half year ago.

“I always wanted to do fundraising that benefitted kids and made sure they had the best possible healthy care,” Deines says. “So when this position opened up, it was such a great fit.”

Deines oversees a staff of nine, and together they raise more than $2 million per year, with most of it, she says, coming $1 at a time.

“She’s enthusiastic and very innovative and very creative,” says Jill Lewis, Development Assistant for Annual Gifts. “She’s just a strong leader and definitely an inspiration.”

Debbie Butner, who has been raising funds for the hospital for more than 40 years, offers similar praise.

“She treats us like we’re all on the same level,” Butner says. “She knows we’re all out there trying to achieve the same goal, and she has some great ideas on how we can best do that.”

Deines is quick to point out that not one penny of the money they raise goes to administrative costs or salaries.

Through golf outings, telethons, radio-thons, social media solicitations and other events, 100 percent of the money Deines and her staff bring in goes toward giving the best possible equipment and care to the children who are unfortunate enough to need it.

“The most rewarding part of the job is when you see the people who have been impacted by what you’ve done,” Deines says while recalling an instance where she struck up a conversation with a man in an elevator.

He ended up being the husband of a woman who was helping the hospital with a fundraiser and had just given birth to a premature, 15-ounce baby.

When Deines went to visit the woman and the baby in the neo-natal unit, the realization hit her that the $45,000 giraffe bed that was keeping the baby alive was something she helped raise money to buy.

“It was one of those ‘Aha’ moments,” Deines said. “To know that the money we’ve raised is making such a difference for these families and literally saving lives, there’s no better feeling than that.”

While that fortunate meeting led to an eye-opening experience for Deines, another one ended up inspiring thousands of other people around the country.

Deines says she makes it a point to get out of the administrative wing of the hospital from time to time to see what’s really happening on the clinical side. One day she noticed some physical therapists having a difficult time with a 5-year-old cancer patient named Nevin.

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Beth Deines file

Age: 42

Occupation: Director of Annual Gifts, Dayton Children’s Hospital

Education: Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colo., Class of 1986; Arizona State University, Class of 1990

Degree: Justice studies

Clubs and organizations: Association of Fundraising Professionals, Association of Fraternity Advisors, vice president of membership development for Tri Sigma of the National Panhellenic Conference

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