Where Your Ticket, Bid, or Gift Actually Goes

People ask us this a lot, and I think it's a fair question to ask any nonprofit: where does the money actually go?

So let me walk through it honestly, the way I'd explain it to a friend over coffee, not the way it usually gets explained in a donor letter.

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The short answer

Every dollar Dunn4Good raises supports Seattle Children's High-Risk Leukemia Program. That's the program that treated our son Wesley, and it's the only program we fund. We didn't want to be an organization that spreads support thin across a dozen causes. We wanted to go deep on one.

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What last year actually raised

Our first Dunn4Good Dinner + Auction raised over $80,000. That number came from ticket sales, host tables, a live and silent auction, sponsorships, and gifts from people who couldn't attend but still wanted to be part of it.

We're proud of that number, and we're also being honest that we want this year's event, on September 26 at Hideaway Cellars, to raise even more.

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Why sponsorships matter more than people realize

Here's the part that doesn't always make it into the pitch: hosting a dinner for 150 to 200 people costs money. Venue, catering, wine, printed materials, event staff. Every nonprofit event has real operating costs, and Dunn4Good is no exception.

That's exactly why sponsorships matter so much to us. When a local business sponsors the bar, or a table, or the event itself, that sponsorship revenue is what covers our operating costs. It means more of every ticket price and every auction bid can go directly to research instead of covering the cost of the evening itself.

If you've ever wondered why we ask local businesses to partner with us, this is why. It's not just visibility for them. It's what lets us tell donors, honestly, that their gift is doing what they think it's doing.

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What the auction actually is

Our live and silent auction items come from donors and local partners who believe in this mission enough to give something real: a stay at a winery, a golf package, a curated basket, a weekend getaway. Every item is donated. When you bid, the full value of your winning bid goes toward the mission, since the item itself didn't cost us anything to acquire.

We try to be picky about auction items too. We'd rather have fifty items people are genuinely excited to bid on than a hundred items nobody wants. Quality over volume, because a bid you're excited about is a bid that goes higher.

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What we ask when the number falls short

Not every year hits its goal in every category, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. If ticket sales are behind pace or the auction underperforms, we'd rather tell you that honestly than quietly adjust the story after the fact. Transparency about the gap, even when it's an awkward number, is part of what makes this a community you can trust.

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The bottom line

If you buy a ticket, place a bid, host a table, or make a direct gift, here's what happens to it: it goes to Seattle Children's High-Risk Leukemia Research Program, supporting research into safer treatments and better outcomes for kids facing high-risk pediatric leukemia. That's it. That's the whole chain.

Thank you for asking the question. Thank you, more than that, for caring enough to want a real answer.

With gratitude, The Dunn Family + Dunn4Good Guild 💛