GILDAS CLUB TWIN CITIES INC
Community is stronger than cancer.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
3 of every 4 people will be affected by cancer during their lifetimes, either through their own diagnoses or through that of a loved one. The emotional toll of persistent medical challenges can affect an entire family for years after diagnosis. According to the Institute of Medicine, “The failure to address the very real psychosocial health needs of patients and their caregivers is a failure to treat that patient’s cancer, plain and simple.” GCTC is grounded in a unique, evidence-based model of social and emotional support that addresses unmet mental health needs for all those affected by cancer. GCTC understands that psychosocial, emotional, and social support is as important as medical care in the face of a cancer diagnosis, as it enables patients to experience hardship with hope, encouragement, and integrative therapies that take the whole person into consideration.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Group Support
GCTC offers more than 16 support groups each week for those impacted by cancer – including Living with Cancer; Family, Friends & Caregivers; Young Adult; Post-Treatment; and Living with Loss. Each is facilitated by a licensed mental health professional trained to provide the appropriate space and structure for members to explore their thoughts, feelings and experiences related to cancer.
Healthy Lifestyle
An array of healthy lifestyle offerings from exercise to nutrition, yoga through meditation, and art and music therapy provide useful tools for decreasing stress and increasing resiliency for those facing a cancer diagnosis as well as for their caregivers, friends, family, and coworkers.
Education
We help our members acquire new skills on issues specific to cancer. Each month we offer a wide range of topics delivered by subject matter experts including oncologists, social workers, financial planners, lawyers, nutritionists and others. Examples of past education offerings include: The Patient’s Role in Advancing Cancer Research; Mindful Self-Compassion Strategies; Financial Strategies for Women and Look Good, Feel Better.
Information and Referral
Gilda's Club Twin Cities' works to connect our members to the information and resources they need to navigate cancer, collaborating with other nonprofits working in the cancer community (Cancer Legal Care, Angel Foundation, Firefly Sisterhood, Children’s Cancer Research Fund and others).
Social Opportunities
A key component of our program is creating a community for all those impacted by cancer, reducing isolation often experienced by patients and caregivers. All ages enjoy potluck dinners, movie nights, Family & Friends Day, book clubs and knitting groups.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The mission of Gilda’s Club Twin Cities (GCTC) is to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action and sustained by community. In order to accomplish this, GCTC offers a program of support that fills the number one gap in cancer care – social and emotional support. Without such support, people often experience isolation, depression, anxiety and loss of identity and control – all of which impede health outcomes.
We aim to ensure that no one in the Twin Cities faces cancer alone. The Gilda’s Club five-part program is the Twin Cities’ only free and comprehensive complement to medical care for individuals impacted by all types of cancer. Our support program is led by licensed mental health professionals and subject-matter experts, but it’s the shared experience of our members – of those who know what living with cancer’s impact means – that makes Gilda’s Club a special place.
Our evidence-based program of support includes:
• Support groups – professionally facilitated weekly groups
• Education – members gather information and learn new skills on a variety of cancer-related topics
• Healthy Lifestyle – nutrition, exercise, expressive arts, and mind/body practices including yoga
• Social opportunities – clubs and activities to reduce isolation
• Information & Referral – a resource library and referral services to connect members to the resources they need
An independent and locally-funded affiliate of the worldwide Cancer Support, GCTC provides support, education, hope and healing to everyone currently impacted by cancer. All services are provided free of charge. GCTC opened its doors in 2014 and in its first five years of operation has had nearly 40,000 member visits to its 130+ monthly programs.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our 2017-2019 strategic plan lays out the following strategies:
1. Optimizing organizational effectiveness and program delivery - We are implementing organizational process improvements to increase efficiency, enhance our member (those we serve) experience, ensure appropriate governance and efficiently utilizing our Clubhouse space/physical plant
2. Developing strategic community relationships - As a young nonprofit, it is crucial that we actively engage with our medical community, business community and nonprofit community. This drives member referrals, funding support and partnership with others who serve people impacted by cancer.
3. Increasing awareness and reach of our mission - We are actively working to identify strategies for expanding access to our services – geographically and from a diversity & inclusion standpoint.
4. Driving toward financial sustainability - The demand for our program services continues to grow at a double-digit clip and it is incumbent upon us to ensure that we secure adequate funding to continue to serve our growing membership base.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
In our first five years of operation, we have steadily increased our capabilities to achieve these goals. In the past year, we have hired a full-time Development Manager, Youth & Family Program Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator to grow our programming offerings and fundraising capabilities.
We have, over the past wo years, exceeded our budgeted revenue targets and begun building financial reserves for long-term sustainability, enabling us to invest in additional staff and new program offerings. Partnering with others in our community has also allowed us to stretch our budget while providing added value to our members. We will continue to be effective stewards of our financial resources by partnering with others, seeking in-kind support from our generous community and managing our budget effectively.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
GCTC opened its doors in April 2014 and our founders imagined a place where no one faces cancer alone. After so much work to raise the funds to purchase and renovate the Clubhouse into the warm and welcoming environment that it is, it was still just the beginning. We weren’t sure how quickly we would grow or if the processes we put in place would work. At first, our program calendar included mostly New Member Meetings to spread the word about the social and emotional support programming we would provide for them. Next came our first yoga class. One by one, members began to come through our doors – and they kept coming. Today, our weekly New Member Meetings draw between 16-20 people. This month we have more than 150 program offerings. We have served more than 3,000 individuals impacted by cancer – those living with cancer, their families, friends and caregivers and those grieving a loss due to cancer.
We have accomplished a lot in five years, but our work is just beginning. Each year, nearly 29,000 Minnesotans are diagnosed with cancer. We have only scratched the surface. We have many more to serve, to reach and to welcome into the community that is Gilda’s Club Twin Cities. We are committed to ensuring that no one in the Twin Cities faces cancer alone.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
GILDAS CLUB TWIN CITIES INC
Board of directorsas of 11/14/2022
Louise Harris
praeeo, Inc
Term: 2019 - 2022
Dr John Piatkowski
Medica
Term: 2019 - 2026
Mike Bauer
Bauer Design Build
Greg Newfield
Wipfli
Elena Beckius
Brent Williams
Jim Thomas
Karn Anderson
Medica
Jane Doyon
Colder
Brent Johnson
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/14/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.