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Capital Campaign FAQs
The Rathbun Center simply defies logic. It does not advertise the comfort and shelter it offers. Guests are accepted by referral only, and no guest is ever charged.
It is a 25-bedroom, Victorian style guest house, as fresh as the day it opened 16 years ago. Set against a backdrop of mountain forest, and reached only by a winding gravel road, it is a stone’s throw from the region’s major hospital.
Save for the essential but small administrative and maintenance staff, it depends entirely upon community volunteers. It invariably has a daily waiting list of 5 to 25 persons or families, and throughout its 16-year history it has consistently operated with a balanced budget.
The Rathbun Center is a hospital hospitality house with a single mission—to provide lodging and other supportive services in a home like environment, free of charge, for patients and/or their caregivers coming to Asheville, North Carolina, for medical treatment.
Q. What support do you get from Mission Hospital – aren’t you part of the Mission Health System?
A. We receive generous operational grants and in-kind services from Mission and from CarePartners, but we are not part of either organization and are responsible for raising our own financial support.
Q. Are donations tax-deductible?
A. Yes. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means donations are tax-deductible.
Q. What giving opportunities exist for the campaign?
A. Multi-year pledged gifts will be accepted; most donors pledge over a 3- to 5-year period. Gifts of appreciated assets such as stocks, bonds, and mutual fund shares are also welcomed, as are any qualified gifts-in-kind.
Q. Will there be naming and honoring opportunities?
A. Yes. The rooms and community spaces are available for naming and honoring opportunities within The Rathbun Center’s stated policy. Once the campaign begins, there will be an approved list of these opportunities.
Q. Where does The Rathbun Center get its funding now?
A. Operationally, 87% of our $511,000 annual budget comes from financial contributions from Mission, CarePartners, individuals, churches, businesses, foundations, and civic groups. The remaining 13% comes from special events, interest income, and entrepreneurial fundraising efforts.
Q. I live in Buncombe County – why should I fund a program I cannot use?
A. The Rathbun Center is for accommodating overnight out-of-county guests whose family members are hospitalized. Buncombe County residents are fortunate to have excellent medical services close by, and their out-of-county family and friends are welcome to stay at The Rathbun Center if housing is needed. The Rathbun Center serves 22 counties of western North Carolina and helps promotes Buncombe County as our region’s medical and business center.
Q. Will the current parking spaces be enough to accommodate the additional parking needs?
A. Yes. Additional parking exists above the main lot.
Q. What steps are being made to reduce the environmental footprint of the Center and to promote green building practices?
A. We will be implementing environmentally friendly systems, materials, and methods of construction as appropriate during our expansion project. Examples of LEED type features we plan to incorporate include energy efficient systems upgrades, indoor air quality applications, and environmentally conscious Best Practice construction techniques and waste recycling. We will largely be staying within the original footprint of the building with an expanded footprint of only 200 square feet and, therefore, encroaching only minimally upon our existing green space.
Q: The Rathbun Center has 95% average occupancy. Why isn’t it 100% when it typically has a wait list of 5-25 families each night?
A: We do our very best to have every room occupied by a family in need each night. We have an average annual occupancy of 95%, but there are a few times of the year (usually around major holidays, when doctors and families may try to avoid elective medical procedures) when the Center is not completely full and we do not have any families on the wait list needing a room for that night. Other times, a patient may be released from the hospital late in the day and their family checks out from The Rathbun Center in the late afternoon or evening. We call families needing a room immediately, but by that point in the day families on the wait list have frequently made other arrangements for that evening -- resulting in an occasional vacant room.
