What began as a partnership between a women’s fraternity and a children’s research hospital has grown into one of the most significant grassroots fundraising efforts supporting childhood cancer research and treatment.
Tri Delta has raised $100 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through a 25-year partnership, becoming the first Greek organization to reach the milestone with a philanthropic partner. The funds have been generated largely through small-dollar, community-led fundraising rather than a single major donation.
Since 1999, Tri Delta members across the United States and Canada have organised thousands of fundraising activities, including pancake sales, sporting events, walk and run events and its annual “Sincerely Yours” letter-writing campaign. These initiatives have enabled students, alumnae, families and wider community networks to contribute to the organisation’s support for St. Jude.
The approach demonstrates how sustained, collective giving can generate significant resources for social causes. Rather than relying on a small number of large donors, Tri Delta has built its fundraising model around participation, with members repeatedly mobilising their communities around childhood cancer.
One of the partnership’s most visible contributions is Tri Delta Place, a short-term housing facility on the St. Jude campus that provides accommodation for patient families while their children receive treatment. The facility includes 64 hotel-style rooms and 36 suites, giving families a place to stay close to the hospital.
St. Jude provides treatment to children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases without charging families for treatment, travel, housing or food. The hospital also shares its research and medical advances with institutions around the world to help improve childhood cancer outcomes beyond its own campus.
Tri Delta’s fundraising milestone, however, is not the end of the partnership. The organisation has committed to raising another $100 million by 2038, continuing its support for St. Jude and its work with children and families affected by serious illnesses.
The scale of the partnership has continued to grow. In June 2026, Tri Delta announced that it had reached another $25 million milestone toward its new $100 million commitment. Once the latest commitment is completed, the organisation will have raised a total of $185 million for St. Jude since 1999.
For the wider nonprofit sector, the partnership offers an example of how organisations can turn everyday participation into long-term philanthropic impact. Small fundraising activities — when repeated across thousands of people and sustained over decades, can become a substantial source of support for research, treatment and families facing some of the most difficult health challenges.
Tri Delta’s experience also illustrates the role of community-led giving in philanthropy: creating multiple ways for ordinary people to participate, while building a shared sense of responsibility around a clearly defined social cause.
