Executive-2019-fall

staggering pace; Good Sam grows 25 to 40 percent annually. “When I started at the organization eight years ago, we served 3,200 patients a year,” Lane said. “We are on track to serve about 36,000 patients in 2019.” With the increased demand, comes an ever-increasing need for capital. Good Sam is funded almost entirely by private donors and organizations. Though that was a deliberate decision the organization made to not compromise its Christian-based evangelical mission, it makes fund- raising efforts especially important. “We break out in a sweat over our funding, but we succeed each year,” Lane said. “We are blessed every year to sustain ourselves and meet the rising needs in the community.” One of the reasons an investment in Good Sam is appealing is the organization’s business sense, said Lane. “We understand we are a business. A nonprofit business, yes, but that doesn’t free us from the efforts to make a business successful. One of the things I’ve heard from our investors is that we are unique combination of head and heart. We’re wise about the decisions we make.” Good Sam is a recent addition to the Chairman’s Club and Lane said he admired the philanthropic spirit of Gwinnett County’s business leaders. “I really came to believe joining Chairman’s Club was a worthwhile expense because of the caliber of the members,” he said. “By coming alongside as a peer of those members, it would help us open doors we have never been able to open before.” Future plans for Good Sam include more opportunities to partner and create satellite clinics with other organizations who serve similar populations. Two such clinics will be opening in the fall, one at a homeless shelter and one a food bank. “This will probably be our expansion model going forward—more satellite clinics—to overcome the high cost of installing a specialized medical clinic,” Lane said. This strategy also addresses the difficulty of cross-county public transportation that some of Good Sam’s patients experience in Gwinnett. “We can go to our patients, instead of them trying to get to us,” he said. Lane encourages anyone interested in Good Sam to drop in at either clinic location. “Everyone one who works or volunteers here is ready to give a tour and answer questions,” he said. “The doors are open. You don’t need an appointment to come see what we can and are doing for the community.” the EXECUTIVE 9