NATP Members Donate $100,000 to St. Jude, Raise Another $56,000 for 2027

The ticketing trade association has contributed $200,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital over two years, with hundreds of primarily small and family-run businesses supporting the campaign.

Members of the National Association of Ticketing Professionals donated $100,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the second consecutive year, bringing the trade association’s total contributions to the organization to $200,000.

NATP announced the latest contribution July 30 during the 2026 World Ticket Conference in New Orleans. The donation will support St. Jude’s work on behalf of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases and the families confronting those diagnoses.

“Over the past two years, NATP Gives Back has shown what happens when an industry unites around purpose,” said Chad Buschell, vice president of peer-to-peer fundraising and community impact for ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude.

“In 2025, this community made a remarkable $100,000 contribution to support the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and we were honored to accept an additional $100,000 from their 2026 campaign,” Buschell said. “We are grateful for this partnership and the generosity of its members.”

NATP and St. Jude have not specified whether the latest contribution will be directed toward a particular research, treatment or family-support program. The donation was presented as support for the hospital’s broader mission of treating children with serious illnesses and advancing pediatric medical research.

The association’s members also raised another $56,000 during this year’s World Ticket Conference, giving NATP an early start toward a planned third annual contribution in 2027.

Families Bring St. Jude’s Mission to Ticketing Conference

NATP has incorporated presentations from St. Jude families into the World Ticket Conference, giving members a direct account of how the hospital’s research and medical care affect children and parents confronting serious illnesses.

At the 2025 conference, members heard from a parent whose child died and whose final wish was to help prevent other children from experiencing the same outcome, Gary Adler of NATP told TicketNews. The parent subsequently began speaking about St. Jude and its work.

This year, conference attendees heard from a parent whose son survived an illness that once would have amounted to a likely death sentence. The parent credited research conducted at St. Jude and the care provided by its medical team with helping save the child’s life.

Those accounts have given the fundraising campaign a more personal dimension than the presentation of an annual donation alone.

“Supporting St. Jude is about something much bigger than any individual community or industry — it’s about being there for children and families facing unimaginable challenges,” said Rick Schefter, chair of the NATP Gives Back Committee and founder and CEO of A Great Place to Sit.

“We’re incredibly proud of what our members have accomplished together, and grateful that this partnership allows us to make a meaningful difference,” Schefter added.

Members, Not One Corporate Donor, Funded Contribution

The $100,000 presented this year came primarily from individual NATP members who chose to contribute directly, rather than from a single corporate donor or an association-funded payment, Adler told TicketNews.

“NATP Gives Back provided the framework and the association helped amplify the effort, but the dollars were driven by ticket professionals deciding on their own to contribute,” Adler said.

NATP, formerly known as the National Association of Ticket Brokers, represents professional ticket sellers and other businesses operating within the live-event ticket marketplace. The association said many of its members are small, locally owned or family-run businesses.

“The response has been overwhelming, and it says a lot about who our members are,” Adler said. “Most NATP members are local, family-run businesses, so a gift of this size represents a lot of individuals deciding that this mattered to them.”

Adler said numerous small businesses participated in the campaign, with members contributing at levels that made sense for their individual companies.

“That is exactly what makes reaching $100,000 so meaningful,” he said. “This was not about just one large, corporate check. Small businesses each did what they could to ensure families and children experiencing some of the hardest moments of their lives can be supported and find healing.”

Schefter said the campaign provides another way for ticketing companies to serve the same communities and consumers their businesses depend on.

“Every day our members help create unforgettable memories by connecting fans with tickets to see the live events they love,” Schefter said. “Giving back to our local communities is another way we honor those same customers.”

Annual Campaign Already Building Toward 2027

NATP said its annual St. Jude fundraising effort began in spring 2024, before the association formally announced its partnership with the hospital in spring 2025.

The relationship developed after several NATP members who were already involved with St. Jude connected the association with leaders at the hospital.

“A number of our members were already involved with St. Jude and connected us to some of the hospital’s key executives,” Adler said. “We were blown away both by their commitment to the mission and how welcoming they were to our organization.”

NATP now presents the accumulated donation during the World Ticket Conference and uses the annual gathering to begin fundraising for the following year.

That model has already provided substantial momentum for the next campaign. The $56,000 collected during the 2026 conference puts the association more than halfway toward matching its $100,000 contributions from each of the past two years.

“Many of our members are already involved in charitable causes at the local level, so the partnership with St. Jude is a great opportunity to come together on a national level,” Adler said.

Ticket Donations Remain Part of NATP’s Charitable Work

The St. Jude campaign is one component of NATP Gives Back, the association’s charitable arm.

Much of NATP’s other charitable work makes use of the ticketing industry’s ability to provide access to concerts, sporting events and other live entertainment.

Through its “32 for 32” initiative, NATP members provide NFL preseason tickets to community organizations in each of the league’s 32 markets. Adler said members have donated more than 72,000 tickets through the program, with a combined value exceeding $1.5 million.

The association has also supported Ronald McDonald House Charities for more than 20 years through volunteer work and ticket donations.

NATP Gives Back additionally supports Vet Tix, which distributes event tickets to currently serving members of the military, veterans and families of service members killed in action.

The St. Jude campaign differs from those ticket-based programs by pooling direct financial contributions from ticketing businesses around the country. With $56,000 already raised toward next year’s campaign, NATP is preparing to make a third consecutive contribution to St. Jude in 2027.