Tower Cancer Research Foundation: Spirit of Hope Luncheon & Boutique

The Challenge

Since 2009, Tower Cancer Research Foundation’s Spirit of Hope Luncheon has brought together influential women philanthropists and leaders from entertainment, business, politics and medicine in support of Tower’s dual mission: funding high-risk, high-reward early-stage cancer research and supporting patients and families through its flagship care program, Magnolia House. Hosted by Tower’s Magnolia Council, the 2026 luncheon on October 12 honored Jaye Eigler, Dana Levine and Mindy Weiss.

For an event built around hope, community and sisterhood, the Magnolia Council wanted a look that felt as personal as the cause, warmer and more memorable than a standard event template, and one that could hold together across print, email, web and the ballroom itself.

Our Approach

Working closely with the Council, The Pollack Group’s creative team illustrated custom key art for the luncheon entirely in-house. We built the artwork in separate layers so individual elements could be pulled apart, recombined and rescaled for each format, whether a full scene across a stage backdrop or a single motif on a table card. That flexibility let one illustration carry the entire event and kept the guest experience cohesive from the first save-the-date to the final toast.

What We Delivered

Our creative team designed the full suite of event materials: save-the-dates and printed invitations, sponsorship sheets and donation cards, and the layout of the tribute book celebrating this year’s honorees and supporters. On the day, the artwork came to life in the room through stage backdrops, day-of signage, table numbers, table name cards and vendor signs for the luncheon’s boutique. Behind the scenes, we managed and prepared assets for Tower’s event website and helped source vendors to produce select printed and on-site pieces, giving the Council a single partner to keep design, production and timelines aligned.

We also developed and distributed seven email campaigns between August 11 and October 15, roughly one every nine days. The messaging moved with the event, from the save-the-date and invitation to introducing the honorees, promoting the boutique and designer handbag auction, explaining how the luncheon supports Tower’s mission, and thanking guests afterward.

The Impact

The 2026 Spirit of Hope Luncheon raised more than $750,000 for early-stage cancer research and Magnolia House’s patient support programs, up from more than $620,000 the year before.

Across more than 196,000 sends, the email series averaged a 44.9% open rate and a 1.0% click-through rate. The Luncheon Auction email had the highest open rate at 49.8%, followed by the Sisters Introduction at 48.4%. The Save the Date drove the most clicks, with a 2.5% click-through rate.

Our team pitched and secured coverage of the luncheon in The Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo Entertainment, FOX 11 Los Angeles, Beverly Hills Weekly and SurvivorNet, generating more than 365 million media impressions and putting the Magnolia Council’s artwork in front of an audience far larger than the room itself.