The Jimmy Fund is a major fund-raising arm of the world-renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, whose research is helping to raise the chances of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world. The popular fund was started in 1948 when the Variety Club of New England and the Boston Braves baseball team teamed up to help a 12-year-old cancer patient dubbed "Jimmy." Since 1948, hundreds of events, coupled with the generosity of thousands of people, have helped the Jimmy Fund save countless lives by furthering cancer research and care at Dana-Farber. The real appeal of this "grassroots" fund is that it has given ordinary people a way to join the fight against cancer.

Dana-Farber wanted to expand this popular funding source to the Internet in order to get more interest and to make it easier for people to make donations online. It was important that the new site carry an upbeat, youthful demeanor, in keeping with the tone established by the original Jimmy Fund, yet be serious enough that donors from corporations to individuals and volunteers would be willing to donate or participate online.

Within the site, supporters can find up-to-date information on Jimmy Fund events, get tips on how to host an event for the Jimmy Fund or learn how to donate blood, platelets and bone marrow. The site's interactive capabilities make it possible for people to use a credit card to donate in memory of a specific person or to register online to participate in certain events. To gain efficiencies from both investment dollars and site maintenance, the site used the same back-end tools as the main Dana-Farber site for accepting donations and signing up for events - yet the two sites remain distinctly different in tone and demeanor.