Give an Hour scales national mental health mission with BILL

Founded in a basement in 2005, Give an Hour has scaled into a national mental health organization serving all 50 states. How? By cultivating smart operational efficiency to maximize impact for the people who need it most.

"We have 12 employees and 4,000 clinicians," says Dr. Trina Clayeux, CEO of Give an Hour. "We serve people across the entire country, from military veterans to caregivers of children with rare diseases. To do that effectively, we need systems that work as hard as we do."

Originally created to address the mental health needs of post-9/11 veterans and their families, Give an Hour has evolved into something much larger. Today, the team's ambitious goal is to make mental health care accessible to everyone who falls through the cracks of traditional systems.

"About 80% of people can access mental health care through insurance or other means," Clayeux explains. "Then there's about 5% in acute crisis who need immediate intervention. But there's another 15% in between—people with complex needs, unique circumstances, cultural considerations. That's where we step in. We listen deeply, doing everything we can to bridge that gap. To make sure they feel like someone's actually paying attention to what they need."

Challenge: Manual systems that threaten mission impact

For an organization touching thousands of lives across the country, Give an Hour's financial operations were falling behind before 2017. The disconnect between their sophisticated mental health services and their administrative processes was becoming a liability.

"You're not going to believe this, but before BILL, we wrote checks and mailed them," says Clayeux. "That wasn't that long ago. We had one person responsible for writing every check we sent. No backup. Multiple points of potential failure. It wasn't a great look for an organization trying to provide consistent, reliable support to people in need."

The manual process created a cascade of problems. Each round of check writing easily consumed an entire day, and there was no separation of duties for audit purposes. Lost checks were not uncommon. Emergency reimbursements for staff who used personal credit cards while traveling took far too long. Most importantly, the organization couldn't provide the level of service their clinicians and clients deserved.

"We pay thousands of clinicians, peer supporters, regular bills, contractors, even customer stipends," Clayeux notes. "If you want to be a national organization with a solid reputation, you need a certain level of service internally as well as externally. We were failing in that area. There's no doubt about it."

Solution: BILL Accounts Payable transforms operations

When Give an Hour implemented BILL Accounts Payable in 2017, the transformation was immediate. What had been a cumbersome, risky process became streamlined and secure.

"To this day, our COO calls it a night and day difference," says Clayeux. "We went from this archaic, arduous system that required one specific person, to something that's intuitive, reliable, and gives us the separation of duties we need for audits."

The platform's ease of use has been especially valuable for maintaining lean operations, and when the COO takes some well-deserved time off, Clayeux can easily step in.

"I need something that's very intuitive and takes care of itself," Clayeux explains. "With BILL, I never waste time having to remember how to do things. I'm just fact-checking, approving, making sure everything gets out the door. "

The integration with QuickBooks has further streamlined operations. "It's so quick," Clayeux notes. "And if we ever need help with a new process or feature, all we have to do is open a chat and get an immediate response. When you're moving as fast as we are, doing a lot of things at once with not a ton of staff, knowing you have that lifeline is everything."

Results: More resources for their mental health mission

The impact of BILL extends far beyond time savings. For Give an Hour, automation means being able to maintain the lean operations they need while delivering the reliable service their network demands.

"What used to be a full day of just writing checks is now handled efficiently," says Clayeux. "We're not getting complaints from vendors about late payments. We're not getting notices about past-due bills. We can reimburse staff quickly when they use personal cards for travel. It just works."

The platform has also strengthened the organization's financial controls and grant applications. "I actually write BILL into most of the grants I submit," Clayeux reveals. "I have to demonstrate that we have systems that can be trusted with data and information. BILL is definitely one of those."

Perhaps most importantly, the efficiency gains allow Give an Hour to focus on what matters most: expanding mental health access. The organization continues to grow its network of 4,000 clinicians while developing innovative programs like micro-credentials for financial fraud counseling and capacity-building initiatives for leaders of rare disease organizations.

"In our trauma-informed work, we look for predictability, consistency, and safety," Clayeux reflects. "That's exactly what I get with BILL. Predictability that people will get paid, consistency month to month, and safety for us and our customers. It's one system I don't have to think about, which means I can focus on our mission."

Summary: Technology that amplifies social impact

For Give an Hour, BILL represents more than just financial automation. It's a critical tool that allows their small team to create outsized impact.

"We serve everyone from young service members dealing with suicide prevention to caregivers of children with rare diseases to financial fraud victims seeking support," says Clayeux. "To do this work effectively, we need infrastructure that doesn't get in our way. BILL gives us that freedom."

As Give an Hour continues expanding its innovative approach to mental health care, reliable financial operations are becoming even more vital.

"I see BILL as our partner," Clayeux concludes. "It's hard to say that about infrastructure software, but it really feels that way. It's personable and personal, even at scale. BILL has given us something invaluable: the ability to stop worrying about operations and focus entirely on helping the people who need us most."