In 2012, Luke Mickelson’s life changed forever when he learned about a family in his community whose children were sleeping on the floor. As a youth leader at his local church in Idaho, he rallied a group of young teens to build beds for those children in need. That’s when it came to light that child bedlessness is a problem that exists in every town.
What started as a single act of kindness has grown into Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), now the world’s largest bed-building charity, delivering beds to children in need across the United States.
That first delivery changed everything,” says Luke Mickelson, Founder of SHP. “When we delivered a bed to a six-year-old girl, who had been sleeping on a pile of clothes her entire life, she started kissing the bed. I’d never seen a child kiss a bed before. Seeing her mother’s tears—after six years of being a single mom trying to provide—I knew right then that no kid was going to sleep on the floor in our town if we had anything to do with it.”
“Seeing her mother’s tears—after six years of being a single mom trying to provide—I knew right then that no kid was going to sleep on the floor in our town if we had anything to do with it.”
While SHP’s mission resonates deeply with communities nationwide, managing the explosive growth presented significant operational challenges. With just 20 full-time employees supporting hundreds of chapters and thousands of volunteers, the organization needed financial systems that could scale efficiently.
“We went from less than $1 million in donations in 2019 to $25 million in 2024,” says Jordan Allen, Executive Director of SHP. “We needed a solution that could scale—helping us maintain control while giving our chapters enough flexibility to serve their communities effectively.”
“We went from less than $1 million in donations in 2019 to $25 million in 2024. We needed a solution that could scale—helping us maintain control while giving our chapters enough flexibility to serve their communities effectively.”
In 2019, SHP implemented BILL Spend & Expense to help manage its rapidly expanding operations. “If you had any idea what SHP was doing before BILL, you would laugh.” says Mickelson. “We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for our relationship with BILL.”
“We wouldn’t be where we are today—we would probably be out of business actually—if it wasn’t for what we found with BILL.”
The impact was immediately apparent. “We have hundreds of BILL users across the country now,” says Allen. “Making purchases for bed builds and events across 47 states. Implementing BILL has been one of the best decisions we’ve made as an organization.”
Each chapter averages two cardholders who can make purchases with their BILL Divvy Card* as needed while the nonprofit’s headquarters maintains more control and visibility than ever. This has enabled SHP to maintain its lean operations while scaling to serve far more communities.
“We’ve grown from seven chapters to over 330 active chapters across the country, processing more than $35 million through BILL’s platform,” says Allen. “Having the right systems in place is the only way to manage that kind of growth while keeping our operations efficient.”
“We’ve grown from seven chapters to over 330 active chapters across the country, processing more than $35 million through BILL’s platform. Having the right systems in place is the only way to manage that kind of growth while keeping our operations efficient.”
The improved financial operations have translated directly into increased impact—SHP now delivers 75,000 beds annually to children in need while maintaining its commitment to putting 95-96% of every dollar directly into its mission.
One unexpected benefit of using BILL has been the platform’s ability to help SHP strengthen relationships with corporate donors through detailed impact reporting.
“The partnership funding program we’ve developed is really enhanced by BILL’s tracking capabilities,” explains Mickelson. “When a corporation makes a large donation, we can show them exactly how every dollar was spent and the specific impact it had—how many beds were built, which communities were served, how many volunteers participated.”
“When a corporation makes a large donation, we can show them exactly how every dollar was spent and the specific impact it had—how many beds were built, which communities were served, how many volunteers participated.”
This level of transparency and detail has become increasingly important as corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs evolve.
“Companies today want to tell compelling stories about their philanthropic impact,” Mickelson notes. “With the help of BILL, we can provide detailed impact reports showing not just total numbers, but specifics like how many children between the ages of six and ten received beds in a particular region. That kind of granular data helps our corporate partners demonstrate the real-world impact of their giving, both to their employees and their customers.”
“With BILL, we can provide detailed impact reports showing not just total numbers, but specifics like how many children between the ages of six and ten received beds in a particular region. That kind of granular data helps our corporate partners demonstrate the real-world impact of their giving.”
“When you consider our mission—no kid sleeps on the floor in our town—well, ‘our town’ has to become every town in every zip code,” says Allen. “We have a lot more growth and expansion ahead. That growth wouldn’t be possible without partners like BILL who can scale with us.”
For Sleep in Heavenly Peace, the impact goes far beyond the numbers. “We’re not just providing beds—we’re giving children dignity, hope, and a chance at a better future,” says Mickelson. “Having strong, efficient systems like BILL helps us focus on what matters most: ensuring no child has to sleep on the floor.”
“Having strong, efficient systems like BILL helps us focus on what matters most: ensuring no child has to sleep on the floor.”
With over a million bed applications and an estimated 12 million children in need nationwide, SHP’s work is far from done. But with BILL’s support, they’re better equipped than ever to pursue their mission of ensuring every child has a safe, comfortable place to sleep.
*The BILL Divvy Card is issued by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC and is not a deposit product.
