September 15, 2009

Healthcare Fundraising

Grateful Patients Build
Capital campaigns supported by those who know its worth

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston has one year left on its ambitious $1 billion Mission Possible capital campaign, the largest effort the organization has undertaken in its 63-year history.

And instead of waiting for the last year to solicit employees, the organization approached senior faculty before the campaign's 2007 public launch. The development professionals explained the campaign's significance and four key funding areas, including the Jimmy Fund and the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

Before the public campaign launched, 96 percent of the senior faculty committed to a gift.
"So, anytime we went out to talk to donors or trustees or corporations, we were able to say that 96 percent of our faculty support this campaign. And, that was huge," said Susan Paresky, senior vice president for development at Dana-Farber. "The amount of people who were impressed by that spoke volumes to us and for our campaign," said Paresky. The campaign was at $985 million as of June 30.

The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child. And it takes a committed and educated hospital staff to help cultivate healthcare philanthropy, especially while the economy is unsteady.

Healthcare fundraisers who want to tap into grateful patients and their families, typically the largest donor base for healthcare philanthropy, are engaging physicians, nurses and other hospital staff to bridge the gap between healthcare and philanthropy for potential donors.

Daphne Halpern, vice president of development at Monmouth Medical Center Foundation in Long Branch, N.J., explained that patients want to send their appreciation to staff, sometimes sending gifts to the unit. "It's always fun to get pizza up on the floor, and if you are hungry it's even better," said Halpern. She explained that development professionals should educate hospital staff to encourage patients to instead channel that gratefulness with a donation to the hospital.

"You can save up and get a special monitor unit or blanket warmer for the unit for patient comfort. That's going to make a tremendous difference. So, if they understand the end goal or how we are trying to get there, they become our greatest advocates," said Halpern.

Lisa Silverman, vice president of development and alumni affairs at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said fundraising support in a culture of philanthropy has to start at the top. Langone Medical had consistently raised around $100 million a year since 2003. Managers decided to ramp up fundraising efforts beginning Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 to support the construction of a new patient pavilion and undergo a strategic transformation, spurred by Dr. Robert I. Grossman, who became dean and chief executive officer of NYU Langone Medical Center two years ago.

Silverman said that to support those strategic plans, Langone Medical would have to at least double fundraising to between $200 million and $250 million each year. For FY 2008, the organization raised $508 million, with three 9-figure gifts in one year. Silverman gave credit to Grossman for reaching out and maintaining one-on-one relationships with those major donors.

Silverman explained that level of fundraising isn't sustainable, but the organization still expected to reach $200 million for FY 2009 at the end of August, which is more than the previous six years with the exception of last fiscal year. This issue of The NonProfit Times went to press before the fiscal year closed.

"This year is a lot about managing expectations. We knew we weren't going to repeat that but it's still quite exciting for us," she said.

Establishing executive suite involvement that you can present to your potential donors "immediately starts to set a certain tone," according to Lisa Hillman, senior vice president and chief development officer at Anne Arundel Health System and executive director of the Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation in Annapolis, Md.

Board members also need to know their role, said Robert Hoak, senior managing director at Changing Our World, a consultancy in New York City. "When you look at what [hospitals] need to change, it really is around board leadership and board involvement in the development operation," said Hoak.

He explained that some board members either don't realize that they need to be involved with fundraising or are improperly trained. Hoak recommended bringing in board members who understand that they need to fundraise and hold them accountable for getting in front of donors.

The next step is to bring physicians and other top-tier hospital staff on board with fundraising. "Physicians can be key in fundraising because patients trust them, respect them and are grateful to them," said Hillman, who also serves as board chair for the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy in Falls Church, Va.

"They are like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval about what goes on in a hospital," she said.

Silverman explained that development staff members at Langone Medical build relationships with particular physician groups. For example, one development professional would always work with pediatricians while another might only meet with cardiologists.

Physicians are then encouraged to bring up philanthropic donations with patients. The patients are told about Langone Medical's Faculty & Friends program, where patients can make unrestricted donations to honor their physicians and surgeons.

"If a physician is willing to, and we can cross that hurdle, then we have a fantastic starting point with a grateful patient and potential donor as opposed to a cold call coming in from the development office to the potential donor," said Silverman.

The 20-year old Faculty & Friends program accounts for approximately 40 percent of donors every year. The program also entails committees of physicians and faculty who set fundraising goals for each department. The development department creates letters on behalf of the physicians, who sign the letters and send them to patients.

"We've had fantastic response on that because it's very personalized, even though it's direct mail," said Silverman.

John Muir Health Foundation began a $20 million capital campaign in 2004 for its Walnut Creek, Calif.-based medical center expansion. Since then, John Muir received two large gifts, including the organization's largest gift at $10 million from The K. H. Hofmann Foundation, and another simultaneous expansion project at the Concord, Calif. medical center campus. The $20 million original campaign goal has increased three times since the campaign began and now John Muir is aiming for $60 million by 2011.

Kimberly Low, director of the John Muir capital campaign, said that part of the campaign involves asking employees for donations. The Walnut Creek employees were asked to give when the capital campaign began for that campus and again once John Muir took on the Concord campus expansion.

"One of the messages we are conveying to our employees, particularly in this economy, is that participation is more important than the dollar amount of your gift," said Low. "So, while we are encouraging all employees to participate and do as much as they can, we are trying to be as sympathetic as anyone else to say we know times are tough."

Low said the biggest challenge any hospital faces in the public is the lack of awareness that hospitals can be nonprofits. "I think the escalating cost of healthcare very reasonably leads people to believe hospitals are making huge profits so there really isn't a need for philanthropy," she said.

Low said John Muir is trying to break down the conceptions of a hospital money-making machine by sending out direct mail pieces with individual stories and testimonials in surrounding service area.

The development office is also trying to spread the message that the hospital's Walnut Creek campus is the designated trauma center for California's Contra Costa County, even if a person chooses not to go to John Muir for their general healthcare needs. Low said that increases awareness about John Muir within the community.

"Hospitals have a personal touch that no one else has. You are saving lives. You have a fantastic story to tell," said Hoak. He suggested that organizations talk about individual stories, such as a person's experience with charity care. The newest MRI machine might be exciting news, but will not tug on a potential donor's heartstrings. Hoak explained that stories should illustrate for donors "how their support of the hospital betters their care and how it impacts their lives and the lives of their family directly -- that's your ace in the hole."

Hoak also said that many organizations either don't have an entry-level grateful patient program or it's less than stellar. That is constricting the pool of people hospitals can rely on when donors start pulling back on donations. "I think what you are finding is that professionals at hospitals are not close to the people they want to be close to, and that's affecting them in a down economy," said Hoak.

"You should know who is in the hospital. Know when a major donor is upstairs. If you don't, shame on you," said Hoak. "You can't sit in your office. In a time like this, you have to be out there." NPT