A majority of hospital development officials report that their fundraising programs have been negatively affected by the economic downturn, but at least 50 percent anticipate achieving their 2009 development projections.
This data comes from a “Recession Survey” conducted in December 2008 by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. The AHP learned that less than half of survey respondents planned to reduce their revenue forecasts, even in the face of recession. Indeed, only 22 percent of development officials planned to reduce involvement in any of their fundraising programs.
Part of this confidence stems from a successful fundraising year in 2008. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University reported 15 gifts of at least $25 million in the healthcare field last year. But healthcare fundraisers may have to be more attentive to donors this year.
“Special attention to donors is a must,” said Debbie Montford, a community fundraiser in San Antonio, Tex. “[You] cannot take support for granted. Donors will be making some difficult choices about who to support and at what amount. [Organizations] who cultivate and nurture donors respectfully will have greater success than those who appear entitled
to their support.”
Although challenges are ahead in 2009, hospitals hurting from cuts in Medicaid payments and reduced census numbers have plenty of ideas for major gifts, when they do arrive.
Grady Health System in Atlanta received one of the two largest gifts in 2008, pulling in $200 million to be doled out over four years.
“The first round of money will be spent on critical patient care items,” said Michael Young, CEO of Grady Health System. “The beds were 30 years old, replacements cost $8.3 million, but it reduced the monthly bed rental by $75,000.”
Grady Memorial Hospital made structural improvements in 1992, but didn’t have enough money to upgrade anything “inside the walls” at the time, said Young. The gifts will modernize patient care at Grady Memorial, and allow the facility to do “bread and butter” things, according to Young.
Grady’s 18-year-old cardiac catheter lab has already been replaced. Once almost unworkable, services have now been increased from 10 interventions a month to 60.
Radiology equipment will also be replaced, Young said, at a cost of $15 million.
Grady Memorial has also filed a certificate of need for an intensive care unit. An additional $125 million is required for the project and about $40 million in donations has been collected so far.
NYU Langone Medical Center, based in Manhattan, also received a $200 million donation in 2008, boosting its annual fundraising total to $506 million in philanthropic donations.
According to Robert I. Grossman, MD, CEO of the Langone Medical Center, the money will be used to help transform NYU Langone into a world-class institution,
“It will support the creation of a new, integrated campus based on an environmental design that promotes healing as well as the latest in information technologies,” said Grossman. “In these difficult economic times, it is especially heartwarming to know we have the support of private individuals who are willing to invest in our strengths and future plans.”
Top five donations of 2008 (according to AHP):
1. $200,000,000 donated by Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to the Grady Memorial Hospital
2. $200,000,000 donated by Kenneth and Elaine Langone to the New York University Medical Center
3. $50,000,000 donated by Duke Endowment Duke to the University Medical Center
4. $50,000,000 donated by Harold and Annette Simmons to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
5. $45,000,000 donated by Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller to the New York University Medical Center
6. $43,000,000 donated by the Hall Family Foundation to the Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
7. $40,000,000 donated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
8. $35,000,000 donated by the Dan L. Duncan Family Foundation to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
9. $30,000,000 donated by T. Denny Sanford to the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine
10. $30,000,000 donated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
11. $28,000,000 donated by the Russell Berrie Foundation to Columbia University Medical Center
12. $25,000,000 donated by Stephen and Diana Goldberg to the Children's National Medical Center
13. $25,000,000 donated by Ben and Luanne Russel to the Children’s Hospital of Alabama
14. $25,000,000 donated by Clarence Scharbauer, Jr. to the Midland Memorial Hospital
15. $25,000,000 donated by Ronald O. Perelman to Weill Cornell Medical College
16. $25,000,000 donated by Ronald O. Perelman to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
17. $25,000,000 donated by Joseph H. Moss to the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
18. $25,000,000 donated by David and Patricia Atkinson to the University Medical Center at Princeton
19. $25,000,000 donated by Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro to the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center
20. $22,600,000 donated to Ron and Nancy Harrington, Steve and Jill McLauhglin, and Ron and Lydia Harrington to the University Hospitals of Cleveland
21. $15,000,000 donated by Nicholas and Athena Karabots to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
22. $15,000,000 donated by John Menard, Jr. to the Mayo Clinic
23. $12,500,000 donated anonymously to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center
24. $11,000,000 donated by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation to the Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
25. $10,000,000 donated by the Atlantic Philanthropies to Health Care for America
26. $10,000,000 donated by Todd and Linda Broin to the Sanford USD Medical Center
27. $10,000,000 donated by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the Nurse-Family Partnership
28. $10,000,000 donated by Helena Theurer to Hackensack University Medical Center
29. $10,000,000 donated by the Simons Foundatio to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
30. $10,000,000 Arthur Foundation Loyola University Medical Center
31. $10,000,000 donated by the Saban Family Foundation to the Los Angeles Free Clinic
32. $7,300,000 donated by Helene Alley (Estate) to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Maryland Chapter
33. $6,085,000 donated by Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to the Hospital Foundation of Northern and Central California
34. $6,000,000 donated by St. Baldrick's Foundation to CureSearch Children's Oncology Group
35. $6,000,000 donated by Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
36. $5,400,000 donated by Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to the Charles Warren Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics
37. $5,000,000 donated by the Four Diamonds Fund to the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital
38. $5,000,000 donated by the George Hoag Family Foundation to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
39. $5,000,000 donated by Kaiser Permanente to Grady Memorial Hospital
40. $5,000,000 donated by Alexander Stewart and Louisa Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation