Top Healthcare Fundraisers Focus on Major Gifts

Non-profit hospitals and health systems that raise more money than peer institutions target major donors and invest more resources in fundraising.

Spending money to raise money and targeting major gifts instead of annual gifts provide good returns investment, according to a new report from the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

AHP's annual Report on Giving defined high-performing organizations associated with non-profit hospitals and health systems as raising more net funds than 75% of all responding institutions.

These high-performing organization allocated an average 13.5% of resources to research on potential donors and major gifts, compared with 6.4% of resources for all institutions. In FY 2015, the median amount raised by high performers was more than $11.9 million.

AHP said that a key difference between high performers and lower-performing organizations was the type of fundraising activities pursued. High performers focus less on annual gifts and special events while putting more emphasis on major gifts and corporate giving as their major fundraising sources. Planned giving also accounts for a higher share of fundraising revenue for high performers than the average institution.

"Organizations should utilize all channels for giving, but those that raise money most effectively focus their efforts on the most productive fundraising activities," AHP President and CEO Steven Churchill said in remarks accompanying the report.

AHP's Report on Giving surveyed 199 institutions on their FY 2015 philanthropic activities, for response rates of 15.6%. AHP said it was not authorized to reveal the amount raised by each healthcare institution.

AHP's 5,000 members in the United States and Canada represent more than 2,200 healthcare organizations in North America and abroad that raise more than $10 billion each year.