Video · Pivoting in practice: Fundraising for healthcare
This fall, Aperio and the NYUSPS George H. Heyman, Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising convened a conversation among nonprofit leaders to discuss: What does ‘pivoting’ look like—in practice?
Months into the COVID crisis, we’ve all moved from talking (ad nauseum) about pivoting to doing it. In these panel discussions, we explored:
How does ‘pivoting’ play out in our daily lives as leaders and fundraisers?
How does it vary by sector?
What have we learned?
What has surprised us?
What will we carry forward?
In a conversation this spring, our panel of nonprofit leaders recognized early-on that this crisis is not a ‘blip’—or a pause from reality. It is a fundamental shift in the landscape that affects how we deliver and fund our work.
Our September 15th panel focused on fundraising for healthcare organizations and was moderated by Richard Feiner, Director, Foundations and Corporate Relations, Weill Cornell Medicine and Adjunct Faculty, NYUSPS George H. Heyman, Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising. The panel included:
Dr. Ruth C. Browne, President & CEO, Ronald McDonald House New York
Shelley Hayes, Chief Development Officer, Community Health Charities
Scott Kennedy, Solving Kids Cancer
Fundraising at the heart of the crisis
In many ways, healthcare fundraisers have found themselves at the heart of the crisis faced by our industry this year. First, frontline organizations’ resources have been stretched thin in responding to COVID. Second, all healthcare organizations have seen traditional funding models severely disrupted.
Every day, we learn more about the stresses on healthcare organizations at the frontlines of the COVID response. In April 2020, Inside Philanthropy detailed the dramatic impact, shrinking traditional resources, and open questions regarding how the healthcare industry could survive when respirators, PPE (personal protective equipment) needs, and other essential equipment for coronavirus patient caseloads were overwhelming healthcare facilities and philanthropy.
Fast forward 8 months–and the needs have not subsided, though they have changed. New challenges, beyond treating COVID patients, have emerged. According to Shelly Hayes, Chief Development Officer of Community Health Charities, certain healthcare non-profits have been impacted more heavily than others. “Mental health,” she says, “has taken a very large hit.”
At the same time, healthcare organizations were perhaps the most impacted by the restrictions on in-person gatherings that have forced all nonprofits to rethink their reliance on hosting in-person events. In recent decades, healthcare organizations have disproportionately depended on event-driven fundraising, such as walks, races, and formal black-tie galas, to fund their missions. With events canceled nationwide—and in many places indefinitely—healthcare fundraising teams have seen among the largest layoffs in the industry.
Today, healthcare fundraisers are leading the nonprofit sector in creating pathways to rebuild sustainable revenue for their important missions. Our panel shared a number of recommendations including:
Aim to diversify
Increase your communications, using all available channels
Treat partners as true partners
Tell your story boldly
Aim to diversify
Voluntary health organizations are leaders in event-based fundraising. In fact, the healthcare nonprofit March of Dimes, known in the 1930s as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, organized one of the first national fundraising events that served as a precursor to modern event fundraising.
While events have generated billions of dollars for vital research, patient care, and advocacy efforts—and created inspiring, engaging communities along the way—they have also come at a cost to healthcare organizations. High expense, increasing competition, and substantial risks due to uncontrollable forces such as weather (and pandemics!) have caused leaders to rethink their fundraising portfolios.
The current crisis has accelerated that thinking. 2020 has also demonstrated that a long-held fundraising principle remains true in the midst of seeming chaos: 80% of the outputs results from 20% of the inputs. Pareto’s Law, also known as the 80/20 rule, should continue to guide our analysis of the effectiveness of our fundraising strategies for reaching our desired financial goals.
At Aperio, it’s no secret that we believe it’s time to rip off the Band-Aid and diversify beyond events. Our panel shared that they are seeing a shift in this direction in the healthcare sector as well.
Ronald McDonald House was among the many nonprofits that has relied on events and had to pivot quickly this year. According to Dr. Ruth Brown, President and CEO: “Our past successful track record was due to event driven fundraising. [We] had to rethink strategy and adjust in many ways.”
She added: “The diversification of the funding base for any not-for-profit organization is critical, like you would do in your own personal portfolio—so that is a sustainability issue. We will all be stronger for it in the long run.”
Increase your communications using all available channels
A first step, our panelists agreed, was communicating more often in more ways—especially to supporters you have traditionally engaged through in-person events.
“Our mission hasn’t changed,” says Dr. Brown. “If anything, our strategy for funding the mission is changing but our mission remains the same and I think where there’s an opportunity to engage in digital fundraising it’s an opportunity to be in touch with our donors and funders and supporters and volunteers more often and that’s really important because it gives us the opportunity to say, ‘how are we serving the mission in this pandemic?’’
Treat your partners as true partners
In switching to virtual events, our panel found an opportunity to grow relationships with partners.
One of the challenges in switching to virtual events is generating sufficient sponsorship revenue when corporate sponsors do not perceive that they are receiving the same “value” from their investment and supporters do not attend at the same rate or balk at paying the same costs to attend a virtual event as they would have contributed to attend an in-person event.
Scott Kennedy, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Solving Kids Cancer, shared that his strategy has been to use this ‘pivot’ as an opportunity to refocus relationships with partners. His advice: “Open conversation and treat donors a little differently as partners and give them part of the strategic vision and take them on the journey as far as how you get there. It is interesting and compelling to the donors.”
According to Shelly Hayes of Community Health Charities, we are seeing “an opportunity to look at new ways to approach our corporate partners.” How can we broaden our conversations beyond events? How can we spark conversations about strategic alignment? How can sponsors support our work year-round? While corporate sponsorships can be a thorny subject for healthcare organizations—especially as relates to pharmaceutical companies—they can be an important source of diversified income streams.
Dr. Ruth Brown of Ronald McDonald House New York summarizes their approach to increasing their corporate relationships: “In thinking about our partners, this pandemic showed us how to lean on them and chart the path forward with them. Finding out structured and meaningful partnerships is something we can depend on and look forward to building….[Ronald McDonald House New York] is not a siloed organization that is raising funds in a vacuum, we’re an important part of the community”.
Tell your story boldly
Unquestionably compelling storytelling remains the linchpin for investing new donors and retaining existing donor investment in any nonprofit’s mission. Healthcare nonprofits are no different in this respect.
Scott Kennedy recommends: “Be in touch more frequently and bring people along for the ride…it’s a time for rethinking and being brave. Have conversations that you wouldn’t have normally had. Be vulnerable with board members and provide hope.”