Watters & Associates
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Watters & Associates
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WHO ARE YOUR DONORS?Remember the stomach tightening feeling you had as you sat through the last health care conference? One speaker promoted costly new programs your community needs while the rest of the seminar dealt with decreasing patient reimbursement. Expanding the wellness programs sounds great but where does the money come from to pay for them? Maybe the idea of a hospital support foundation is beginning to make more sense. But who would contribute to the hospital? Is there any real community interest in giving to the local hospital? In our experience, the answer is a resounding YES, but ... you must know who your prospective donors are! Studies show that untargeted mass appeals typically generate a 1% response. Such efforts are lucky to recoup their mailing costs. To be cost-effective, appeals must be targeted to real prospective donors. The trick is in separating the prospects from the suspects! Prospective donors have three characteristics: 1) linkage to the organization, 2) an ability to give and 3) an incentive to give. Our challenge is to identify those individuals, businesses and foundations that have prospect qualities. Once we have established a solid prospect base, the response to appeal letters rises dramatically. Too often, we use wealth as the primary criteria in searching for donors and forget that first the donor must have a connection to our organization. That connection or linkage can be as a family member which includes board members, employees, medical staff and volunteers. At a secondary level it would include grateful patients, previous donors, health-oriented foundations and vendors. At yet another level, it may contain neighbors or friends of hospital family members or simply individuals or organizations that understand the role the local hospital plays in the economic health of the community. Without this linkage, appeals for support have almost no chance for a response. The second prospect characteristic involves an ability to give. We must avoid the temptation to assume that this limits our search to wealthy or high income individuals. One of the best sources for donors should be our own employees who can give through payroll deduction or by giving back their unused vacation days. Individuals with relatively modest incomes may have significant assets in their homes, personal property or retirement funds. Donors can give from their income or from their assets and as Stanley and Danko point out in their bestseller, The Millionaire Next Door, the rich in our country are usually the individuals who have spent a lifetime living below their means. By paying themselves first, they have accumulated enough wealth that they can now make situation changing gifts and, at the same time, add significance to their lives. Fund raising literature abounds with stories of janitors, school teachers and other low-profile individuals making multi-million dollar gifts to organizations that cared enough to reach out to them. Our challenge is to cast our nets broadly. Finally, a real prospective donor must have an incentive to give. Studies show that the primary reason donors give is to help other people. Because of this, our appeals should be focused on the needs of individuals - never on the needs of our hospitals. Recognize the difference between helping our mothers and daughters detect breast cancer and simply buying a needed mammography unit for the hospital. An effective fund raising program knows the difference and provides the appropriate incentive to prospective donors. Watters and Associates is proud to have worked with dozens of non-profit organizations in establishing effective support foundations. Our knowledge and experience help shorten the time it takes for foundations to begin the friend and fund raising process. We specialize in healthcare development programs and would enjoy the privilege of helping you start or enhance your program. |
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