Healthcare marketing strategy2 min read How to find and increase hospital donors

Many healthcare organizations rely on the generosity of donors to buy new equipment, expand research and education programs and develop their facilities to better serve the needs of their patients. The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically impacted hospital fundraising due to the mounting costs of treating patients with COVID-19. Hospital foundations have had to get creative in their fundraising efforts with tactics like setting up emergency fund web pages to accept contributions to support their COVID-19 expenses.

This is where marketing can be a valuable partner, helping foundations target and connect emotionally with donors.

Types of fundraising

Annual campaigns. Receiving donations for a healthcare organization’s annual fund can be difficult because there is not always a specific cause for donors to support. These campaigns often support overhead expenses and miscellaneous needs.

Capital campaigns. Capital campaigns are often used by healthcare organizations to raise large sums of money for specific programs, pieces of equipment or facility renovations. These campaigns are often large in scale and usually span multiple years.

Grateful patient programs. Grateful patient programs are fundraising initiatives implemented by healthcare organizations to find major donor prospects among current and former patients.

Cultivating prospects

To efficiently target ideal donors with personalized giving strategies, prospect research is critical. This results in more successful fundraising efforts because you empower your organization with accurate, actionable information for your fundraising requests.

According to DonorSearch, the following are key prospects for healthcare fundraising:

• Physicians often give life insurance donations or large endowments to departmental medical causes.
• Hospital employees are more likely to contribute time, publicity or donations to support fundraising events as well as invest in hospital merchandise.
• Grateful patients should only be solicited after they’re released from the hospital, usually with a direct-mail appeal or contact from staff, if the patient has expressed an interest in giving.
• Corporate sponsors may help support a fundraising event for publicity or challenge grants for capital campaigns.
• Healthcare foundations are likely to give if a hospital’s programs align with their priorities and goals.
• Communities may give in memoriam of a patient or in honor of a patient’s recovery. They may aid your hospital in running a fundraising event or launch their own.
• Families of patients are likely to give to your hospital as a display of gratitude for your work.
• Grant-giving organizations are strong prospects, especially if they often give to hospitals and medical institutions.
• Business professionals tend to have the financial means to give in large quantities, and they may work for companies that will match their donations.

Prospect research tools

There are a variety of tools and resources available to help collect the donor data you need to enhance your fundraising efforts, including:

• Internal donor records. Utilize your CRM for data that can reveal useful trends.
• Internet archive tools such as the Wayback Machine.
• Social media platforms like LinkedIn can be useful for finding valuable professional connections.
• Government and public records can provide information about potential giving capacity.
• Matching gift databases, such as Double the Donation, can help identify prospects who are eligible for matching gift programs.
• Prospect generator tools can provide you with the donor lists of other healthcare organizations.
• Prospect research databases can become indispensable resources for sourcing donor data.

How we can help

Even if the path ahead is clear, making progress can be a challenge. That’s where Coffey Communications comes in. We can help you develop and implement a communication plan that works for marketing, development and leadership.

Our print and web experts can help you get your message out and track efficacy. We specialize in healthcare, so we understand the unique challenges hospitals and foundations face today. Give us a call at 888.805.9101 or email us to get started.