OUR CLIENTS
In our first year, we have had the privilege of working with a diverse group of motivated development leaders and teams, all seeking excellence, performance, and results.
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Baseline Assessment and Recommendations
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The new Dean and President of the health system at the University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) requested an evaluation of UCM’s fundraising performance, along with recommendations for empowering the development team and enhancing development functions to improve results.
We conducted a baseline assessment, then delivered a concise report with a set of actionable recommendations. This assessment was designed to serve as a working document that could be feasibly implemented in stages; it will provide a foundation for planning both immediate and long-term initiatives, such as articulating priorities, setting motivational goals, refining donor engagement strategies, and optimizing resource allocation. The baseline assessment and recommendations will also prepare UCM for an effective future capital campaign.
Grateful Patient Fundraising
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The CEO of Rochester Regional Health System and the President of its supporting foundation sought our assistance in creating a successful grateful patient fundraising program after repeated, but failed, attempts to launch such a program with help from previous consultants.
Leveraging our experience in creating the model Grateful Patient Program at Johns Hopkins—the only research-based program of its kind—we collaboratively developed a customized curriculum that featured a "train the trainers" strategy. Within the first eight months, implementation resulted in over two dozen physicians actively participating and referring patients to gift officers. Moreover, the program established a reliable system for tracking physician engagement and encouraging their sustained participation.
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Proposal Development
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The Chief Strategy Officer at Duke Health enlisted our help in responding to a competitive, invitation-only, philanthropic RFP – a response that would require (a) a unique value proposition distinguishing Duke from competitors, and (b) an ambitious, stand-out, credible approach to improving care for a specific childhood disease and expanding access to that care.
We guided the development of a nine-figure proposal, the largest in Duke Medicine’s history. This involved conducting a visioning exercise across multiple departments, divisions, and institutions to align goals and priorities. Despite a tight three-week deadline, we successfully saw the proposal from origination through an intensive review and multi-stakeholder revision process to completion.
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University and Health System Integration
The Executive Director of Development for Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Sydney Medicine invited us to draft a “philanthropic business model” and a development plan that would help the institution create a collaborative innovation hub to vastly empower biomedical research and discovery in Australia.
Principal challenges in this undertaking included the necessity of integrating the effort of an unenthusiastic partner institution, and the lackluster financial commitment of the home institution in the absence of a strong case for return on investment. We organized the rationale, structure, and content of a white paper laying out a roadmap for health system integration in service of mutual goals – a roadmap that could then provide the purposes and structure to empower the development team for fundraising. We addressed the complexities of coordinating multiple stakeholders through collaborative and cohesive strategies; described potential efficiencies, such as streamlined workflows and shared resources; and made an impact-driven case for investment in development to increase funds raised and thus enable overarching goals.
Organizational Design
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The Mandela Children’s Hospital in South Africa requested assistance in creating and growing a small development team from the ground up, and establishing its own development practices such as communications and stewardship.
On a pro bono basis, we supported leadership in developing the foundational principles of major gift fundraising, priority planning, and maximizing donor appeal. Our effort (fully virtual) entailed: a series of sessions to address the basics of planning, capacity building, and stewardship; thorough review of prospective donors and institutional priorities; and provision of actionable recommendations, such as refining donor segmentation and creating targeted engagement strategies, to drive impactful fundraising efforts.
Leadership Coaching
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The Chief Development Officer of Dartmouth Health and Vice President of Development and Alumni Engagement at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College faced a slate of development challenges translating multiple organizational stategic plans into philanthropic priorities that will impact a possible campaign, onboarding new leadership, and coordination and integration of the multiple components of a complex health system and partner medical school. Leadership coaching thrives on guiding individuals to uncover their own insights and solutions, rather than prescribing actions.
As always, we consider the institution’s or leader’s need and then choose a mode of engagement or intervention that will best meet that need. In this case, one-on-one leadership coaching offered the most flexible option. We conducted monthly one-on-one meetings with leaders and their direct reports. These sessions provided an opportunity to review and adjust key actions on topics such as organizational planning, onboarding new leadership, and integrating school and health system initiatives. This personalized coaching approach enhanced alignment, fostered accountability, and improved the overall effectiveness of leadership teams.