Top healthcare fundraising efforts for hospitals will offer a significant influx of revenue outside of traditional funding. These types of monetary-generating activities are essential for healthcare facilities that want to raise funds to serve more patients at a higher level of care. Successful fundraising efforts can also help acquire and secure medical staff, upgrade equipment, and help with facility improvements.
Managing healthcare fundraising is trickier than other types of fundraising because it often requires adhering to stringent rules and regulations such as HIPAA. This is due to the need to navigate Protected Health Information (PHI) from previous patients who may be potential donors. While this may seem intimidating at first glance, there are plenty of compliant and creative ways to successfully raise money for healthcare organizations.
1. Start a Grateful Patient Program (GPP)
Grateful patient programs (GPPs) are a fundamental fundraising initiative designed to interact specifically with patients whose lives were positively impacted by the care they received at your healthcare facility. GPPs encourage patients who have received satisfactory or outstanding care to make recurring or one-time contributions. For a hospital’s development or philanthropy team, an efficient donor management system and well-planned outreach will help you execute a grateful patient program safely and effectively.
For instance, iwave from Kindsight is a HIPAA-compliant wealth-screening tool that healthcare organizations can use to quickly find current or past patients who would likely be willing and able to give. This fundraising intelligence platform integrates other fundraising tools that personalize outreach with the utmost discretion and respect, ensuring that hospitals stay compliant with privacy regulations.
GPPs are powerful sources of financial support for healthcare organizations. One case study shows the implementation of a grateful patient program leading to a significant increase in donors and donations from individuals who were thankful for the care or services they received from nurses—the backbone of many hospitals. Overall, GPPs are an exceptional fundraising method where past patients are inclined to give back generously to honor the care they received.
2. Host a Virtual Happy Hour: Healthy Mocktails Only
A virtual mocktail happy hour is a tasty and healthy way to bring potential donors to raise funds for your healthcare facility. Sure, a glass of wine or two may take the edge off, but alcohol isn’t always the healthiest option. Instead, mocktails are much more likely to comply with healthcare recommendations. Such an event can attract prospective donors, such as past patients, to participate in this event while in the comfort of their own homes.
The event could be sponsored by a professional mixologist who is versed in creating delicious, non-alcoholic drinks. These drinks may be made with fully fresh and healthy ingredients, giving donors a chance to learn about exquisite mocktails, where anyone can participate.
To inspire the taste buds, here are a few sweet and tangy mocktail recipes you could incorporate:
- Orange Mocktail: Orange juice, grapefruit juice, and sparkling water poured over ice.
- Guilt-Free Sangria: Tea, pomegranate juice, orange juice, a spritz of lemon, lime, and apple. Top off with a cinnamon stick as a garnish.
- Mindful Margarita: Juice of one lime, freshly squeezed orange juice, grapefruit, and sparkling water. Add a touch of honey syrup for a hint of sweetness.
At the end of the event, remind your guests how their donations will directly impact things like patient care, medical research, and community health programs.
3. Hold a Health-Themed Art Gallery Event
A health-themed gala is an elegant way to raise funds for a hospital, and the best part is everyone can be involved in the initiative. Ask local art dealers to create and donate a piece of health-themed art to express gratitude for the part your healthcare facility plays in their community.
Expand your reach to present and past patients who are artists themselves. Have them create a few works of art that can be displayed throughout the facility to inspire hope before the main event. Coming up with a specific health theme can also attract more attendees. Some examples of health gala slogans could be:
- “Celebrating our Health Heroes”
- “All Hearts Strong”
- “Let’s Crush Cancer Together”
- “Tell Your Health Victory Story”
Host the event in an interesting space, such as a museum or a historic building in the community. Use donor management software to track attendees and new donations, gathering donor information for future outreach efforts.
4. Organize a Hospital Talent Show
Organizing a hospital talent show is a fun way to raise funds and highlight the hidden talents of patients and hospital staff. You could host a talent show in a hospital unit, such as pediatric long-term or rehabilitative care units that provide specialized treatment for children.
One example is a talent show hosted by St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital in 2023, which featured inpatient and outpatient children showing off their talents. While the event was put on mainly for the kids to have fun, this model could also be effective in attracting new potential donors who want to support children’s health.
To organize a talent show within a hospital, you would need to choose a large enough space that is open to accommodate enough people, such as a cafeteria that can accommodate a stage. Hospitals could also find an external venue to host a talent show and ask local schools to raise money on the hospital’s behalf. Be sure to track attendance and ticket sales, recording information using an online donation form to save the details of current and potential donors.
5. Share Impact Stories on Social Media
Starting a social media campaign where patients share their recovery stories from their time spent at a medical facility is an emotional and impactful way to reach donors. A huge part of attracting new donors to your organization is through storytelling, and this fundraising strategy does exactly that. This method is also powerful because it shows prospective donors how the hospital is truly changing the lives of people in their community.
Before you start an online campaign, it’s a good idea to understand what different donors care about. You can do this by using a fundraising intelligence platform to view prospects’ giving histories, affinities, and capacity to give. Then, when you launch patient recovery stories on social media with the patient’s written authorization, you can share them with targeted donors.
Quick Tips for Healthcare Fundraising
Medical fundraising for hospitals takes strategic planning and lots of preparation. The following are a few helpful tips that can get you started off on the right foot:
- Set a clear objective for your fundraising efforts, such as having a clear timeline for your fundraising strategy.
- Define the message or theme of your fundraising event.
- Figure out what the target amount is that you want to raise.
- Use smart fundraising tools such as AI-powered intelligent platforms that integrate with social media and track donor data and engagement.
Fundraise Creatively and Ethically
Learning how to fundraise in a fun and creative way while also staying ethical is essential in medical fundraising. Here’s an overview of how to creatively fundraise for healthcare sectors:
- Start a grateful patient program using fundraising software that helps you stay compliant with patient privacy regulations and can ensure a smooth and ethical campaign.
- Host a virtual mocktail event as a creative and healthy way to get more donors on board.
- Organize an in-person art gallery event or have patients or local schools put on a talent show to get more donors.
- Share patient recovery stories on social media with donors to attract donors, humanizing the giving process.
Whatever method you choose, the overall goal is to inspire continued support for your healthcare organization’s work!