Potential Donor Funding

Healthcare membership in the Schwartz Center compassionate care community, and conducting the Schwartz Rounds^® program, can be an essential way to improve patient-caregiver communication, teamwork within care teams, employee morale, and the bottom line of your organization. Membership is also an opportunity to further your organization’s mission and increase revenue.

For tips on ways to fund your Schwartz Center membership, take a look at the webinar and additional ideas below.

Webinar: Creative Ideas for Funding Your Schwartz Center Membership

Learn how to gain or increase funding for your organization’s Schwartz Center healthcare membership from Lisa Crane, veteran fundraiser and past Schwartz Center Director of Individual Giving, and Louisa Nedkov, Manager of the Kailo Employee Wellness Program at Halton Healthcare in Toronto, Ontario.

Resources:

• View handout

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Work with Senior Management

• Make a strong case to your organization’s senior management for receiving funding.
  • We can provide materials to help you have this discussion.

Work with Internal Colleagues

• Build a relationship with your fundraising colleagues (often called the development or advancement department), and invite them to attend and learn about a program that could lead to philanthropic revenue.
• Ask them to help you identify a local donor who might be interested in making a donation to underwrite your annual membership and the initiation fees, if applicable.
• Invite your fundraising colleagues to bring prospective donors to sit in on a session, if the topic is appropriate to the donor and has been reminded of confidentiality. Experiencing a session is the single best way to inspire a prospective donor to make a donation.
• Your fundraising colleagues, with your input, can help create a simple budget or “sponsorship” amount that includes your direct costs as an organization, the staff time necessary to coordinate the program, and the membership fee.
  • Be sure to include the cost of food that you serve regularly at your Schwartz Rounds sessions and the cost of an outside facilitator, if you use one (many membership organizations use internal staff as facilitators).
  • One specific example is a New England Medical Center that worked with the Schwartz Rounds facilitator to inspire a donor to fund the “all-inclusive” costs of membership at the level of $10,000 per year for 10 years.
• You might also consider asking your organization’s food vendor if they would provide the food for Schwartz Rounds sessions on either a pro bono basis or at a discounted rate.
  • Alternatively, ask participants to bring a brown bag lunch and ask the local vendor to provide drinks and desserts.

Seek Local and Potential Donors

• Seek donor funding from individuals who care about your organization or local businesses that care about your organization or are involved in your work.
• Oftentimes, donors like to support a program that has such tangible results that feels good emotionally.
• Consider trustees or volunteers who attend your Schwartz Rounds sessions on a regular basis as they could be potential donors.

Thank Donors

• Your fundraising colleagues can help advise you on how to thank donors in the best way.
• Show appreciation to donors by including their names on the regular flyers you circulate (e.g., The Schwartz Rounds program has been sponsored by XXX).
• Have tent cards on the food table thanking donors.
• Your colleagues in the communications department can also write an article in your organization’s newsletter about Schwartz Center membership that references the generosity of the donor and helps promote the center.