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onPhilanthropy.com Article Review Strengthening Health Care
through Philanthropy A timely new publication in the New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising series, this book collects valuable insights from several authors on ways to increase philanthropic revenue for health care. Not a simple fundraising how-to, it explores some of the subtle challenges in development when it must function in a healthcare institution. Editors William C. McGinly and Kathy Renzetti have assembled a collection of authors to cover the practical aspects of fundraising, as well as some of the more recent developments that specifically affect healthcare development. These include recent scrutiny of hospital billing and collections, salaries, benchmarking, and the need to observe HIPAA confidentiality regulations, as well as the role of physicians and the CEO in the philanthropic process. The unique challenges of a hospital foundation, to the extent that it must fit within the hospital’s parent corporation, are also discussed. “A strategic plan for philanthropy must be balanced and complement and integrate into the corporate culture and strategic plan,” writes Stephen C. Falk in the first chapter. Recruiting the right talent, as in any nonprofit organization, is crucial for hospitals and other healthcare organizations. The challenges of finding the right people and, importantly, retaining them, are carefully examined. Gail Freeman discusses some of the specific ways a search can be tailored to get a suitable response within the healthcare community. The increasingly complex relationships within healthcare institutions – and with their constituencies – is examined in a chapter on points of conflict. “The development office has many messages to convey,” writes Terry Upshaw Morgan, “including the difference between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals, community benefit, and rising health care costs.” Morgan quotes one health system CEO, Dale Collins, describing the changing role of philanthropy: “The continuing constraints on health care reimbursement will accentuate the key role for philanthropy in the future. Philanthropy will be an increasingly critical factor in a health care organization’s ability to access the capital resources necessary to meet the needs of its community.” The New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising series, sponsored by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, provides quarterly monographs on fundraising management in the context of the traditions of philanthropy, culture and society. This latest volume is a valuable addition to the library of fundraisers, academics, and the leadership of healthcare institutions seeking to better understand and develop philanthropic support. Expanding the Role of Philanthropy in Health Care
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