WASHINGTON, D.C., (September 25, 2009) – The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) recognized Pamela D. Spears of Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, for achieving the AHP Fellow designation (FAHP) at the AHP International Conference in San Francisco. Spears is in the 34th class of Fellows to be honored.
Elevation to the status of Fellow in AHP is the highest level of achievement in the field of health care philanthropy. Conferring of the Fellow designation is not so much an award, as it is recognition of individual professional distinction, well earned through dedication and continual self-advancement.
Pamela D. Spears, FAHP, CFRE, APR, joined Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland as Director of Development in May 2008. Prior to that, she served as associate director for major gifts and annual giving with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Director of Planned Giving with the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington and Executive Director of the Montgomery General Hospital Health Foundation.
Spears is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America (APR). She is a graduate of the University of Scranton with a master’s degree in organizational supervision and holds a bachelor of general studies degree from the University of Kentucky. She also holds certificates in fund raising management from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, corporate community relations from the Boston College Center on Corporate Citizenship and planned giving from the AHP Madison Institute. A graduate of Leadership Montgomery (Maryland), Spears served two terms of office as president of the Olney Chamber of Commerce. She was named the Olney Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year in 2003 and received the Partner in Business Award in 2002 for her work with the Montgomery General Hospital Health Foundation. She received the United Way of Monroe County (Pennsylvania) Chairman’s Award in 1995.
The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy is dedicated to the advancement of health care institutions and organizations through the enhancement of its members' performance and professionalism. To this end, AHP sets professional standards for health care development officers, offers comprehensive educational programs to help them achieve those standards, and examines them to determine who meets those standards. Professionals who successfully complete the Fellow examination earn the designation "Fellow of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy," or FAHP.
Successful applicants must have earned the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) designation, have at least eight years of experience in raising and managing philanthropic funds for a health care organization, and pledge in writing to adhere to the AHP Statement of Professional Standards and Conduct and to uphold the AHP-endorsed Donor Bill of Rights. To achieve the status of Fellow, applicants must pass a written and oral exam.
AHP, established in 1967, is a not-for-profit organization whose 4,800+ members manage philanthropic programs in 2,000 of the nation's 3,400 not-for-profit health care providers.