Hospital foundations: more important than ever

Maybe you've attended its winter gala or summer golf scramble, raising money for projects or equipment.

Perhaps you've heard of its role in the new surgery center or hospice room for inpatients.

These are the efforts of your local hospital foundation, an organization whose goal is to raise needed money for the hospital and whose work in the community is felt but not always understood nor widely known.

That's both exciting and challenging, because foundations are more crucial than ever for today's hospitals, says Carisa Buegler, executive director of the New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) Foundation.

Hospital foundations started to multiply in the 1960s when government funding for health care began to shrink – a problem that continues today, reports the American Hospital Association.

Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 43 million Americans have no medical insurance at all, yet they sometimes get sick and need care. And the costs of information technology, medical equipment, medicines, supplies, and salaries and benefits for health care workers continue to go up. Currently, about 60 percent of hospitals lose money caring for patients, even as demand for medical care goes up.

Hospital foundations are stepping up to help.

“Foundations are raising money to increase the quality and availability of services to the community,” Buegler said. “They are raising money for programs that support their community, such as defibrillators, community health initiatives or nursing scholarships.”

They raise money a number of ways, including:

• Annual giving campaigns: yearly requests for donations from past and new supporters.
• Special events: signature events such as the Have a Heart Gala in February and the Swingen Fur Geshundeit Golf Tournament, that raise both money and awareness, Buegler says.
• Capital campaigns: efforts to raise money for specific, big goals, such as the NUMC Surgery Expansion and Renovation project. In late 2007, this campaign began raising $750,000 of the $3.5 million needed for the project. Allina Hospitals & Clinics, NUMC’s parent organization, has committed the remaining $2.75 million for the project. The capital campaign is now in its final stages, seeking to raise the remaining $25,000.
• Planned giving: donations that are arranged in advance, as part of a will or trust, for instance.
• Endowments: donations invested or set aside to earn interest. The endowment remains intact and only the income is spent.
• Memorial gifts: donations made to remember or honor someone.
• Major gifts: large, one-time gifts from donors.

Donors can give cash, stock, bonds or even a piece of property. Some donate their services, supplies or skills instead.

Of course, foundations welcome major donations. But $5 and $25 donations are appreciated, too, because every size donation impacts the health of the patient and the community.

“What does your $25 donation do? It helps buy an (automated external defibrillator (AED), helps provide health care services to a dying patient and their family or helps begin a new program to address childhood obesity in our community,” Buegler said.

Most donations to hospital foundations come from individuals, not corporations, a fact that usually surprises people, Buegler said.

“My husband, Ames, and I decided to donate because of the excellent care that we have always received as patients there,” said Ruth Anderson. “Every aspect of our care has been exemplary – from the ease of making appointments, the efficient checking in at the front desk, the expertise of the support staff and especially the outstanding treatment offered by our primary physicians Dr. Ellen Vancura and Dr. Roger Lindholm.”

“People donate for a hundred and one reasons,” Buegler said. “Usually, the medical center has touched them in some way, pulled at their heartstrings. They believe in the mission of the organization; they have confidence in it and they want to make it be the best it can be.”

With a donation to their hospital's foundation, “people see a chance to transform something in their own community,” she said.

“They know they can make a difference, and they are. Each gift is touching each patient at New Ulm Medical Center and we appreciate the incredible generosity of all our donors.”

New Ulm Medical Center
1324 Fifth North Street
New Ulm, MN 56073
507-233-1000
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