Spring 2022 Healthcare Philanthropy

Journal of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy | www.AHP.org | Spring 2022

HEALTHCARE philanthropy

Health Equity Fundraising:

Exceed Your Goals and Re-Ignite Your Purpose

FORWARD THINKING SPONSOR

Also in this Issue

2126

Strategies for generating more digital revenue

A “how to” guide for stock gifting

30

From operations to outcomes: the effect of technology on fundraising

Embracing Transparency, Vulnerability and your Trusted Advisor Role in Major Gift Fundraising

By Katie Bullock, Senior Director of Development, University of Colorado AnschutzMedical Campus

How many times have you heard the reactions

of your friends or family when talking about being a major gift fundraiser, with comments like “I could NEVER do that” or “I would never want to ask strangers for money.” Make no mistake, this CAN be a challenging occupation at times. From those skeptical donors, to those who’ve had bad giving experiences, to the donor objections, or those difficult faculty, we’ve all likely encountered such challenges. For me, these challenges began to dissipate once I started incorporating transparency, vulnerability, and leaning into my trusted advisor role. I’ve found that not only have these principles made difficult situations easier, but it’s also brought a deeper sense of purpose

to this noble profession and more enjoyment in my day-to-day work.

Transparency

Transparency builds trust, and trust builds transparency. For example, when speaking to my own physicians as a patient, those who are the most honest and clear are the ones reducing my fear and anxiety. Imagine if your physician was withholding, dishonest, or squishy with the details? That would likely discourage you from making another appointment with them. Similarly, in the business world the stagnant model of hiding weakness and only touting the good is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

AHP Healthcare Philanthropy Journal|Spring 2022| 16

Now more than ever, our society seeks complete truth and accountability, and nonprofits should be at the forefront of that philosophy.

Based on a 2018 survey from Nonprofit Trends Report;1 however, our industry still has a way to go: “69% of nonprofits say the demand for transparency regarding funding has increased in the past five years, which was up 5% from 2018. Yet less than half of nonprofits share the impact of programs with top donors (48%).”

It is worth noting that the groundwork for building trust and transparency is empathy. As major gift fundraisers to individuals who are often either dealing directly or indirectly with healthcare, it is essential to have and always lead with empathy in our benefactor relationships.

As discussed by Tanya Drollinger in her article “Using Active Empathetic Listening to Build Relationships With Major-Gift Donors,”2 when fundraisers use empathy, “they are able to communicate on a deeper level while developing trust and ultimately commitment to the organization.” In addition, “Empathy in listening provides the listener with additional information that is received on an intuitive level.”

We all know that trusted relationships are the strongest relationships, so it should also be critical to your fundraising efforts. The article “6 Easy Ways to Demonstrate Transparency and 1000 Reasons Why Nonprofits Should” by Sari McConnell,3 explains why they are so important to fundraising success:

“Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two giants in the field of behavioral economics, would call these ‘relationships’ a heuristic, or mental shortcut that allows donors to make decisions quickly and efficiently. That mental shortcut establishes trust that would otherwise take years to establish. Relying on relationships to create that trust shortcut helps a nonprofit

efficiently build support among a broader base of individuals.”

Yes, being radically transparent and honest can be difficult, especially if you’re telling a donor “no” to an idea that doesn’t align with your organization’s priorities or sharing that the impact they wish to make is not attainable without a few extra zeros at the end of their check. But it’s the right thing to do, and it’s the bold thing to do. And dare I say it, this could lead to an even bigger gift conversation with that same donor down the road.

Vulnerability

As researcher and queen of vulnerability, Brené Brown suggests, vulnerability in relationships is key: “Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.”4 That doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing for a gift officer or a nonprofit organization to embrace. Being vulnerable shows your weaknesses— which can certainly be a risk—but it also shows your humanness. In the professional setting, I believe it shows your commitment to your organization. Will we know every question our benefactors ask? Absolutely not. Saying “I don’t know that answer, but I will find out” is perfectly acceptable, and it also leaves a point of outreach in connecting back to them. During this global pandemic, we’ve likely all experienced vulnerability. This shared experience has perhaps deepened the things you talk about with friends or changed the way you interact with

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.”5

–Brené Brown

AHP Healthcare Philanthropy Journal|Spring 2022| 17

strangers in your day-to-day life. In your work you may have found that simply picking up the phone to ask how a donor is doing without any agenda behind it has resulted in a much deeper connection with your supporters.

There is a lot in this quote that relates to what we do, so let’s break this down further. The idea of vulnerability and lack of control is a tangible one in our fundraising world. Even with all our experiences, skillsets, compelling ideas and inspiring leaders, the actual act of giving a gift is not in our control. Why not embrace vulnerability as its own compelling narrative? This could sound like “we realize this is a big vision” or “we want to share the complete story of where we are going” when you are sharing funding opportunities at a high level. In regard to the idea of having courage to show up and be seen, this could simply mean quickly admitting when we’ve done something wrong and asking how we can do better next time. I would also bet that many of us have encountered situations where we had to “fall on the sword” and apologize for an unpleasant experience that could have happened years before you or your team were involved. I believe approaching benefactors with vulnerability will only enhance your relationships and benefit your organization.

Trusted Advisor Role

Becoming a trusted advisor for your benefactors can take your relationships to new levels. This is something I would argue needs to be built right alongside trust, transparency, and vulnerability. Once you get to that point where benefactors feel you can not only be their charitable advisor for your institution but for their overall philanthropy, beautiful things can happen. For example, wearing your advisor hat can help you introduce planned, blended, or endowed giving into the conversation much sooner. This allows you to share all possible ways to make a gift. For some benefactors, it’s helpful to also know what other benefactors are doing to make an impact.

Being a trusted advisor can make opening these conversations easier, such as “Some of our donors are making a large impact through their required minimum distributions” or “by designating us as a beneficiary for one of their policies in their estate plans.”

The idea of the trusted adviser is also part of the core argument for the recent discussion, led by Russell James, Texas Tech professor and allaround planned giving guru, about the impact our job titles can have on benefactors. In this well-known study,6 “Testing the Effectiveness of Fundraiser Job Titles in Charitable Bequest and Complex Gift Planning” first published in July 2016, James found that titles including “development” and “advancement” were too vague for those outside of the organization; they also referred to the organization and what the employee does for the organization vs. for the donor specifically. The best performers based on the study were titles such as “donor advisor” or “donor officer.” I believe embracing your role as a trusted advisor for the donor, and not just for the organization, is the right thing to do.

Another reason to lean into your trusted advisor role is a more pragmatic one due to the changing times we find ourselves. Many benefactors are in moments of pause or reflection about the things they care most about, and some are shifting their impact accordingly.

AHP Healthcare Philanthropy Journal|Spring 2022| 18

Others are realizing how lucky they are, and they may be interested in making a larger impact than ever before.

As Ken Nopar, with American Endowment Foundation put it in his 2022 blog:7 “The need for content and guidance in the past few years has been greater than ever before, as clients realize that establishing a charitable vehicle is only step one in achieving their charitable goals.”

Even more, donors “are aware of the importance and impact of their financial, tax, and legal advisors, yet some are not aware that philanthropic advisors can help shore up the fourth leg of the family’s charitable planning table.”8 Providing this service will only grow that ever important trust in your benefactor relationships and open the door to more fruitful conversations about their ultimate gift intentions.

I’d like to think that in addition to our shared experiences of how difficult major gift fundraising can be, we also share the belief that we are so incredibly lucky to be doing this

kind of work, and we share those moments of joy when we see what good philanthropy can do for this world. By incorporating these core values into our work, we can help increase that joy for our benefactors, for ourselves, and for our organizations.

Katie Bullock has been in the nonprofit sector for over 15 years in roles ranging from donor advised fund management, event and community partner management, and most recently as a major gift development officer for the past seven years. Katie has been with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus for four and a half years doing both internal development work with faculty partners and currently as a Senior Director of Development working directly with benefactors. Originally from Columbus Ohio, Katie lives in Boulder County, Colorado with her husband, her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, a dog, and a cat and loves the outdoors.

Footnotes

1 Nonprofit Trends Report, “Creating Data-Driven Transparency with Fundraising, Finance & Funders”, May 7, 2020, https://www.salesforce.org/blog/creating-data-driven-transparency-with-fundraising-finance-and-funders/.

2 Tanya Drollinger, “Using Active Empathetic Listening to Build Relationships With Major-Gift Donors”, Taylor & Francis Online, Sept. 20, 2017, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10495142.2017.1326336.

3 Sari, McConnell, “6 Easy Ways to Demonstrate Transparency and 1000 Reasons Why Nonprofits Should,” LinkedIn, July 12, 2021, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-easy-ways-demonstrate-transparency-1000-reasons-why-sari-mcconnell/.

4 Brené Brown, August 27th 2010, The Gifts of Imperfection, Center City, Hazelden Publishing.5 Brené Brown, August 27th 2010, The Gifts of Imperfection, Center City, Hazelden Publishing.

6 Russell James, “Testing the Effectiveness of Fundraiser Job Titles in Charitable Bequest and Complex Gift Planning”, Texas Tech University, Dec. 1, 2016, https://scholars.ttu.edu/en/publications/testing-the-effectiveness-of-fundraiser-job-titles-in-charitable--5.

7 Ken Nopar, “How Philanthropic Advisory Firms Can Help Generous Clients”, Advisor Prospectives, Nov. 15, 2021, https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2021/11/15/how-philanthropic-advisory-firms-can-help-generous-clients.

8 Ken Nopar, “How Philanthropic Advisory Firms Can Help Generous Clients”, Advisor Prospectives, Nov. 15, 2021, https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2021/11/15/how-philanthropic-advisory-firms-can-help-generous-clients.

AHP Healthcare Philanthropy Journal|Spring 2022| 19