I recently polled several health system foundation websites and could not find any with a direct COVID-19 campaign with the option of an immediate donation to support that specific fund. I’m sure it’s on the horizon as foundations reschedule events and move to work-from-home contingency plans. From being on recent conference calls with foundation industry leaders, I know that everyone is searching for ways to engage quickly.   

Our team thought about this and below are ideas that you should consider acting on today:

  1. Create a COVID-19 specific fund: Prospects and donors understand the strain this is putting on our society and our health systems. Get the message out there that you are listening and acting in a specific way to ensure that all hands are on deck.
  2. Be specific where, how and when the distribution of the funding will occur: This funding needs to be direct and quick. Avoid focus on capital campaigns in the short term and look for ways to drive funding directly to the area of need.
  3. Approach corporate sponsors that might not be so impacted from the crisis and try to obtain partial matching funds: Although the economic and social distancing is significant, there are entities out there with the resources and bandwidth to help.
  4. Create an online donation portal or modify your donation portal immediately to make it easy and safe for folks to get online and donate: Again, be specific and don’t swing for the fences here when creating the donation amounts. Our data tells us most consumers think $100 or less to hospitals for service is important. The more people engage, the stronger your message becomes so let’s include all interested parties and value their contribution.
  5. Engage your existing donor base immediately with an email campaign directing them to the donation portal and asking for a static amount: Your community wants to get ahead of this so the faster you can communicate the need, the better the odds of donation.
  6. Screen your patient census from the last six months and engage all patients: Send an email to those with an affinity to your organization with a message of an immediate donation and call to action. You can also highlight any volunteer activities that are available for healthy constituents.
  7. Share the donation portal link: The best method is to share on your social media channels. Also, share with your local media on ways to help the community combat this health emergency.  

People want to help their community and we are all looking for good in our lives right now. Let’s get moving and pull together to help! If you are reading this and you are a vendor or friend of Brightway Data, please consider going online to your local hospital foundation and donating a charitable amount.