Economic Woes Can Make Fund-raising a Challenge

JANE SCHNEIDER

Economic Woes Can Make Fund-raising a Challenge | Church Health Center, Marvin Stockwell, Le Bonheur Foundation, Kavanaugh Casey, Leo Arnoult, Arnoult and Associates, Tammie Ritchey, MED Foundation, Healthy Memphis Common Table, philanthropy, economy
When the nation's economy begins to falter, the Church Health Center is one place that feels the ripple effects. The center provides affordable healthcare to the self-employed and workers whose companies don't offer health insurance. Public relations director Marvin Stockwell said over the past several months, they've seen a 170 percent jump at their new patient orientations.

"We usually have 18 to 20 new people, but now we're seeing 25 to 30 at our day time meeting and between 40 to 60 at our evening meeting. These are people who don't have a medical home who are coming to us saying, 'I don't have health insurance. I need your service.'"

Common Table Update

First Private Primary Care Physician Quality Reports Forthcoming:

Public reporting is coming. Memphis physicians are taking charge of it, because they know that public reporting can improve care and patient outcomes if it is done right. In fact, a recent study in Health Affairs showed that improved performance on National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) HEDIS measures would prevent 1.9 million heart attacks and 800,000 strokes.1 Healthy Memphis Common Table is working with Memphis Medical Society (MMS) to make physician-level reporting as fair, balanced, and accurate as possible, and to focus reporting efforts on the most critical health care needs. Public reporting should help doctors get their patients the care they need most.

A Memphis Physician Advisory Committee working with the MMS has chosen measures for the first round of physician-level reporting in which Memphis-area doctors have the most confidence. The chosen measures are standard NCQA HEDIS measures, and most are American Medical Association and National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsed. Measures to be reported for primary care physicians in the Memphis area include:
  • Comprehensive Diabetes Care-Eye Exam
  • Comprehensive Diabetes Care-LDL-C Screening
  • Comprehensive Diabetes Care-HgA1c Testing
  • Persistence of Beta-Blocker Treatment After Heart Attack
  • Cholesterol Management for Patients with Cardiovascular Conditions - LDL-C screening
  • Cervical Cancer Screening
  • Breast Cancer Screening

Primary care physician quality reports are being developed to help physicians target practice improvement needs. Initial private reports should be released to doctors in the Spring. These data will then be released to the public in the summer of 2009 after careful review and validation through this private feedback process.

These local reporting efforts are designed to help physicians improve their performance in areas that are likely to be emphasized in future pay-for-performance (P4P) efforts. Let us know what tools you need most to help you improve your practice's performance on these measures. You can help make healthcare in Memphis among the best in the nation.

Contact: Dr. Jim Bailey (448-2475), Dr. Manoj Jain (681-0778) or Michael Cates (761-0200) for more information.

1. Eddy DM et al. The Potential Effects of HEDIS Performance Measures on the Quality of Care. Health Affairs, 2008.

Aligning For Quality Initiative: Working with physicians, hospitals, businesses, and consumers to improve healthcare for the people of Memphis.

While business may be booming, raising money during a down economy can be challenging for medical nonprofits. According to Giving USA Foundation, Americans contributed $306 billion in charitable gifts in 2007, 7.6 percent of which went to fund healthcare institutions. But this year, with the decline of the stock market and employment woes, people may be more discerning about where they give.

The Church Health Center charges patients on a sliding fee scale, but fully 80 percent of their budget comes from private donors. So it is incumbent on people like Stockwell to communicate their message clearly to community members who may have a heart for their mission. "We sent a letter to our donors saying the bad economy means we're booming. If you have extra funds, we need you now as much as ever. We're acknowledging the difficult economy but don't want to come off like we're worried about our bottom line, in so far as how it effects our ability to serve the people we serve," he said.

Despite a growing patient load, the center is also being prudent. When the organization loses an employee to attrition, the position remains unfilled. And they try to be good stewards by relying more heavily on volunteers, "in order to leverage donor dollars and make them go farther," said Stockwell.

As the director of the Le Bonheur Foundation, Kavanaugh Casey has been guiding the hospital's $100 million capital campaign, which kicked off in June 2005. The foundation's fund-raising efforts will help pay for Le Bonheur's new $327 million hospital, slated to open in 2010. To date, the campaign has raised $88 million, an effort Casey admits she's glad to be on the downhill side of now. "We've had lots of cultivation in the process, and that helps sustain us with the overall economy right now," said Casey.

While none of their donors have backed out of financial commitments, Casey said she is aware of other organizations delaying the start of fund-raising efforts because of the economy.

"You have to be empathetic with what individuals are going through and work with them, so they can find a way to achieve giving to your cause," she said. "We have not had anybody call to say they won't be able to fulfill their pledge, but we also have families who depend on us for their care, so we can't say wait until the economy improves. We have to help them now."

Casey said attendance at smaller fund-raisers, like October's Pumpkin Run and the Go Jim Go Bike-a-thon, has been strong. "We wondered on the front end if the economy would affect these and we were pleasantly surprised. We had an increase in attendance at both events and as a result, an increase in donations which actually exceeded last year."

Leo Arnoult, past chairman of the Giving USA Foundation and a fund-raising consultant with Arnoult and Associates in Memphis, counsels clients to "Take a deep breath and realize that, even during recessions, giving hasn't gone down." The exception to that trend, he noted, was the Great Depression, when philanthropy dropped by 30 percent. Instead, Arnoult said, times like these make it doubly important for companies to convey the significance of their mission and the positive effect donors can have on the bottom line.

"People prioritize their giving during a recession and they give to what they really care about. Let them know you deserve their support by communicating what the company continues to do, the good works that help you achieve your mission, and tell them the need is even greater because people are in need."

Tammie Ritchey, executive director of the MED Foundation, said they experienced a slight decrease in giving last year, so now she is making her pitches more targeted and specific to donor groups. "The MED is a unique hospital that's very big and can be a difficult subject for people to get their arms around," Ritchey said. "We try to segment which population needs which message."

The foundation is also trying to take advantage of a $200,000 grant by an anonymous donor that matches gifts dollar for dollar, another strategy that can pay dividends when money is tight. "That can be a tipping point, if donors know they'll get a match, there's impetus to give this year, while the challenge is still active," noted Ritchey.

In the final analysis, Arnoult said nonprofits mustn’t let a gloomy economic forecast define their day. “Don’t stop or slow down on fund-raising efforts. To pull back in deference to others is suicide. Other will get the resources over your group. So proceed at full pace.”