December 8, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
American hospitals and other health-care institutions raised an estimated $6-billion in the 2004 fiscal year, roughly the same amount as in 2003 after adjusting for inflation, according to a new report by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.
At hospitals in Canada, giving declined 4.8 percent, to $1-billion.
William C. McGinly, president of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, expressed disappointment that the numbers weren’t higher.
Donations to health-care institutions in the United States rose by 3.5 percent, just slightly more than the 3.3-percent inflation rate for 2004. Mr. McGinly said uncertainty among wealthy donors about the direction of the U.S. economy put a damper on giving, but said he expects donations to rise this year.
“We certainly wish the overall picture had been a healthier increase for our members, but we’re still very confident about the long term,” he said.
Mr. McGinly said he believes fund raising will be helped in the coming year by the growing interest of hospital chief executives in fund raising, and an increasing tendency for hospitals that have recently completed capital campaigns to put more emphasis on seeking big donations and planned gifts, such as bequests. Hospitals have found that capital campaigns help them identify people who are able to make additional large donations to their institutions, he said.
The decrease in Canadian giving was a surprise, Mr. McGinly said. He said the drop was probably caused by patients who were disgruntled by long waits for treatments, and new regulations designed to protect the privacy of patients.
The regulations are being enacted province by province. In Ontario, one of the largest provinces, privacy rules took effect last year, and fund raisers no longer have access to the names and addresses of patients, he said.
The report is based on a survey of more than 300 institutions: 291 in the United States and 48 in Canada.
Annual Funds
More than a third of health-care donations in the United States in 2004 came from people who gave in response to annual-fund appeals (19.6 percent) or who made major gifts (15.1 percent).
Among the other key findings:
- Money raised through special events accounted for 15.1 percent of donations, and 17.7 percent came from gifts to capital campaigns.
- Grants from foundations and corporations accounted for 7.6 percent of the total, and planned gifts for 8.9 percent. Investment income, memorial gifts, and online donations made up the remainder.
- The total number of donors to health-care institutions last year grew by 2.7 percent, and the number of gifts received grew by 5 percent.
- Individuals provided the largest share of all funds raised — 60 percent.
A summary of the report, “USA/Canada Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Report on Giving FY 2004,” is available to association members, and a CD-ROM of the entire report is free for association members who completed the survey. Additional copies cost members $100 each. Nonmembers may purchase the report for $150.
To order, contact the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, 313 Park Avenue, Suite 400, Falls Church, Va. 22046; (703) 532-6243; http://www.ahp.org.
