Hall Powell Says, “Successful Fundraisers Don’t Climb Ladders, They Build Their Own” is one nonprofit veteran’s story on how to truly rise above the crowd. Here’s what Hall to share:
Before I was named CEO of Savannah’s Memorial Health University Medical Center I served as their Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President and fundraising consultant.
I didn’t climb the ladder, rather, I BUILT IT. How? I shared a great dream backed by a sound plan.
You see, I spent months having private conversations with millionaire donors in Savannah and determined that we could successfully raise $37 million to build an advanced cancer research institute facility on the medical center’s campus.
The Cancer Research Institute was a “great dream!” Now I needed to share a “sound plan.”
Though Savannah’s well-heeled donors appreciated the medical center as a “jewel” in their community, they were not accustomed to giving large gifts to the medical center (the Board of Directors shared my opinion!) I proposed a one-year “ramp-up” program that would prepare local donors to make their largest gifts ever to a forthcoming Cancer Research Institute Campaign. My presentation outlined in detail the steps of a comprehensive major gifts initiative that, if followed and implemented correctly, would result in $37 million dollars raised. The Board of Directors, knowing they did not have the expertise to lead this effort, invited me to become the CEO and reorganize the foundation to become a successful, ongoing source of philanthropic support for them.
Great Dreams…Sound Plans…NOW THAT’S HOW YOU BUILD A LADDER!
Hall Powell Says, “Successful Fundraisers Don’t Climb Ladders, They Build Their Own!”
Memorial Health Trust was started in 1984 to be the supporting fundraising arm of Memorial Health University Medical Center. In the 1980s many nonprofit hospitals were almost forced into seeking philanthropic support because of laws that had been established as to how much they could charge for certain medical procedures and medications. For the first time, some procedures and medications came under new regulations established by the government for Medicare and Non-Medicare patients: The DRGs (Diagnosis-Related Groups). Instead of paying for each service you receive, a payment amount is predetermined based on the DRG. Suddenly, hospitals were faced with limitations oh now much they could could change for patient care, resulting in revenue losses. Hospitals began looking for other sources of revenue, including fundraising, to offset DRG losses. Of course, charitable fundraising could only be conducted by nonprofit hospitals. There was no incentive for donors to give to a for-profit hospital because IRS would not consider their gifts as tax deductible.
Memorial Health Trust was formed for Memorial Health medical center to be a source for overcoming loss revenue caused by the enforcement of DRGs. And like most nonprofit hospitals that had never engaged in fundraising, Memorial Health Trust did not know the most effective and sustainable way to raise philanthropic funds. The “Trust” was established, and for the next nineteen years raised money from the greater Savannah, Georgia community by conducting twelve charitable events, and a few grants from the local and federal government.
When I was recruited to lead the new foundation, the name of Memorial Health Trust was changed to Memorial Health University Medical Center Foundation, Inc. I began to transform the organization from an event-focused fundraising organization to a comprehensive fundraising organization focusing on major gifts supported by special events and a separate grant-seeking function under the medical center’s oversight. In a matter of months, the “Trust” had evolved into a fundraising function that grossed about $2 million a year from funds raised by conducting twelve community events. One event, the annual Children’s Miracle Network campaign for Memorial Health’s children’s’ hospital, alone accounted for about $1 million of the $2 million. The other eleven special events shared the remaining $1 million in charitable revenue. The actual net revenue was never really calculated, because expense budgets for conducting the events were never established.
In my first year as the chief executive officer for the foundation, we reduced the twelve special events to six signature events to be used as cultivation strategies for raising major gifts from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. As a result, we raised $12 million in the first year by establishing and implementing major gifts fundraising principles as outlined in Major Gifts Ramp Up (MGRU).
To ensure that our special events would be successful fundraising and cultivation events, I recruited and trained the staff in the principles of major gifts fundraising and appointed a Director of Development for each major medical service (e.g., Heart, Cancer, Women and Children, Rehabilitation, Nursing). Each director was a major gifts officer. While they focused on implementing signature fundraising events, their ultimate goal was to identify, cultivate, and solicit major gifts while strengthening annual support.
The subsequent $37 million campaign was successful. It has been wonderful knowing that many lives have been and will be favorably impacted the research done in the new cancer research institute. It was truly career milestone for me and my family.
Hall Powell Says, “Successful Fundraisers Don’t Climb Ladders, They Build Their Own!” was first posted at Major Gifts Ramp-Up
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About The Author:
Hall Powell has served as Senior Vice President of Development Systems International (DSI) for more than a decade and has 40 years of fundraising experience, including 19 as a fundraising consultant. He has provided campaign and development counsel to a wide variety of institutions throughout the country, with special emphasis in the healthcare field. Prior to joining DSI, Hall was senior consultant with the fundraising consulting firm Alexander Hass of Atlanta, Georgia. Previously, Hall served as the Executive Vice President of the Memorial Health Foundation, Inc. in Savannah, Georgia, and the founding Executive Director of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation, Inc., in Wilmington, North Carolina. He spent more than four years as the founding Director of the Amethyst Foundation in Charlotte where he played a significant role in the development of a nonprofit management seminar for Winthrop University. He also served as Director of Graduate Administration at Winthrop and was responsible for directing the Executive MBA Program as an Associate Professor in the Management Department. A seasoned lecturer in the nonprofit sector, Hall has also been an instructor with the Duke University Nonprofit Management Seminar. A Certified fundraising Executive, Hall Powell has served on the national board of directors of the National Society of Fundraising Executives, now known as the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). He has also been instrumental in forming two AFP chapters. He holds an undergraduate degree from Guilford College and an MBA from Winthrop University. Hall Powell also engaged in graduate studies at Columbia International University. In his role as a fundraising counselor, Hall Powell is a strong advocate of the underlying philosophy of “donor-centered fundraising,” meeting the need of the donor to give, not putting the needs of the nonprofit organization as the primary motive for the donor/institution relationship. With this underlying philosophy for building comprehensive fundraising programs for institutions he served as Chief Development Officer, and for those he serves as fundraising counsel, he supports the Major Gifts Ramp Up Model. The model, accurately presented in 13 chapters built upon tried and proven best practices for successful major gifts fundraising, emphasizes building capacity for the nonprofit organization and long-term donor relationships. Finally Hall, is the author of The Missing Link: A Guide to Spiritual Reality
