HealthSource needed a reliable, steady stream of new donors who could be efficiently identified, qualified, and placed into the proper giving portfolio. This project focused on identifying and understanding new donors to develop a scalable strategy and essential communication tools for long-term relationship building.
HealthSource (HSO) is preparing to expand their footprint and needed to move from manual processes to defined systems and digital tools for identifying and qualifying donors.
Primary research with donors and HSO providers revealed a gap in philanthropic efforts — donors are looking for impact stories and transparency while providers do not understand how philanthropy related to clinical and whole person care.
The project delivered a set of tool and education materials to use across the donor journey. A scalable, prospective donor databse helps organize stewardshet while an automated first time donor education emails and impact book highlight how your donation support HSO's mission.
“If they give me some kind of directional statement, like my money is helping xyz, then I don’t need exact dollars and cents, I just appreciate knowing where things go.”
—
Philanthropic Donor
HealthSource’s donor identification and qualification process was fragmented, leading to limited visibility and missed opportunities for relationship-building. Prospective donors were tracked manually, and only active donors were entered into their donor management software, preventing proactive relationship management. The new system needed to provide a shared workspace while also integrating with existing software. The team began by mapping the current donor journey, technologies used, and stewardship matrix. Then, they created a Notion relational database to identify and track stewardship efforts for prospective donors.
The team conducted primary research to understand philanthropic donor motivations and HSO health care provider perspectives on philanthropy. For both groups, they identified the need for transparency, relationship building, and storytelling as a bridge to impact. This led to brainstorming and scoping communication materials to be used across the donor journey.
It had been several years since HealthSource had published an annual report — the two teams collaborated to define the scope and identify supporting data. The final HSO Impact Book educates donors on HSO's mission and programs with supporting patient stories and outcome data. In addition, the team identified two new giving campaigns - National Children's Dental Month and World Health Day - and developed marketing materials to share with existing donors. A welcome email series further educates new donors on the mission.
The Notion database provides a centralized, scalable, and exportable system for the HealthSource team to manage and qualify prospects. Storytelling and communication pieces focus on different aspects of the donor journey: The Impact Book provides a single place to introduce prospects to the mission, programs, and impact. First-time donor emails continue to educate and share the impact of your donation. Finally, new giving campaigns target existing donors to continue supporting HealthSource's mission of equitable healthcare.
