One of the most effective ways to fundraise for hospitals is by hosting a Giving Day. Giving Days are 24-hour fundraising events aimed at rallying communities together to maximize awareness, engagement, and donations around a common cause. It’s a great solution for hospitals because it urges swift action and gets to the heart of a hospital’s purpose: stepping up to provide for those who need care.
Let’s take a closer look at five benefits of hosting a Hospital Giving Day.
1. Hospital Giving Days engage your greater community
Your hospital plays an integral role in keeping communities safe and healthy. To local residents, your hospital isn’t just made up of patients, nurses, and staff, but of family members, coworkers, and neighbors.
Imagine being able to maximize this feeling of community while spreading awareness about the great work you’re doing. A virtual Giving Day creates this opportunity!
Bonterra Donor Engagement’s Giving Days solution (previously GiveGab) allows you to customize your campaign site with features that appeal to your specific community, such as embeddable video content, social media integrations, and peer-to-peer fundraising features.
For example, Cayuga Health System, a medical center foundation, used 47 pre-recorded videos to stream 24 hours’ worth of content on their Giving Day site, which kept their supporters engaged and encouraged them to share the content with their peers on social media.
2. Hospital Giving Days allow you to reach more new donors
Unlike in-person fundraising events, which require people to check their schedules and coordinate transportation to a venue, Hospital Giving Days can be accessed and supported on digital devices anytime, anywhere. This expands your reach beyond the local community, allowing you to reach more donors than ever before.
Plus, by creating a 24-hour deadline for donations and rallying supporters around a shared goal, Hospital Giving Days can drive increased participation and engagement from both existing and new donors.
For instance, Cayuga Health System’s Giving Day was launched in June of 2020 to help supplement the funds they typically would expect from their two annual galas that had to be canceled because of COVID-19. Through engaging their network of supporters and recruiting peer-to-peer fundraising participants, the Cayuga Health System’s team reached 42 new donors!
Utilizing Peer-to-Peer Fundraising for our Giving Day not only allowed us to engage key stakeholders such as our Board of Directors, Physicians, and Hospital Staff, it allowed us to greatly expand the reach of our cause far beyond expectations. Our mission came directly from those who care the most–those having a personal and direct interest in our success. – Tiffany Bloss, Director of the Schuyler Health Foundation
3. Hospital Giving Days promote equity among departments and donors
Giving Days offer a chance to represent various departments, funds, or cause areas equally. While one of your departments may be more popular than another, a Giving Day allows you to showcase all of your departments on the same stage, bringing heightened awareness to each of them.
Donors will also be equally represented, regardless of their gift size. A supporter who gives $100 shows up on the same donor feed as someone who gives $5,000, so everyone can feel as though they’ve made a real difference toward the Giving Day effort.
Because engagement and giving are encouraged at every level across various departments, this results in more gifts from more new donors to more areas that need support.
4. Hospital Giving Days are affordable
In-person fundraising events can be costly, as they involve booking a venue, hiring catering and staff, and printing physical invitations. With Hospital Giving Days, all you have to do is invest in an online donation platform and spread the word about your cause through digital channels like email and social media.
Take the example from Cayuga Health System’s Giving Day, where they raised $33,000 more than what they brought in from their two annual galas combined while spending a fraction to make it work.
5. Hospital Giving Days help streamline donor stewardship
Online donation platforms allow you to collect important information about your supporters, such as communication preferences, geographic location, and demographics. Your hospital can then use this data to personalize outreach and appeal to supporters in more meaningful ways, leading to improved donor stewardship. For example, Cayuga Health was able to tailor communications based on whether or not a donor self-identified as a “Grateful Patient” or “Family Member” on their donation form.
Consider what your donation forms will ask for and decide how you will use this information to retain donors over time.
A final note about Hospital Giving Days
Hospital Giving Days bring your donors, supporters, and staff together to rally behind your critical purpose and foster a community that cares. Discover how Bonterra’s Giving Day platform can help you maximize your impact today!
