Health systems continue to expand the breadth and complexity of their service offerings, challenging development teams to organize and manage funding priorities while remaining donor-centric.

Philanthropy teams have addressed this challenge by aligning investment and staffing with the care delivery system. However, service line fundraising often focuses on internal stakeholder demands at the expense of donors. To maximize benefits of a service line orientation, development teams need to better balance internal and external considerations.

This study presents eleven tactics to elevate development teams’ service line fundraising, plus ready-to-use resources on trends and innovations in five key service lines.

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Measure service line opportunity

Successful service line fundraising requires development teams to quantify their service line prospect base, including existing donors and under-cultivated prospects. Use the tactics below to measure philanthropic opportunity accurately:

Tactic 1: Use data assets to measure current prospect base (p. 12)

• Related resource:
• • Service Line Measurement and Allocation Toolkit: Learn step-by-step instructions to assess and staff service line opportunity.

Tactic 2: Test donor interest with outgoing appeals (p. 15)

Allocate resources strategically

To capture identified opportunity, development teams must strategically allocate staff resources across service lines and programs based on three different but complementary models. Learn about these models in the following tactics:

Tactic 3: Assign gift officers based on portfolio strength (p. 17)

Tactic 4: Capture additional opportunity with generalists (p. 19)

• Related resource:
• • Engineering the Major Gifts Enterprise: Learn what makes an MGO outperform and how to replicate these behaviors on your team.

Set priority guidelines for internal stakeholders

Development teams should value internal priorities without being overwhelmed by them. The following two tactics set appropriate expectations around roles of internal allies and the development team:

Tactic 5: Establish consensus on priority-selection criteria (p. 25)

Tactic 6: Accept ad hoc requests, for a price (p. 27)

Prepare MGOs to support any donor

Despite a service line focus, MGOs should be well-versed across all foundation priorities. Prepare service line MGOs to respond to diverse donor interests with the following three tactics:

Tactic 7: Build regular exposure to clinical perspectives (p. 28)

Tactic 8: Rely on MGO “experts” to share insight (p. 29)

• Related resource:
• • Simulation-Based Coaching Workshop for Fundraisers: Build donor-facing skills through video replay and group sharing.

Tactic 9: Let donor interest drive the initial conversation (p. 30)

Structure meaningful interactions

Involving credible allies strengthens development case-making and makes philanthropic impact real for prospects. Use the following tactics to leverage donor and clinician allies:

Tactic 10: Involve donors in case development (p. 31)

Tactic 11: Connect donors with clinicians (p. 33)

• Related resource:
• • Philanthropy-Physician Toolkit: Follow these ten steps to build physician champions.
  • Turning the Tide on Nurse-Philanthropy Partnerships: Engage nurse allies via mutually beneficial partnerships.

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What are the service line changes that development staff should understand? We’ve compiled the top trends and innovations for five key service lines in ready-to-use presentations.

Learn where philanthropy can support programmatic growth and what new investments need funding within your dedicated service lines. Use these decks to gain foundational knowledge that can inform your partnership with service line leaders and improve service line priority selection.

Ready-to-Use Slides: Cardiovascular Market Trends

• Learn about the three driving forces in the evolving cardiovascular landscape—outpatient shift, population health, and patient consumerism—and how providers are responding to these forces.

Ready-to-Use Slides: Neuroscience Market Trends

• Explore inpatient and outpatient volume, technology innovation, and care management forecasts for the neurosciences service line.

Ready-to-Use Slides: Oncology Market Trends

• Get a comprehensive look at where the oncology market is headed, including growth strategy considerations and new program funding opportunities.

Ready-to-Use Slides: Orthopedics and Spine Market Trends

• Learn about drivers of outpatient growth, shifting financial outlook, and consumer-centric approach for orthopedic services.

Ready-to-Use Slides: Women’s Services Market Trends

• Discover trends changing demand for women's services from the inpatient to outpatient space. Understand the service line's new growth objectives—capture and retain patient loyalty across the care continuum.