Today's donors are becoming more like investors, and health care donors are no exception. They increasingly make donation decisions with their heads instead of their hearts, and they hold non-profits accountable for results.

This study provides best practices, tools, and customizable templates to help hospital and health system fundraisers satisfy the demands of these "donor investors."

Donor investors prize results over fuzzy feelings

Traditionally, the act of giving alone has been enough to satisfy donors, but today's philanthropists are focused on results. Both current and prospective donors increasingly want to see concrete plans for how charities plan to use their philanthropy, as well as proof of their gifts' impact.

To meet these demands, philanthropy leaders will need to create compelling business plans prior to solicitation, and they'll need to keep donors apprised of gift impact to secure continued investments. These tasks are often time-consuming and new to fundraising teams, so we've identified scalable, easy-to implement best practices for each.

Read more about the increasing demand for impact and accountability

Build a compelling business plan

Traditional, rigorous business planning is foreign to many fundraisers. But today's donors only require moderate due diligence to justify their investment, so most donor-facing business plans will not need to be corporate-quality.

Our study maps out a four-step process for creating compelling but concise plans that satisfy potential donors and set their expectations.

Capture gift impact data and create reports

While business plans are a great tool to attract donors and manage their expectations, they also establish clear expectations of the fundraising team. Once a donor gives, philanthropy leaders will need to track spending and outcomes to secure continued investment.

Our study provides best practices for tracking gift use, obtaining data from fund recipients, and reporting impact to donors.

Download the full study