Using philanthropy to improve community partnerships

Health systems are putting more time and resources into community partnerships that address underlying drivers of poor health: food insecurity, unstable housing, lack of access to quality education, and more. Nevertheless, many development teams are reluctant to step outside their legacy focus on clinical and capital priorities. By not proactively supporting community partnerships, they risk a reduction of value to their institution and their donors.

In this report, we present the case for expanding the scope of philanthropy’s value to better serve emergent community health goals and describe three approaches to doing so.