HOSPITALS would not seem to have much difficulty raising money. Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, for example, received a $100 million gift in January for its cancer center, while Children’s Hospital and Health Center in San Diego was given $60 million in June.
Gifts like those followed a record-setting year in 2005, when hospitals and other health care organizations received $7 billion in donations, according to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. Most of the money raised, some 60 percent, came from individuals — grateful patients, their families, directors and others.
Capital campaigns can be particularly successful, said David Speltz, a managing director at the Huron Consulting Group in Chicago who specializes in health consulting. The hospitals that he has worked with tend to be quick to reward generosity with recognition, allowing donors to name facilities or programs.
“We named every room, we named every building,” Mr. Speltz said.
But not every program gets its share of the largess, hospital executives and professional fund-raisers say. Because hospital fund-raising is so reliant on individuals, programs without the popular appeal of cancer or pediatrics can get just a fraction of the donations.
Among the areas that have proven the most resistant to fund-raising is mental health, whether it is psychiatric care within the hospital or substance-abuse counseling for the community.
“The mental health areas, where the needs are just unlimited, have always been difficult,” said Robert G. Kiely, the president and chief executive of Middlesex Hospital, a community hospital in Middletown, Conn. Last year, for example, the hospital raised $416,000 for its hospice program, compared with just $9,000 for its mental health services. “The hospice program is a very strong generator of philanthropic support,” said Mr. Kiely, particularly through memorial donations.
Community hospitals, which might not have as many wealthy patients who are potential donors, also have mixed success in raising money for basic programs like emergency-room care or for poor patients.
Other sources of philanthropy, like foundations and corporations, often look askance at such needs, deeming them inappropriate for their broader philanthropic goals. Foundations particularly shy away from giving money to what are essentially run-of-the-mill services.
“They tend to be typically interested in not just a program, and they’re picky also,” Mr. Speltz said.
As money from foundations and corporations has become harder to find, competition for the grants and gifts from those organizations has increased in recent years. A result is that many community hospitals that need money the most from outside sources have fewer avenues of philanthropy.
“One of the concerns is the dwindling number of foundations that are willing to support hospitals,” said Zahida Noorani, a fund-raising consultant in Chicago. Only 20 or so foundations in Illinois will support hospital giving, while the larger national or regional foundations have little interest in supporting a community hospital.
Corporations present a similar challenge, Ms. Noorani said, because they are not interested in giving money unless there is an obvious advantage to be gained.
“The corporations are the first to say we are not in the business of charity,” she said.
Hospitals have the most luck in persuading corporations to participate in special events, said Lisa Hillman, a member of the board of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, which estimates that about 13 percent of the money raised by hospitals and the like comes from special events.
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, for example, has found that its annual golf tournament helps raise money to support the hospital’s charity care to patients without insurance. Because of its vital role in the community serving those patients, the medical center has become increasingly creative in finding ways to raise money for the nearly $100 million it spent last year on such care, said Andrea K. Myers, the hospital’s director of development.
The hospital holds two events to raise money, and the Western Washington Toyota Dealers Association pledged $1 million over 10 years last year at the golf tournament, giving the dealers visibility and helping the hospital defray the cost of providing free or discounted care.
What makes mental health so daunting in raising money is that it does not lend itself easily to traditional fund-raising methods. Many patients who use these services are not able to donate to these programs, and approaching donors can be difficult because of the potential stigma associated with psychiatric care.
“We really don’t have an opportunity in the foundation to work with patients on these issues,” said Cecelia T. Fullam, an executive at the fund-raising foundation for the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Even those who are sympathetic may not want their own giving to be connected with the area, she said.
Because some of these programs are also addressing complex problems like substance abuse, they are also less popular, Ms. Hillman said. “Programs like that are difficult to show a more immediate positive response,” she said.
Hospitals have been successful in soliciting money for these services when they are sophisticated about concentrating on potential donors, Mr. Speltz, the consultant, said. The hospitals need to understand that the number of potential donors is limited to those whose relatives have had direct experience with the program or been affected in some way. “It’s sort of a club in some ways,” he said.
At North Shore-Long Island Jewish, a real estate developer, Donald Zucker, and his family gave generously to the psychiatric hospital there, since renamed the Zucker Hillside Hospital. Mr. Zucker, a long-time supporter of the hospital, gave because he recognized what was clearly an unmet need.
But finding donors for even less controversial programs can be difficult. Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Conn., for example, is planning to replace its emergency room for $30 million.
So far, some foundations and corporations have said they are not interested in supporting such a local initiative, said Mr. Kiely, the executive. Foundations often have guidelines that make giving to a community hospital impossible.
“There’s no opportunity for a hospital to approach that entity for high-value, legitimate needs,” he said.
Similarly, the corporations, which are based outside the community, tend to want to donate money to entities where their headquarters are based, even though the emergency room serves their local workers.
“The smaller manufacturing companies and privately held business are being receptive,” Mr. Kiely said.
