Giving to nonprofit hospitals and health care systems in the United States was up by 5 percent last year while giving to their Canadian counterparts saw the first increase since 2013.
The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP)’s annual “Report on Giving” estimated total giving in Fiscal Year 2016 in North America at a record $11.675 billion, up 5.7 percent from $11.041 billion in the previous year.
Giving to U.S. health care institutions comprised more than $10.143 billion, up 5 percent from $9.651 billion in 2015. Giving to Canadian health care fundraising organizations increased for the first time since 2013, jumping 10 percent. The total $1.532 billion is the most AHP reported since it started the “Report on Giving” in 2004.
The report covers the Fiscal Year Ending 2016, which for about half the 243 organizations in this year’s study was December 2016 and about half was June 2016. Data for the “Report on Giving” comes from AHP’s annual benchmarking survey of members, using different data than Giving USA’s Annual Report on Philanthropy, released this past June. The Falls Church, Va.-based association represents some 4,500 development professionals at more than 2,000 nonprofit hospitals, medical centers, health systems and related facilities internationally.
“The recovery in the Canadian health care development environment from a two-year downturn was positive news for fundraisers,” AHP President and CEO Steven Churchill said via a press release.
The median approximate return on investment (ROI) for Canadian organizations dropped in FYE 2016 to $4.07 from $4.20 in FYE 2015. The median ROI was $4.06 for the U.S., which also was a decline from $4.29 in FYE 2015, and closer to the FY 2014 level of $4.05.
“Throughout North America, health care organizations are diligently using funds to improve their institution’s ability to serve their communities,” said AHP Board Chair Jory Pritchard-Kerr, FAHP, executive director at Collingwood General & Marine Hospital Foundation. “A fourfold ROI demonstrates the high standards to which fundraisers hold themselves,” she said.
“During this time of unprecedented change in health care, extraordinary giving is so important to the care we provide to our communities every day,” said Mark Larkin, CFRE, AHP board member and president of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation in Florida. “The ‘Report on Giving’ is encouraging because these dollars translate into life-saving technology, promising new research and the best possible care for our patients,” he said in a press release announcing the survey results.
