Nonprofit healthcare centers rely on gifts of gratitude from patients. Physicians can be valuable in securing those gifts through both their treatment and ability to identify potential donors.

During a workshop “Embedding Philanthropy in the Culture of Medicine” at the recent Association of Healthcare Philanthropy Conference, Moira McGinley, senior development director at Presence Health Foundation in Chicago, Illinois; Steven Reed, CEO of Performance Advantage, a Marketing Partners, Inc. in St. Joseph, Mich.; and Herdley Paolini, founder and president of The Institute of Physician Integration in Winter Park, Fla., provided five keys to engaging physicians in the fundraising process.

Engage physicians. Commit to the time required for engagement and physician-centric case development. Keep your promises.

Manage relationships. Remember that engagement doesn’t’ stop when a party is engaged. Bring them into your world and utilize measures and metrics.

Develop carefully mapped processes with measures and metrics. Track physician communication, education and relationship management. Involve physicians in acknowledgements and stewardship.

Keep communication ongoing. Invite physicians to general foundation events. Consider a special two-way communication channel geared toward physicians such as an app.

Continue reporting. Create defined levels of reporting and determine the level of reporting physicians feel comfortable with. Celebrate significant gifts with special reports beyond usual updates.