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Contributions crucial But Schuster is looking ahead when she says that, in the future, hospitals like Emerson may begin to rely on phil- anthropic sources to fund operations, which could include anything from staffing to materials. That's because federal reimburse- ments are declining under the Afford- able Care Act, and Bay State hospitals are also expected to meet cost-cutting benchmarks over the next several years under the 2012 health care cost con- tainment bill. Given those factors, it will be harder to update infrastructures using hospitals' operating budgets. Luckily for the hospitals, benefactors continue to write checks, even though the economy has taken a hit, and even as hospitals live under mounting pres- sure to join up with larger systems, which may detract from their appeal as community-based organizations. The bulk of fundraising is made up of smaller gifts that combine to lift hospitals to their lofty goals, which frequently add up to millions of dollars. But MetroWest has, in recent years, been home to instances of philanthropy that far exceed the average gift. The most obvious recent example was the $5 million that Mendon busi- ness owner Kevin Meehan donated to Milford Regional Medical Center's health care foundation for the planned expansion of the hospital's emergency department and intensive care unit. Martin Richman, who heads the foundation as executive director and vice president of philanthropy, said the sum isn't just the largest gift in the hospital's history; he also believes it's the largest ever made to any organiza- tion within Milford Regional's 20-town service area. Donation to lead others "For us, a gift like that is a game changer," Richman said. Not only did Meehan help the foundation make considerable progress toward its minimum fundraising goal of $25 million, but Richman said it's also been a catalyst, motivating others with the means to give generously. And given his community clout, Meehan has raised awareness about the project's importance, Richman said. "(People think) 'Kevin Meehan is supporting the project, this must be something I should get involved with,' " Richman said. Meehan, of Millis, is a member of the hospital board of directors and owner of the Mendon dealership Impe- rial Cars. He mulled his donation for some time before making the official commitment, according to Richman. The November announcement of Meehan's donation allowed Milford Regional to go public with its cam- paign, known as "Excellence: The Campaign For Milford Regional Medi- cal Center." To date, $15.5 million has been raised. For Meehan, the massive donation is to ensure Milford Regional continues to be a "world-class medical facility," he said in a statement. He considers the money an investment in the community where he and his family have made their home and are seeing continued business success. "We ... welcome the opportu- nity to help improve the quality of life," for others in the community, he said. Of course, there's more to effective fundraising than getting key players on board. During his six-year tenure with the foundation, Richman said he has worked to raise fundraising expecta- tions within the hospital. One simple way to achieve that was to increase the gift amounts listed on donation enve- lopes distributed by the hospital from $25, $50 and $100 to $100, $250, $500 and $1,000. Richman believes that compels people to write larger checks. In fact, he said the average gift to the hospital has increased from about $35 to nearly $60 since the change, despite a struggling economy. Party potential Putting on fundraising events that are worth attending is another key ingredient, according to Paul Zekos, owner of The Zekos Group of Shrews- bury, which runs auctions and other charitable events for area clients. Zekos has planned the past few an- nual fundraising galas for Milford Re- gional Medical Center, including one at Meehan's car dealership in Mendon, which raised $600,000 for the hospital. Those on the guest list receive many invitations to charitable events, Zekos said, so the parties a hospital throws need to be memorable. Zekos said those who attended the gala at Meehan's dealership were struck by the novelty of mingling on an auto showroom floor and dancing in a garage. Zekos said hospitals should not un- derestimate the importance of wowing donors, because they're the people who support fundraising needs that keep hospitals on the cutting edge of health care technology. "There's consistently a need … to do that, you need to raise enough money to be able to buy the best technology and service your customers expedi- tiously, with one-stop shopping," Zekos said. Maximizing support from individual donors is an important endeavor for any hospital development depart- ment, said Steven Lawrence, director of research at the New York City-based Foundation Center, a leading source of worldwide philanthropy data. Lawrence said foundation support for organizations across all sectors seems to be on the rise, especially as the stock market made double-digit gains percentage over the last year, improv- ing the outlook for their assets. But the economy is still in a state of flux, which may work against hospitals that are looking to secure money for capital projects, Lawrence said. "It's simply more likely that the donors who are going to be more likely funding that new wing are apt to be more wealthy donors who just have some connection to the hospital," Lawrence said. Concord resident Gloria Clough is one of those people. She and her husband Charles, a successful hedge fund manager, decided to donate $1 million to Emerson Hospital in 2006 to support Project SCORE, a $33-mil- lion initiative to upgrade the hospital's surgical center, obstetrics department and radiology department. A clinical specialist with master's degrees in nursing and divinity, Clough said she and her husband had estab- lished a close connection with Emerson through the years, living and working in the community. Clough had her own private prac- tice in Concord, and she served as Emerson's chaplain from 1990 to 1995. Today she is chairwoman of the Emerson Health Care Foundation, where she works to gain philanthropic support from others in the community. The Cloughs also have been patients numerous times at Emerson, and two of their children were born there. For the Cloughs, that personal con- nection made donating a hearty piece of their wealth to Emerson a natural decision. "We both feel that… we should be giving back to institution that nurtured us," Clough said. n MetroWest495 Biz | February 2014 13 Simply Beter. saversbank.com 800.649.3036 Member FDIC Member SIF Equal Housing Lender Our Business Loans are a Great Fit (even for XXL businesses). Our expert commercial lenders will custom fit a loan for your business. Ask us today. 4 6 8 10 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 $6.96 $8.01 $5.53 $5.88 $6.09 $7.08 $7.90 $8.34 $8.58 $7.64 $8.26 $8.94 $8.94 Source: Association for Healthcare Philanthropy's Annual Report on Giving *Data was collected in an independent survey from 273 member institutions Report on giving, U.S. FY2000-FY2012 Approximate total funds raised, non-profit hospitals & health care organizations *In billions of dollars

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