Henry Ford Health (Henry Ford) began its partnership with BWF in 2019 when it initiated a campaign planning process. Henry Ford was looking for a partner to review the development office’s organizational structure, technology, fundraising expertise, and campaign performance potential. Specifically, the study was designed to be comprehensive in nature—to assess the private fundraising potential from all sources for Henry Ford, evaluate the capacity of organizational and fundraising infrastructure in relationship to a capital campaign, and test external reactions and gauge possible support for a potential $500–$750 million comprehensive campaign.
The campaign planning study involved conducting interviews with internal senior leaders and selected development staff as well as with external donors and other important constituents; analyzing program and constituent data to understand giving trends and potential; conducting online surveys with volunteers, top donors, and prospects; working with a task force on the campaign prospectus and external interview lists; and developing a final report and recommendations.
Among the key recommendations that informed Henry Ford’s future work were:
- Plan and conduct a phased comprehensive campaign with an initial working goal of $500 million in gift commitments in support of Henry Ford Health’s strategic priorities and initiatives.
- Build on the strengths in the major and principal gift programs by utilizing best practices in portfolio management and prospect development.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive communications plan focused on philanthropy.
- Continue building a robust grateful patient program strategically focused on the most capable members of the Henry Ford community.
Since completing the campaign planning study, BWF has provided ongoing campaign counsel, campaign communications counsel, interim staffing, technology and operations counsel, data science/predictive modeling, annual giving, and more.
Henry Ford’s $500 million campaign (now $750 million), its largest to date, is in support of a $2 billion hospital expansion project in Detroit and a joint research center for Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences, among other projects. Henry Ford is nearly halfway to its goal. This significant effort is buoyed by the fact that Henry Ford is on track to achieve one of its best fundraising years in its history.
Henry Ford investment in its fundraising program is reaping dividends. Henry Ford’s fundraising performance has gone from a giving total of approximately $40 million in 2021 to over $203+ million in 2023. Investments have included:
- Business intelligence dashboards to manage the campaign and fundraising strategies.
- Four new predictive models to empower fundraising programs from grateful patients to major gifts.
- Operations improvements from gift processing to systems.
- A larger and more experienced Development Communications team empowered to inspire donors to action and engagement.
The Henry Ford Health development team knows that philanthropy will power investments in new opportunities to better serve Henry Ford’s patients and communities and harness an engrained spirit of ingenuity to transform healthcare and tackle today’s greatest health challenges.
Let’s Talk
Henry Ford Health utilized the Donor AI service offered by BWF. Learn more about this solution and find out how BWF’s predictive solutions can support unlock the potential of your data, strengthen donor relationships, and maximize fundraising effectiveness.
