Patient and Family Giving
Featured in the fall 2017 AHP Healthcare Philanthropy journal
By Elizabeth Dollhopf-Brown, Frank Interlichia and Jon Sussman
Changing Culture to Promote Philanthropy
The University of Rochester Medical Center’s Patient and Family Giving program is centered on trusting individual relationships and a core group of physicians, nurses, dentists and other care providers.
At the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), we had tried various “grateful patient” fundraising efforts since 2007, but we lacked a formal, disciplined program headed by a dedicated staff member. All that changed in July 2015, when we established our Patient and Family Giving Department (headed by Elizabeth Dollhopf-Brown) and built a sustainable “Philanthropy Champions” program in which physicians, nurses, dentists and other health professionals become philanthropy advocates.