What did the Advancement Planning Task Force recommend to Council?
In April 2020, the Council acted upon the recommendations from our Financial Growth Workgroup1 by creating the Advancement Planning Task Force to guide plans for a new approach to fund raising by the Society.2 At that time, the Council anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic would have a substantial adverse effect on the Society’s financial position. I was delighted when Thomas Gallagher, Martha Gerrity, Thomas Inui, Carlos Oronce, Mark Schwartz, Valerie Stone, and William Tierney all agreed to serve on the Task Force with me. The initiative was funded by a grant from the Hess Foundation, and was supported by our Director of Finance, Leslie Dunne, and by two external consultants, John Wm. Thomas and Valerie L. Thomas.
Our consultants drafted a statement of the case for giving to SGIM, and I revised the statement after obtaining input from the Task Force. We based the case statement on the Society’s mission, vision, and organizational goals. The Task Force agreed that the mission and vision are as important as ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national reckoning on racial injustice.
Our consultants also appraised SGIM’s capacity to implement a long-term fund-raising strategy by performing a survey of a randomly selected sample of our membership and by conducting in-depth interviews with selected long-time members. The survey indicated that most members felt SGIM has been very or extremely important to their professional growth and networking, while 76% of respondents said they would give to SGIM if there is a cause that resonates with them. The interviews helped confirm that senior members appreciated SGIM for being their professional home and were willing to help jump start a new philanthropy program. The consultants concluded that SGIM had enough assets to support a sustained philanthropy program based on an inspirational case statement, strong support from leadership, passionate commitment of members to our mission, and early success in securing sizeable new donations and pledges to the Society.
We then developed a comprehensive two-year plan for launching the new Forging Our Future fund-raising program that will nurture a culture of philanthropy at SGIM. The Task Force endorsed the plan in late August, and the Council approved the plan in early September. The plan makes philanthropy a priority for the organization, with Council members setting an example by establishing a target of having 100% Council participation by the end of 2020. The plan also sets a target of raising $200,000 by December 31, 2020, and another $300,000 in 2021, in addition to increasing the estimated value of commitments to our Legacy Program for Bequests and Advance Giving from $466,000 to $706,000 by the end of the year. To implement and sustain the new initiative, the Task Force recommended that we establish a standing Philanthropy Committee and hire a Development Officer.
What do we expect from the newly created Philanthropy Committee?
The Philanthropy Committee will assume a leadership role in creating and growing SGIM’s culture of philanthropy. Committee members will help to develop strategies and policies for running the Forging Our Future Program and will assist in cultivating relationships with prospective donors. I’m pleased to report that Martha Gerrity has agreed to serve as the inaugural Chair of the Philanthropy Committee, and she will be joined on the committee by Monica Lypson (SGIM’s President-elect), Gail Daumit (SGIM’s Secretary-elect), Janet Chu (Council Associate representative), Carlos Oronce (Council Associate representative), Anu Paranjape (ACLGIM President-elect), William Moran (SGIM Past President), Mark Schwartz (SGIM Past Treasurer), Shelly Ann Fluker (past Chair of SGIM’s Board of Regional Leaders), and Preston Reynolds (representative of the Ethics Committee).
What do we mean by developing a culture of philanthropy for our Society?
Simply put, this means that over the years ahead we will create within the Society a culture which cares deeply about philanthropy. In doing so, we will recognize that the Society’s growth and fiscal equilibrium are, to an increasing extent, dependent on expanding philanthropy by members and friends to support the vision, mission and goals we hold dear.
What is the expected role of the Development Officer?
The Development Officer is expected to help raise funds, apply best practices to the start of the program, coordinate communications and other SGIM functions with developments plans and activities, and help foster a culture of philanthropy throughout SGIM. I’m pleased to report that Elizabeth (Liz) Davey became our Development Officer on October 22, 2020. Liz comes to SGIM with over 25 years of experience as a fund-raising professional as well as a strong interest in contributing to SGIM’s mission of cultivating innovative educators, researchers, and clinicians in academic general internal medicine, leading the way to better health for everyone.