Interview with Helen Sernett, CFRE Director of Annual Giving at Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation

Cole Reese Introduction to Fundraising and Philanthropy 13 February 2013

Introduction For this project I interviewed Helen Sernett, CFRE. Helen is the Director of Annual Giving at Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation and is on the board of the Washington AFP chapter. Because Helen answered all of the required questions in an email prior to the interview (see Appendix 1) our time was spent focusing on: 1. Seattle Children's use of social media as a fundraising tool 2. The use of Google Analytics on the Seattle Children's Foundation webpage 3. The strategic fundraising plan of the organization 4. A budget break-down of the Annual Fund Seattle Children's use of social media as a fundraising tool For the better part of two years I have been following Seattle Children's on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Consistently I have been impressed with how the organization has seamlessly integrated their fundraising into their overall marketing and communications strategy in a way that is compelling, concise, and dignified. I was surprised to discover that their beautiful delivery has not resulted in more substantial results. Helen explained to me that because Seattle Children's is in a strong financial position, and because the Foundation president is somewhat of a visionary, they are not afraid to try new things. Originally, when they had starting using their social media presence for fundraising, they had hired an outside consultant to work with them. After analyzing the results from the first campaign, they concluded that it would be more cost effective if they handled the social media fundraising management in-house.

What I thought to be most impressive was even though their first attempt at using social media as a fundraising tool was not overly successful, the organization has not opted to write it off as a method of fundraising, but rather they want to invest more energy into so they can develop a cohesive and effective strategy. Recently there was a video done by one of the older long-term-care patients in Children's hemoncology floor. While at Children's , the patient had been communicating with members of his hockey team via YouTube, and he wanted to send them a video that was powerful, but had an upbeat message. What resulted was various patients and the nurses in his ward performing a lipsync to Kelley Clarkson's song Stronger. The video (double click on Figure 1, then click on play icon to view) went viral shortly after being posted. Whereas this was a great opportunity for Children's to put out a call to action for donations, the organization did not have the systems in place to respond in time. From this they learned that when responding to something going viral on social media, one only has about a week and a half to respond before the opportunity is lost. This incident has lead to an increase in communication between the fundraising, and marketing and communications teams.

Figure 1

The use of Google Analytics on the Seattle Children's Foundation webpage Whereas Google Analytics has been used on the hospital's main page for years, it was only recently added onto the foundation's Give To Seattle Children's site. This late adoption is because up until a year and a half ago, the Give To site was hosted on an external server, so there was little that could be done with analytics. Since converting to a site that is maintained internally, the Foundation has applied Google Analytics to the page and is looking at what it can do to make elements of the sight more effective. The strategic fundraising plan of the organization When I asked her about the strategic fundraising plan of the organization, Helen jokingly said, "to raise more money!" but realistically, she stated, that is the end and the strategic plan is the

mean. The strategic plan of the foundation is about larger visibility, higher levels of collaboration and having a greater reach. Helen made sure to emphasize that there is a difference between the strategic plan of the hospital and the strategic plan of the foundation. The strategic plan of the hospital more closely resembles a case study that can be presented to donors to illustrate the areas in which the hospital is looking to expand. It is the strategic plan of the foundation, and the resulting philanthropy that allows them to accomplish these expansions. One of the remarkable things about philanthropy at Seattle Children's is that it really is transformative giving. The Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research is one example of this. The investment of the Seattle philanthropic community, coupled with key researchers, and the work of the hospital has lead to a synergistic apex where the Hospital is about to begin clinical trials on a cure for a specific type of cancer. Helen admits that this is a medical milestone that was bound to occur sooner or later, but it was the driving interest of this specific synergistic blend that allowed this incredible event to come to fruition so rapidly. A budget break-down of the Annual Fund Overall, the Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation is responsible for raising $47 million annually (see Figure 2). Helen's division, the annual fund, is responsible for $3.6 million of this budget. The $3.6 million comes in from various sources; roughly $700,000 comes from online donations, $300-$400,000 comes from employee matching, et cetera. The interesting thing is roughly 1/3 of the annual fund comes from "white envelope donations." These are donations that they don't necessarily know why they came in, or what campaign they gave to, it is simply a check in a white envelope.

Figure 2-

Amount Raise by Seattle Children's Foundation Annually in millions

Annual Fund $3.6 Guild Associations $10.5 Corporate Giving $4.7

Planned Giving $8 Major Gifts $20.5

My Recommendations for Seattle Children's Annual Fund I struggeled to come up with recommendations for Seattle Children's Annual Fund. In addition to be a brilliant strategic fundraiser, Helen is very comfortable with her organiation's missing and knows how to market it effectively. The only recomendation I could come up with was adding a grassroots element to the new donor recruitment plan. When I asked her about the current new donor recruitment strategy, Helen said Children's focuses on the following areas:

1)

Guild formation and recruitment

2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Commemorative Givers (in honor, in memory gifts) Physician or Care Team Referral Employee Giving Campaign Radiothon & Telethon events Guild Events

After taking another look at the Foundation's strategic plan, I feel it would make sense to add either a seasonal door or street canvass element to their fundraising efforts. From my years working with The Fund For Public Interest Research and from regional studies, I know that Seattle is one of the most canvass-receptive cites in the country (Lewis, 2012). By hiring an outside organization to do a seasonal canvass, Seattle Childern's would increase their visibility by being out in neighborhoods doorbelling and in high foot-traffic areas. By introducing a canvass, Children's would also increase their reach and sphere of influence (Temple, Seiler, & Aldrich, 2011) by interacting with more community members, moving them from the outer realm of the sphere into the closer donor sections. Both of these results align with the Foundation's strategic goal. Hiring an outside canvass organization on a seasonal basis is a cost effective was to speak with thousands of people over the course of a summer about the work your organization is accomplishing. This would acquire a large number of new donors that the organization's annual fund manager or direct marketing manager could cultivate and steward into become a reliable base for the organization. Whereas this might not reduce the size of the "White Envelope" budget it would increase the direct mail and web donation sectors of the budget, thus allowing the Annual fund to grow and become less dependent on the "White Envelope" budget over time.

References
Lewis, C. (2012). Trends in Northwest Giving. Seattle: Philanthropy Northwest. Temple, E. R., Seiler, T. L., & Aldrich, E. E. (2011). Achieving Excellence in Fundraising. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.