Diagnosing money.

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  • 14/05/2018

    Science 21 June 2013: 1394-1399.

    For most alumni, university fundraising may seem to be uncoordinated and lacking in focus—an assortment of phone calls, solicitous letters, and invitations to a class reunion. But for Steven Rum, it’s a science. And the goal is to carry out more research.

    Rum is senior vice president for development and chief fundraiser for Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Last year, his team had a banner year, raising $318 million. Their approach places the physician scientists at Hopkins on the donor front lines. The goal is to turn the positive feelings of “grateful patients” into support for new research, faculty chairs, academic scholarships, bricks and mortar, or simply defraying the cost of running a multibillion-dollar medical center.

    Rum has 65 full-time fundraisers on a staff of 165. Each one is responsible for meeting weekly with physicians—their “caseloads” range from a dozen to more than 30 docs—to discuss which of their patients might be potential donors. The conversation is designed to help them identify what Rum calls a donor’s “qualifying interest” and connect it to their “capacity,” that is, the ability to make a donation.

    More often than not, Rum’s team finds that sweet spot…..

    ”Ideally, I’d like to have one gift officer manage no more than six doctors,” he says.

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