.png)
Trusted Digital Labor for Healthcare Fundraising
- Sara Montgomery
- May 5
- 2 min read
We’ve been spending a lot of time with healthcare teams lately, and the conversations have been striking — not just for their complexity, but for how human the work is.
Healthcare fundraising often starts with a moment — a recovery, a loss, an experience that stays with someone. But just as often, giving unfolds more gradually — shaped by ongoing care, trust in a physician, or a shared belief in what a hospital or health system means to a community.
Across sectors, advancement teams are wrestling with a familiar challenge: how do you meaningfully connect with the people who care — not just the top 1-5% in assigned portfolios, but those with a story, a memory, or a quiet sense of gratitude?
That’s why more healthcare organizations are adding trusted digital labor in the form of Autonomous Fundraising to their development teams. Not as a replacement or a shortcut, but to extend their reach – technology in service of the human connection.
These digital team members don’t replace stewardship. They make it more possible. They help engage the “middle space”: lapsed donors, longtime employees, grateful patients — people who often receive one-size-fits-all messages, even when they deserve more. Each message is shaped by your organization’s values, content, and real-time donor context. It’s conversation with purpose.
For example, JPS Foundation’s VEO, Jazmin, manages a portfolio that includes employee donors for both retention and engagement, as well as donors from recent years who have not yet made a gift this year. Jazmin’s approach is to inspire renewed support by welcoming new donors, celebrating the generosity of existing supporters, and engagements that reinforce how internal giving strengthens JPS’s mission.
Parkland Health Foundation has its own unique needs that its VEO, Nicole, fills. Nicole’s portfolio is diverse, including employees, lapsed donors, and giving society members. Nicole’s focus is on re-engagement, retention, and relationship building at scale. Engagements generated by Nicole center on connecting with donors by sharing news and events. This includes recognizing staff awards and even offering some donors a printed and framed picture celebrating Parkland’s journey since 1894.
This is what it means for technology to serve the mission. Not to replace fundraisers, but to ensure more individuals feel seen, supported, and meaningfully connected to the cause — precisely when it matters most.
