How McLean Hospital is achieving success with their largest ever campaign

Founded in 1811 and located in Belmont, MA, McLean Hospital delivers compassionate psychiatric care, conducts innovative scientific discovery, provides comprehensive professional training, and offers robust public education. A proven leader in psychiatry and neuroscience, McLean is unique in its ability to combine clinical services, research, and educational activities in one institution. This integrated approach is further enhanced by its synergistic affiliation with Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham.

In 2018, McLean engaged Development Guild to provide counsel as the hospital launched the quiet phase of an ambitious campaign, The Way Forward, which was to be the largest in the hospital’s history. Unlike previous campaigns, the primary objective of The Way Forward is to raise money in support of various capital projects, with the cornerstone being the construction and renovation of an 86,000 sq. ft. academic and residential campus for children and adolescents. Our deep experience in academic medicine, coupled with our long-standing relationship with McLean’s affiliates, meant we were able to quickly assess the campaign’s status and opportunities and provide strategic counsel without a lengthy on-boarding process.

Throughout our partnership, we have worked closely with McLean’s campaign leadership, delivering strategic advice and coaching around major gifts strategy, principal gifts strategy, and board responsibilities. Historically, many of McLean’s donors have been inclined to support research or specific clinical interests. Developing interest in and garnering support for a capital project has presented a unique opportunity to shift this pattern.

McLean has already seen significant success. As of early 2021, the hospital has secured three $10M commitments toward its $100M capital goal along with many new multi-year commitments from its closest donors. This is due largely in part to McLean’s Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer Lori Etringer and the entire development team, as well as a highly engaged and philanthropic campaign committee and a deeply supportive board. McLean is well positioned to achieve its campaign goal, and in turn, improve not just their patients’ experience, but change the paradigm of how psychiatric illness is diagnosed and treated globally.