When complex healthcare systems seek fundraising counsel, they need partners who understand the unique challenges that define healthcare philanthropy: the delicate timing of grateful patient outreach, the complexities of system integrations and mergers, and the distinctive motivations that drive healthcare giving, to name only a few.
These institutions, now more than ever, benefit from the support of experienced consultants who are steeped in the field, and can navigate both the organizational intricacies of multi-site operations and the deeply personal nature of healthcare philanthropy.
Development Guild has cultivated this specialized knowledge through decades of partnership with healthcare institutions across the Northeast and beyond. This expertise has deep roots, built through sustained relationships with academic medical centers, research hospitals, and community health systems and centers under the longtime guidance of Allen Peckham, Development Guild’s (now retired) Senior Vice President, whose decades of healthcare sector leadership, grounded in his years at Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) established the firm’s reputation as a trusted advisor to some of the region’s most respected institutions.
Alison Auciello
Today, that tradition of excellence in specialized support, continues at Development Guild through the service of leaders like Alison Auciello, Vice President of Fundraising, whose decades of healthcare fundraising experience spans both large academic medical operations and smaller community-based systems. Alison’s career trajectory—which includes leadership roles at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Foundation and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center—mirrors the diverse healthcare landscape that Development Guild serves, providing insights into both emerging and established fundraising programs.
The healthcare fundraising environment demands specialized knowledge that extends beyond traditional donor cultivation. Successful healthcare development requires understanding the delicate timing of patient outreach, navigating regulations and ethics (such as HIPAA compliance) in grateful patient programs, and recognizing the unique motivations that drive healthcare philanthropy. These donors often give from deeply personal experiences, requiring a level of sensitivity, familiarity with complex programs and systems where patients may have received life-changing care, and strategic thinking that more generalist fundraising approaches cannot provide.
Understanding Complex Healthcare Systems
Healthcare institutions present unique organizational challenges that require consultants who speak their language. Multi-site operations, research components, clinical partnerships, and community health missions create fundraising complexities that demand sector-specific expertise.
“In a large healthcare system with multiple locations, successful fundraising depends on balancing the strength of the parent brand with the unique identities of each site,” Alison describes. “Donors want to see how their gifts make a direct impact locally, while still being part of a broader mission. Fundraisers must build trust by connecting these stories thoughtfully and authentically.”
This insight highlights one of healthcare fundraising’s most common challenges: maintaining strong community relationships and donor loyalty while integrating into larger systems—a task that requires both diplomatic finesse and strategic fundraising acumen.
The Grateful Patient Question
Perhaps no issue unites healthcare fundraising professionals more than the ongoing challenge and opportunity of grateful patient cultivation. Every healthcare institution grapples with questions of timing, approach, and compliance when it comes to engaging patients and families who have experienced care within their system.
The complexity of grateful patient programs extends beyond simple donor identification. Successful programs require sophisticated understanding of patient privacy, sensitivity to timing and emotional readiness, and the ability to create meaningful engagement opportunities that honor both the patient and family experience and the institution’s mission.
“Building out these grateful patient programs is an urgent and timely issue for every fundraising professional who supports a hospital,” Alison notes, highlighting how this challenge cuts across all healthcare institutions regardless of size or complexity.
The Development Guild Advantage in Healthcare
What sets Development Guild apart in the healthcare consulting landscape is the combination of sector-specific knowledge with strategic flexibility. The firm’s consultants understand that healthcare institutions operate within unique constraints—from regulatory requirements to community accountability—that shape every fundraising decision.
“When you’re steeped in your organization, you don’t have the luxury of time or perspective,” Alison observes. “The objective lens that a consultant can bring—especially as things are changing minute-to-minute—can be invaluable to a leader during these times.”
This perspective proves particularly valuable for healthcare systems managing multiple priorities: clinical excellence, research advancement, community health initiatives, and sustainable growth. Development Guild’s approach recognizes that healthcare fundraising must align with and advance these complex, interconnected missions.
A Problem-Solving Philosophy
Alison describes her approach to healthcare fundraising as fundamentally about problem-solving: “That’s how I’ve always approached my work with fundraising, sometimes it felt like a Rubik’s cube, of matching the right investment opportunity with the right donor, and the right time.”
This problem-solving orientation aligns with Development Guild’s broader philosophy of customized solutions rather than templated approaches. “Each client has different needs, a different culture, and is at a particular moment in their journey. The problem-solving piece of it is where specialized expertise is paramount.”
For healthcare institutions, this means working with consultants who understand not just fundraising best practices, but the specific context in which healthcare fundraising operates—from the emotional landscape of patient and family giving to the complex organizational structures of modern healthcare systems.
Strategic Partnership for Healthcare Success
The healthcare fundraising landscape continues to evolve, presenting both opportunities and complexities for institutional advancement efforts. Success requires partners who combine deep sector knowledge with strategic agility—consultants who understand that effective healthcare fundraising must be built on relationships, sensitivity, and sophisticated understanding of the healthcare environment.
“The change you’re grappling with might vary, but partnering with seasoned, compassionate professionals who are adept in change management and who serve as a stabilizing force, is always a good idea,” Alison reflects.
Development Guild’s healthcare expertise represents more than consulting knowledge—it embodies a commitment to understanding the unique mission and context that drives healthcare philanthropy, ensuring that fundraising strategies align with and advance the life-changing work these institutions perform every day.
Development Guild is a leading nonprofit consulting firm that provides innovative, data-driven services to nonprofit partners around the country. Since 1978, our executive search services and nonprofit fundraising consulting practice have been strategic by design and deeply rooted in experience and relationships.
At Development Guild, we’re poised and ready to help your organization achieve its fundraising and donor retention goals. Reach out to schedule a consultation to discover how we can support you.
