The Miriam Hospital Senior Philanthropy Officer

The Miriam Hospital, a founding partner of Lifespan, is seeking an experienced frontline fundraiser to build positive, effective relationships with physicians, patients, friends, grateful families, administration, trustees, and volunteers to advance the mission of the institution through philanthropy. This is an excellent career opportunity for a fundraising professional with prospect engagement and direct gift solicitation experience to contribute to a highly regarded and beloved healthcare provider and major teaching affiliate of the world-class Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Reporting to the hospital’s Chief Development Officer, the Senior Philanthropy Officer is an integral member of The Miriam Hospital fundraising team supporting the advancement of its strategies and goals. The successful candidate will be thoroughly acquainted with best practices in front-line fundraising and moves management.

The Miriam Hospital: A Legacy of Caring for the Community

A 247-bed, private, not-for-profit hospital, The Miriam Hospital is renowned for providing superior patient care, offering the latest in medical treatment by leading physicians who are training the next generation of doctors, and for its commitment to being at the forefront of medical research. The hospital’s roots can be traced back to 1907 when a group of concerned women embarked on an ambitious goal—to establish a hospital in Providence. Their dream, to provide quality medical care for Jewish immigrants in surroundings where their language and customs were understood, was achieved in 1926 when The Miriam received a charter from the Rhode Island state legislature.

Over the years, The Miriam has remained true to its founding mission and heritage. Today, it is a nationally renowned health care provider dedicated to medical innovation. Its medical “firsts” include Rhode Island’s first lung operation, kidney transplant, and successful open heart surgery. In addition, the hospital was the first in the state to perform artificial disc replacement surgery and robot-assisted surgery, and the first in the region to use the Merci retriever to remove blood clots.

The Miriam joins just three other U.S. hospitals in receiving six consecutive Magnet Awards for overall nursing excellence, outperforming national benchmarks. The hospital’s nursing philosophy is based on patient-centered, relationship-based care that values and acknowledges the uniqueness of the individual through compassion, respect, and attention to cultural and ethnic diversity.

As the community grew, so did its need for healthcare services. The hospital transitioned from a 63-bed facility on Parade Street to its current home on Summit Avenue, dedicating the new complex on April 24, 1966 “… to serve all the people of Rhode Island, regardless of race, creed, origin, or economic means.”

The Miriam Hospital: Award-Winning Care

The Miriam has received numerous recognitions for its outstanding care and innovative programs, including:

Top Regional Hospital

Recognition year after year as a top regional hospital by U.S. News and World Report , including recognition as high performing in eight medical specialties: cancer, diabetes/endocrinology, gastroenterology and surgery, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonology, and urology.

Magnet Hospital Designation

The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program ® is nursing’s top honor and one of the most prestigious distinctions an organization can receive for high quality patient care and nursing. The Miriam has received this award six consecutive times.

Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Care

The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Rhode Island Hospital and The Leonard and Adele R. Decof Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Miriam each earned the Outstanding Achievement award of the American College of Surgeon’s Commission on Cancer (CoC). Among only 90 programs nationwide to receive this honor, the award recognizes the significant commitment by medical staff, administration, and staff to providing high-quality cancer care to their patients, as well as meeting and exceeding CoC standards

Excellence in Stroke Care

The Miriam received the “ Get With The Guidelines-Stroke ” Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for using American Heart Association/American Stroke Association quality improvement measures when treating stroke patients. The hospital has received the Gold or Gold Plus designation for stroke care every year since 2008.

Total Joint Center - Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval

The Total Joint Center at The Miriam Hospital earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for its total knee and total hip replacement programs. This certification recognizes the Center’s compliance with national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care. It also acknowledges the center’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s stateof-the-art standards.

Situated on a 22-acre campus in Providence’s historic East Side, The Miriam Hospital provides a broad range of primary, secondary, and tertiary medical services to adolescents and adults, with particular expertise in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, urology, immunology, and infectious diseases. The hospital also offers a full range of pathology and radiology services as well as psychiatric consultation/liaison services. Its service area encompasses most of the cities and

towns in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

In addition to its programs with Brown University’s medical school, The Miriam maintains a wide array of research initiatives that attract millions of dollars in internal and external funding every year. Through medical education and research, the hospital remains at the forefront of advanced clinical care.

About Lifespan Leadership

Formed in 1994, Lifespan is a not-for-profit health system based in Providence, RI comprising three teaching hospitals of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University : Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children’s Hospital ; The Miriam Hospital ; and Bradley Hospital , the nation’s first psychiatric hospital for children; Newport Hospital , a community hospital offering a broad range of health services; Gateway Healthcare , the state’s largest provider of community behavioral health care; Lifespan Physician Group , the largest multi-specialty practice in Rhode Island; and Coastal Medical , a primary care driven medical practice. All Lifespan hospitals are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services.

The structure of Lifespan, as well as its philanthropy program, has been designed to provide economies of scale while maintaining the strengths, community ties, and distinct “brand” of each affiliate. At the system level, Lifespan is governed by a corporate Board of Directors. Each Lifespan not-for-profit affiliate has its own 501(c)(3) foundation and board whose members serve as volunteer leaders, goodwill ambassadors, fundraisers, and donors.

Lifespan recently named John Fernandez as President and CEO following a 16-year tenure as President of Mass Eye and Ear. Fernandez also served as President of Mass General Brigham (MGB) Integrated Care. Prior to his Mass Eye and Ear appointment, he was a member of the executive team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. As President of The Miriam Hospital, Maria Ducharme, DNP, RN, NEA-BC , is the driving force behind the hospital’s most ambitious and successful efforts to achieve excellence in quality patient care, including attainment of Magnet recognition, considered the gold standard for nursing care. Ducharme has spent her entire career at the hospital, beginning as a cardiovascular medical/surgical nurse and progressing to leadership roles in inpatient nursing, respiratory therapy, and rehabilitation services, including serving as senior vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer, prior to her appointment as President.

Lifespan Philanthropy: Supporting the Health of Southeastern New England

Every day, Lifespan’s hospitals and care providers treat thousands of patients across southeastern New England who rely on them for the very best care available. Philanthropy helps fuel these vital health services through investments in patient care, research, and medical education. Fundraising at Lifespan is matrixed to fully leverage the system’s strengths and centralized resources while maximizing strong local donor allegiance and engagement.

Administrative oversight of system-wide fundraising and centralized development services is provided by Joe Pannozzo, Lifespan’s Vice President for Development. Under Joe’s leadership, Lifespan raised more than $30 million annually in the last two fiscal years. Aspiring to build a stronger culture of grateful patient and family philanthropy, he strives to empower frontline staff to achieve high levels of success in their major and planned giving strategy work to further hospital and system goals. “I strongly believe our development colleagues are our best asset,” Pannozzo notes. “And I’m committed to supporting them in every way possible.”

To promote interdisciplinary efforts to implement strategies that benefit Lifespan’s community of hospitals, frontline fundraising staff from across the system meet regularly. These meetings encourage best practices among team members, and provide opportunities for cross-system coordination and review of affiliates’ goals and corresponding metrics.

Joe Pannozzo Vice President for Development, Lifespan

Joe Pannozzo brings nearly two decades of experience to his systemwide philanthropy leadership role. He joined Lifespan in 2015 as System Vice President for Campaigns and CDO of Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children’s Hospital, during which time he led a successful four-year, $30 million campaign for pediatrics. Previously, he served as Executive Director of Development at Tufts Medical Center, and prior to that as Senior Director of Major Gifts for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He earned his undergraduate degree at Stonehill College, where he later held positions in fundraising and government relations.

Each hospital affiliate has a chief development officer (CDO) who reports to their respective president and has a “dotted-line” reporting relationship to the system VP. The size of the staff they manage varies according to the scope of the hospital’s philanthropy program. The CDOs and their affiliated foundations are supported by Lifespan Central Services, which includes Development Marketing and Communications (e.g., collateral development, direct mail, web and social media efforts), Development Operations (e.g., finance, database/gift processing, prospect research), Special Events and Corporate Relations (e.g., event direction and coordination, corporate sponsorship), and Planned Giving.

Fundraising at The Miriam: A Legacy of Giving

Since its beginnings, extraordinary generosity has been a constant at The Miriam Hospital. Patients, families, volunteers, clinicians, and employees have been enthusiastic donors and advocates in expressing enormous pride and confidence in the quality of care the hospital provides. This affection has translated into successful fundraising initiatives—ranging from annual and memorial giving to events and capital campaigns—that have resulted in stateof-the-art facilities, critical research, and advanced medical care. In recent years, the donor base has expanded to include a broader geographic reach, including patients and families new to the area. The hospital’s well-attended annual gala and auction has increasingly attracted more diverse and younger donors.

Well established and comprehensive,

The Miriam’s fundraising program raises approximately $4-5 million a year and has the highest rate of repeat donors across the Lifespan system. There is a long history of donor support at the major gift level ($10K+), with individual and charitable foundation gifts of as much as seven figures. The Miriam People Society, an annual giving program of gifts ranging from $1000 to $25K+ is supplemented by a developing grateful patient/family program. The Living Heritage Society is an honorary recognition group of those who have planned gift arrangements. The hospital also benefits from a full roster of giving opportunities that support endowed lectures and fellowships, and many areas of research.

In the last 10 years there have been two significant capital campaigns—the “Campaign for Excellence,” which raised $8 million for emergency and cardiac care renovations, and the previous “Campaign for the Next Generation,” which was a $30 million capital improvement effort. This is an exciting time to join the philanthropy team as it prepares for a possible upcoming campaign in support of a major hospital renovation that includes an expansion of the Emergency Department, new patient rooms, and a secure and redesigned entryway.

The Miriam’s Fundraising Leadership

The Miriam Hospital Foundation is governed by a 27-member board of highly regarded business, community, and clinical leaders who are committed to advancing the hospital’s mission and ensuring its future. The Board is 100 percent invested in philanthropy. In addition to the Foundation Board, there is a volunteer group known as The Miriam Hospital Governors. Numbering 60, the Governors are active donors and advocates who gather five times a year to keep abreast of the state of the hospital, its future goals, and its fundraising efforts. A number of Trustees and Governors also serve on a variety of hospital committees, including the Gala, Ethics, and Neighborhood Relations committees.

Future Philanthropic Opportunities

With a passionate donor and community base and a strong brand, The Miriam Hospital is well positioned for additional philanthropic growth. Areas of particular opportunity for the philanthropy team include:

• Strengthening a grateful patient/ family program.

• Playing a key role in a capital campaign (currently in the planning stages).

• Building the donor pipeline and expanding and diversifying the donor base, particularly among the area’s younger donors; and optimizing the hospital’s unique multi-generational giving traditions.

• Raising funds to advance programs of excellence in urology, nursing, cancer, and cardiology.

Recent Fundraising Highlights

• $1 Million Gift to Support Nursing Education, Retention. Inspired to give back following the patient experience of a family member, Carol and Fred Levinger gifted $1 million to The Miriam Hospital to establish The Carol and Fred Levinger Nursing Excellence Fund to support the hospital’s award-winning nurses with student loan repayment and tuition assistance.

• $25K Rhode Island Foundation Grant for New Cancer Registry. This grant is enabling The Miriam’s Minimally Invasive Urology Institute to establish a first-of-its-kind registry of urologic cancers to advance research, promote prevention, address treatment disparities, and improve health outcomes for Rhode Island residents.

• Thousands of Dollars Raised for Cancer Services. Brown University’s football team continues to “bench press for cancer,” a long-standing tradition that has raised more than $100K for The Miriam’s renowned cancer program, specifically its first-of-a-kind Cancer Survivorship Program.

Holly Palermo, The Miriam’s CDO, has held the position since 2017, following progressively increasing responsibilities over a near twenty-year tenure. She oversees a team of five, including a senior philanthropy officer, grants writer, stewardship officer, and development associate. She draws support for her program and the hospital’s front-line fundraising efforts from the Lifespan central services team. “I am proud of our very talented and committed team,” notes Holly. “We have a culture of collaboration and engagement in which members of the team build on each other’s strengths, embrace challenges, make improvements, and celebrate successes.” Holly fosters an environment that values transparency in communications, and appreciates humor. “There is nothing more important than how we communicate with one another, both in the workplace and in life,” she says.

Chief Development Officer, The Miriam Hospital

Holly joined the hospital’s philanthropy office in 2004 and over her tenure has built strong partnerships with hospital leadership, foundation board, volunteers, donors, and staff. Prior to Lifespan, she served in a community relations role in the Public Affairs Department of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She holds a bachelor of arts in journalism and English from the University of Rhode Island.

Holly Ann Palermo

Senior Philanthropy Officer

Position Summary

Reporting to the CDO of The Miriam Hospital and working in collaboration with the development team and hospital and volunteer leadership, the Senior Philanthropy Officer (SPO) supports the fundraising program through successful stewardship, cultivation, and solicitation of a donors managed in a major gift portfolio. The SPO builds effective relationships with physicians, patients, grateful families, administration, trustees, and volunteers to advance the mission of the institution through philanthropy. This individual works collaboratively with peers at the hospital and across Lifespan and its central services in coordination of front-line fundraising activities.

Primary Responsibilities

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and provide stewardship for major gifts of $10,000+, managing a portfolio of 80-100 active major donors/prospects and creating cultivation, solicitation and stewardship strategies for each.

• Participate in ambitious “moves management” program with a focus on cultivating, rating, soliciting, and stewarding six-figure gifts, working with hospital and system development staff to ensure collaboration among affiliates and disciplines, maximizing opportunities for the cultivation of major, principal, planned, foundation, and corporate gifts.

• Partner with CDO to identify major gift prospects and develop strategies for elevating donor commitment, and to recruit, organize, train, and direct volunteers, advising on effective major gift fundraising methods.

• Participate as a member of the major gift team to develop and implement individual donor strategies for cultivation and solicitation, during meetings and as system-wide fundraising opportunities are developed.

• Maintain effective and timely communication with senior management and physicians to discern organizational goals and to incorporate funding priorities in donor cultivation and solicitation strategies.

• Implement major gift fundraising strategies consistent with hospital and system missions, and work closely with appropriate Lifespan departments to both leverage resources and maintain unified messaging.

• Document all cultivation and solicitation activities with prospects/donors and cooperate with established prospect clearance policies and procedures, working with appropriate Lifespan development staff to ensure that gifts are recorded, acknowledged, and recognized in keeping with the best practices in recognition and stewardship.

• Maintain high visibility within the community and be accessible to community members, participating in various community groups as necessary to heighten awareness of the hospital and the system and its subsidiaries.

• Consistently apply the corporate values of respect, honesty, and fairness, and the constant pursuit of excellence in improving the health status of the people of the region through the provision of customer-friendly, geographically accessible, and high-value services within the environment of a comprehensive integrated academic health system.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an energetic and results-oriented front-line fundraiser who is personable, creative, and nimble, and has an understanding of major gifts fundraising principles and practices. The SPO must be self-motivated and able to work independently in managing a portfolio of major gift prospects, designing and implementing strategies for solicitation and ensuring regular interaction through personal visits, mail/email, telephone, tours, and other tactics. Additionally, the SPO must work well and collaboratively with team members, administrators, clinicians, volunteers, and sophisticated, affluent donors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years’ progressive experience in front-facing fundraising role, preferably working with five-figure donors and within complex, multi-institutional and/or health care organizations.

• Successful record of achievement in meeting annual fundraising goals through soliciting, closing, and stewarding individual gifts.

• Familiarity with metric-driven “moves management” processes/systems, and strong computer skills with a working knowledge of word processing and database management applications (e.g. Raiser’s Edge).

• Exceptional oral/written communications and relationship-building skills.

Desired Attributes

• Consistent with follow through

• Effective team contributor

• Passion for the mission of health care

• Effective relationship manager

• Excels at conveying the case for support, capturing essence, tone, and emotion

• Connects with broad and diverse constituencies

• Inspires confidence

• Accepts suggestions and constructive criticism

• Comfortable serving as an internal and external ambassador for mission advancement

Lifespan C.A.R.E. Values

Lifespan employees are expected to embrace Lifespan’s mission of “Delivering health with care” and successfully model Lifespan’s values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence, “as these guide everyday actions with patients, customers and one another.”

Employees are encouraged to consistently apply the corporate values of respect, honesty and fairness and the constant pursuit of excellence in improving the health status of children and families of the region. This is done through the provision of customer-friendly, geographically accessible and high-value services within the environment of a comprehensive integrated academic health system. Employees are responsible for knowing and acting in accordance with the principles of the Lifespan Corporate Compliance Program and Code of Conduct.

This is a retained search of Exceptional Executive Search. For more information contact: info@eesrecruit.com .

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