Donations to nonprofit hospitals, health systems and related facilities in North America rose by $378 million during the 2014 fiscal year, reaching a total of $11.123 billion, according to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy's annual Report on Giving.
According to AHP's annual survey of gift, pledges and grants, total funds raised by healthcare institutions increased by 4.5 percent in the U.S. last year to $9.632 billion, but decreased by 2.4 percent in Canada to $1.491 billion. This marks the first drop in healthcare philanthropy in seven years in Canada.
"The overall trend lines are very encouraging," said Steven W. Churchill, president and CEO of AHP. "In both the United States and Canada, donations to healthcare institutions have made impressive recoveries since the lows of the recession. Philanthropic giving is up 26 percent in the U.S. and almost 33 percent in Canada since 2009."
In both countries, fundraising efficiency — measured by the cost to raise a dollar — improved substantially. In 2014, U.S. and Canadian healthcare development professionals achieved a 50 cent increase on return on investments. In the U.S., ROI increased by 14 percent to $4.05 for every dollar spent on philanthropic efforts. ROI in Canada rose to $4.33, a 13 percent increase.