St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation offered thanks in superb fashion

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post about an appeal I received from St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation in Melbourne. In the post, I covered why I felt the emergency appeal was a superb emergency appeal. Thus far, it is amongst the top of the many urgent appeals I have received. Yesterday St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation offered thanks in an equally superb fashion.

On Wednesday, I received an accurate acknowledgement with a receipt for the $100 donation I made. This acknowledgement and receipt arrived 24 hours after my donation was made. Additionally, I received a separate stewardship email from CEO Lyn Amy full of videos from hospital staff and ambassadors. The St Vincent’s Foundation stewardship videos offer thanks to donors and they also educate the recipient of the video about various areas and aspects of the hospital, including: the emergency department, ventilators, nursing, and others. The videos are recorded from a physician, a nurse, the hospital CEO, and a hospital ambassador. What else do I like about the videos? The videos are not overly polished. They are professional, to the point, and high enough quality to deliver the message of thanks, gratitude, and, of course, continued need.

The stewardship email offers an opportunity for people to still donate in support of the emergency appeal (something this aggressive American fundraiser really loved!).

I was so moved by my experience with the St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation emergency appeal that I contacted the Foundation staff, by email, and I expressed my applause. My email was forwarded to a large group of Foundation staff. I heard back from many of the Foundation staff, including the CEO. The CEO indicated the emergency appeal was created and completed in-house, which impressed me even more.

St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation has offered a fantastic first-time donor experience. The motivating letter, the ease to make a donation, and the follow on donor stewardship activity have all been text book right. Congratulations to St Vincent’s Foundation Melbourne. We hope the appeal has raised the money necessary to see the hospital through the COVID-19 pandemic and to allow the hospital to care for patients across Melbourne.