In Development

Extending Greatness Beyond the Campaign

The $1.37 billion we raised during the Making History Campaign represents an extraordinary achievement well deserving of praise for each and every one of you. It also symbolizes our rare strengths as a team.

We surpassed our campaign goal - one of the most ambitious ever undertaken by a medical center - by almost a third.

We spent only 7 cents to raise each dollar, less than the national average.

And we attracted the largest gift ever offered to name a school of medicine in the United States, $225 million from longtime Penn Medicine supporters Raymond and Ruth Perelman.

The campaign transformed the way we offer care with a $302 million outpatient center that consolidates services, eliminating the confusing labyrinths that define most urban medical centers. The Roberts Proton Therapy Center brought the most targeted and advanced radiation therapy to our patients, while the Smilow Center for Translational Medicine - the envy of the medical world - cemented our leadership in one of today's most critical areas. And, perhaps most illustrative of the respect our faculty has earned, supporters created 40 additional endowed chairs.

All of these gifts speak to the confidence we generate, our value to society and the hope we embody. Each and every donor considered his gift an investment in medical breakthroughs born of our faculty's remarkable skills and instincts.

But we needed more than an exceptional cause to surpass our goal - we needed a culture and a process that support philanthropy. In the past seven years, faculty members developed collaborations with gift officers, exploring opportunities and building relationships with donors. More than 500 alumni and friends served on advisory boards, doubling our number of volunteers. And faculty members helped us identify hundreds of patients who have expressed eagerness to embrace our vision.

This alumni and patient engagement translated into a 50 percent increase in gifts each year of the campaign, as compared to the 7 years before the campaign. Philanthropy was essential to some of Penn Medicine's biggest capital projects - it also financed hundreds of faculty projects that might have languished otherwise.

Looking forward, the momentum must continue. Federal cutbacks and health-care reform will only increase the importance of private philanthropy to our work. The Campaign is ended, but today the strategic plan you have been so central in forming, carries forward the inspiring vision of Penn Medicine, both at the institutional level, and as a frame for your individual projects.

And now we have two major advantages that will foster our success -- our faculty's inspiring advances in so many areas of academic medicine, and a new appreciation of philanthropy running throughout Penn Medicine. Thank you for contributing to each.

The Forty Endowed Professorships Created in the Making History Campaign

Development 102

Using What We've Learned in the Post-Campaign Era

The Making History Campaign exceeded expectations, thanks to you. Over the course of the Campaign, faculty engagement with donors and development staff grew to four times its previous level and about 200 faculty members, including department chairs and other leaders, completed our development training program. This educational program has helped to foster a "culture of philanthropy" that few other institutions can match.

Looking ahead, Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations will continue to nurture this culture and bring you new insights into philanthropy through your development officer. Development staff can now offer a one-hour overview session to your department and then work with you to select areas of interest for further discussion. Topics you may choose to pursue include the best ways to reach out to former residents and fellows, developing your vision, and methods for identifying prospects -- whatever topic is most helpful to you and your colleagues.

This approach dovetails with research into medical philanthropy. A recent Johns Hopkins Medicine study found that physicians who receive individual coaching from their development officer are more successful in identifying prospects and collecting gifts.

In addition, PMDAR is working with Advancement Resources, the world leader in philanthropic research who assisted us during the Campaign, to create a new custom training session for basic science researchers. These faculty members need a new approach to engage patients most interested in basic science and to reach a different, possibly more entrepreneurial set of prospects.

Your work is what makes Penn Medicine extraordinary, and we want to help you reach your goals.

To learn more, contact Kim Grube, Senior Executive Director, Development and Alumni Relations, at 215-898-0578, or kimgrube@upenn.edu.

In a Day's Work

During the Making History Campaign 1,350 donors gave to endow professorships. Why?

Sometimes motivation comes from a big, life-changing event.
Sometimes everyday actions communicate a compelling need or vision.
Mike Cirigliano, M'90, G.M.E.'93, who led the fundraising for the Founder's Associate Professorship in General Internal Medicine, and Reed Pyeritz, M.D., Ph.D., the first William Smilow Professor, discuss their experiences.

How did you first get involved in development?
Dr. Cirigliano: Seven years ago, as a cost-saving measure, my dictation service was replaced with automated form letters. I valued the personal contact of the dictation service—I used it to send patients individualized, detailed follow-ups. I found the prospect of this change very stressful. One day a patient asked me what was wrong, and I told him. He offered to help, and to my surprise he wrote me a check that let me keep the service.

So really, becoming a doctor who prizes my relationships with my patients was the first step. Back when I was training I was told your patients are not your friends. I vehemently disagree. They are my friends. In fact they are my extended family, and I treat them as if I were a family member.

 

Dr. Pyeritz: I've been involved with development since early in my career, during my years at Johns Hopkins. More than 30 years ago, Bill Smilow, then a college student, was referred to me by the director of the residency program in medicine I had recently completed at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He knew of my interest in the rare disorder Bill was facing.

 

I determined Bill needed some serious interventions that the institution had the expertise to carry out. Bill did exceptionally well, and he and his family have remained very grateful. He has stayed with me ever since, including through my two academic moves.

 

What happened next?
Dr. Cirigliano: More conversations about what I wanted for my patients! When forces at play limit your resources, you have to do something. People will give you support for your cause if they sense that you care about them.

 

I take care of everybody. I want each and every person who comes through the door of my office to feel that they are appreciated and respected. People of means were receptive to the idea that this is for the betterment of the practice for all patients.

 

And you have to have an amazing relationship with a development person. That's critical. They can help with every step of the gift process and enable you to reach goals you certainly didn't envision at the outset.

 

Hundreds of gifts have been made for my practice. Because of that I have a redesigned office, with exam rooms that ensure my back is never turned toward my patient. We have cloth gowns, soothing white noise in the waiting room, and noise reduction systems for the utmost in privacy in the exam rooms. We have more staff to handle calls, as well as a nurse practitioner so that patients are seen quickly. A nutritionist helps patients contend with obesity, and manage or prevent diabetes and heart disease. Lab services are available right down the hall.

 

Through the endowed chair we created, the Founder's Associate Professorship in General Internal Medicine, I want to increase my mentorship of medical students, and make sure that these future doctors understand the importance of the human element.

 

Better medicine comes from a patient experience that is founded on comfort, trust, and respect. That's what I believe and what the funds I raise are supporting.

 

Dr. Pyeritz: Soon after I met Bill, his family did become interested in philanthropy. I talked with the development officer for our group at Hopkins, and she took the ball from there, setting up a lunch where we presented our work. It was a very exciting time when we were making major discoveries, and this initial meeting led to substantial giving to Hopkins that the family maintains to this day.

 

In addition, as an individual, I was starting a national organization for patients dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families dealing with the disorder. When there isn't a cure, and when the lives of family are affected, people are eager to contribute. I selected a dozen or so families I thought would be movers and shakers to organize and to fund this organization, and the Smilows supported this too.

 

Over the years, I've worked with Bill as with any other patient, guiding him on health concerns, and bringing in additional experts as needed. I've also gone out of my way to keep him informed of advances in the field, and about the activities of the national patient organization, as I do for many patients I believe may be philanthropically inclined.

 

It's part of knowing and helping your patients. While not necessary for the Smilows, my wife and I will invite families travelling from a distance for a procedure to our home for dinner, to help them feel relaxed and comfortable.

 

Likewise, I invite patients I think have an aptitude for it to speak with the first-year medical students in my human genetics class. Bill did this and enjoyed the experience.
As can happen when you know someone well for years, Bill and I - and our families - have become friends.

 

None of this happened with the overt intention of raising funds for an endowed chair. I have many patients I consider friends, and this is the only time substantial fundraising has resulted.

 

What was the hardest part?
Dr. Cirigliano: The "Field of Dreams" days - communicating the vision before any of it existed. Now that we've built it, and people can see and experience a visit in the current office, they understand what it's all about.

 

Dr. Pyeritz: I let the Development Officer do the parts I find hard. In fact, I was not involved in the conversations leading to the endowed chair. Dr. Parmacek knew I had the closest relationship to Bill and had asked me about inviting Bill to serve on the Cardiovascular Institute Leadership Council, which would include my concerns, but also needs beyond my scope. If the naming of the Smilow Center were the only result, that to me would have been great. I understand that the endowed chair was part of the family's intent from early on, but the creation of the chair and my selection as the first holder was a total surprise and very gratifying.

 

Not many of us who are practicing clinicians have what it takes to negotiate and close a significant gift. Having a team in place who can act on your intuition and knowledge that people are grateful is essential.

 

What else would you like to say to your colleagues?
Dr. Cirigliano: The simple premise of being a healer is about the laying on of hands and looking at someone in the eye - it's about the love, the connection of humanity. If you have a righteous cause, whether it's to fix a situation you just can't stand or realize a dream, patients will pick up on it, and they will help you because they care.

 

Dr. Pyeritz: I've seen the gratitude and philanthropy of my patients address important needs that wouldn't be met any other way. It comes from what we do as doctors, and isn't something artificial or contrived. Of course there is still more to be done, but I am pleased by what the philanthropy I've helped to nurture has accomplished.

Penn Medicine in the Sun

First Year in Naples

This year "Penn Medicine in Palm Beach" hosted 165 guests at the annual health seminar that was held on March 5, 2013, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. The event was again standing room only and was featured in the Palm Beach Daily News .

This year Penn Medicine faculty spoke on the latest research insights into heart health, joint replacement, diabetes, mood disorders, and breast cancer.  In addition, Anne and Jerome Fisher hosted 109 friends of Penn Medicine at the Deans Dinner at the Breakers.  The dinner, seminar and associated events gave faculty the chance to reconnect with friends and supporters through more than 35 donor engagements.

Penn Medicine in Naples was held for the first time on March 6, 2013, at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. The event, which featured faculty and leadership from the Abramson Cancer Center, drew an impressive crowd of nearly 100 Penn alumni and friends.

Thank you to the faculty and staff who supported both these events, and to all who have helped the program expand over the past 8 years.

Penn Medicine

Home Stand

Medical Alumni Weekend 2013
Alumni involvement has never been stronger. Over the course of the Campaign, participation in Medical Alumni Weekend has increased 80 percent, and this year MAW drew more than 600 alumni and guests back to campus. Formally at events like Pancakes and Professors and informally all around campus, the weekend was a chance for professors and students to catch up.

Alumni such as Joel Fuhrman M’88, the father of "nutritarian eating," and the 50th Reunion Class led sessions on their accomplishments in medicine. The two faculty-selected recipients of the Distinguished Graduate Award were also recognized: Richard H. Goodman, M'76, GR'76, internationally known for his pioneering research on gene regulatory mechanisms, and Jeannie T. Lee, M'93, GR'93, widely recognized for her groundbreaking insights in the emerging field of epigenetics.

Accomplishments of the Perelman School stood out too. Dean J. Larry Jameson and faculty spoke on three nationally leading programs: The Penn Human Tissue Laboratory was presented by L. Scott Levin, M.D., FACS, Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; translational medicine degrees designed to create experts to speed the drug development process was the topic for Emma Meagher, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Presbyterian Medical Center of Philadelphia; and Stephanie B. Abbuhl, M.D., FACEP, Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine, spoke on FOCUS, Penn Medicine’s award-winning program to advance the role of women in medicine.

And the whole community looked to the future with the announcement of the naming gift for the new Henry A. Jordan M’62 Medical Education Center, and the graduation of 160 new doctors.

Thank you for helping to make this year’s event one our alumni and new graduates will remember for years to come.

Time to Shine Campaign Close & Smilow Translational Center Dedication Event
President Amy Gutmann, Dean J. Larry Jameson, and CEO Ralph W. Muller all toasted donors, faculty, and staff for the unprecedented achievements of the Making History Campaign during the Time to Shine reception at the Smilow Center for Translational Research. At the event, a new mural depicted campaign infographics including the 325 research funds created, the over one million square feet of new patient care and research space built, and the 73,500 individuals who contributed.

Said President Amy Gutmann, "If Dean Jameson thanked one donor to the Campaign each day, it would take him 204 years to finish. We will thank our donors by what Penn Medicine will achieve in breakthrough medicine, stellar education, and unparalleled patient care."

Penn Medicine On the Rocks

For the third year, Penn Medicine, in collaboration with Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, ME, will present "Partners in Patient Care" - a morning program that discusses advances in emergency medicine and orthopaedics. The event that will be held at The Bar Harbor Club on August 12 and will feature presentations by faculty and staff from both Penn Medicine and Mount Desert Island Hospital.

This unique partnership is mutually beneficial, allowing Penn Medicine to share leading-edge procedures and technology, and provide specialized training for MDIH staff. The MDIH partnership lets Penn Medicine offer residents experience in a rural setting that is otherwise difficult to come by. Private funders inspired and enabled this three-year pilot program which has improved patient outcomes at MDIH and increased shared research opportunities for both institutions.