Four barriers development leaders face when getting started on DEI priorities—and tips for tackling each one

In an ideal world, development leaders indicated they would want a dedicated FTE to strategize and implement DEI initiatives across the development office. However, most development teams are resource constrained – across their staff size, project capacity, and access to data. When dedicated personnel aren’t an option, take a moment to consider who on your team is already a leader in this space.

Take a look at the projects and involvements of everyone on your staff and consider making DEI fundraising initiatives a formal part of their roles. Some development leaders have done this by carving out dedicated time and creating a taskforce of team members to focus on DEI initiatives. Others have added a DEI centered performance metric to their staff’s key performance indicators, so that all staff are thinking about equitable practices across all functions and projects. Finally, some organizations have tied specific financial goals to the development team’s DEI efforts. For example, one organization set a dollar goal for the three areas of health equity they are prioritizing this year. Rather than putting these initiatives on the back burner, this financial goal has allowed the full development team to continually focus on progress made.

A large part of successfully fundraising for DEI is meeting the needs of your market. It’s easy to have blinders on when it comes to identifying these needs. Currently, most development leaders rely on one tool, such as a community needs assessment, or one communication channel, such as a dedicated fund, to gain the perspective of the community.

Rather, it’s helpful to take a holistic view and combine these various channels. To align your funding priorities with what your market truly needs, ask yourself and your team the following questions:

• Do your funding priorities align with the results from your community needs assessment? Equally as important as the data, do they anecdotally align with what your prospective donors are saying they want to fund?
• How are you framing your funding priorities to your market? Are you using inclusive language and communication tactics to reach all parts of your community?

One way health care development teams gain community perspective is through their foundation boards. Consider what perspective your current board brings and what perspectives are missing. Then create clear recruitment goals for future board members that align with the new perspectives you need to gain. Many organizations we spoke with are also updating their board recruitment practices by putting an emphasis on network reach, rather than focusing on donation capacity alone. They also recognize that they can’t diversify their board in one recruitment cycle but must start now to reach their goal down the line.

Every development leader we spoke to listed at least one initiative when asked how they are fundraising for DEI. Often, leaders would think of more initiatives throughout the conversation that they hadn’t considered right away. This is clear evidence that meaningful work is already underway at many hospital foundations.

Consider an asset mapping exercise to glean all that development staff, clinical champions, board members, and c-suite executives are working on when it comes to external DEI initiatives. Find the connections across internal stakeholders and projects in order to clearly explain what initiatives or funding priorities fall under your DEI umbrella.

Then, take a look at your evergreen foundation projects. Integrating a DEI mindset into a project requires you to take a holistic perspective and consider the inclusive measures in place from start to finish. As an example, consider the launch of a new comprehensive capital campaign. Some questions you and your team might ask yourself to integrate a DEI mindset at this stage include, but are not limited to:

• How will this campaign better the health needs of your community? Are you making that impact clear?
• Have you assessed the language you are using to communicate the campaign? Is it accessible to your entire audience?
• Who is chairing your campaign and why? Is it someone who has a deep connection to your hospital and its mission? Is it someone who can expand your reach in the market? Do you need more than one chairperson?
• Have you provided your gift officers with adequate training to communicate to diverse set of prospective donors? Can you partner with another department at the health system, such as your internal DEI office or population health team, to achieve this?

A key role a development leader can play is to break down the silos between the distinct initiatives underway at the hospital and foundation. Identify and unify these initiatives to create a cohesive strategy before you attempt the final barrier of communicating your DEI vision.

An ever-present barrier when it comes to making progress for DEI is definition. It falls on the leaders of development teams to define their DEI goals and what that means for their specific organization – including not only the areas of diversity they plan to pursue but also the areas they know they can’t or won’t pursue. The most successful mission statements aren’t the ones that are broadly applicable, but rather those that are tailored to securing funding for the DEI initiatives that your hospital or health system can uniquely make the most impact on within your market.