Hopkins Medicine’s United Way Campaign: A Winner on Many Counts

Joanne Pollak didn’t need to be sold on the value of giving to the United Way.
“It runs in my family,” says Pollak, vice president and general counsel for Johns Hopkins Medicine, who grew up in the Midwest. Both of her parents were active in the organization, and she inherited a tradition of giving, joining them for bake sales and other charitable events when she was growing up.

When Pollak agreed to serve as chair for Hopkins Medicine’s 2007 giving campaign, she wanted to build a similar tradition here—and the campaign’s results indicate that it may be taking root.

Forty-six percent of the 5,605 donors in this recent campaign hadn’t donated to the United Way the previous year.

Hopkins Medicine increased its overall giving by $267,504 —or 19 percent over the previous year—to $1,674,265. The School of Medicine’s giving increased by $164,910, with a third of that growth coming from the Department of Medicine alone. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Howard County General Hospital, Johns Hopkins Home Care Group and Johns Hopkins HealthCare all increased their dollar support as well.

The numbers help tell the story:

• Hopkins gives more than any other private employer to the United Way of Central Maryland. The $267,504 in growth at Hopkins Medicine is roughly equivalent to this year’s 20th-largest campaign in the local chapter.
• The percentage participation at the School of Medicine increased from 13.3 percent to 19 percent, while at Hopkins Hospital and the Health System it rose from 22.1 percent to 25 percent.
• Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery posted the largest gains in percentage participation of any clinical department—from 14 percent in 2006 to more than 45 percent last year. Its overall giving rose by 158 percent, also the highest percentage increase in dollars raised.
• Orthopedics, Surgery, Urology and the Emergency Department also more than doubled their participation rates. And Medicine, Ob/Gyn, Psychiatry and the Emergency Department all had increases in dollars raised of more than 70 percent.
  

Pollak credits friendly competition among departments for helping to increase giving. Department and Hopkins Medicine leaders also encouraged giving, such as by posing for posters that reminded staff of the campaign. Finally, employees were moved to give at meetings where they heard the stories of employees whose lives had been helped by United Way-supported organizations.

            — Jamie Manfuso