ASC foundation awards $58,000 in scholarships
3-year-old program has surpassed fundraising goals
When you hear about foundations giving scholarships in the healthcare field, you normally think of hospitals. But leaders at one large multi-specialty surgery center haven' t let the fact that they run a freestanding surgery center stop them from making a difference in their community. The Bend (OR) Surgery Center Foundation has awarded $58,000 in scholarships over the past three years to approximately 64 area high school seniors interested in entering the medical profession.
Here is how they did it:
• Establish a board, and apply for non-profit status.
"We essentially put a board together from community partners that we have as a surgery center," says Neal Maerki, RN, CASC, president of the foundation. That board included an attorney, accountant, a vice president of banking, a surgery center physician, the center' s human resources/accounting director, a nursing professor from the local community college, and Maerki.
The board went through the application process to be designated as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
• Find partners for the foundation.
One of the lessons the foundation leaders have learned is that when putting together a foundation, don' t sell yourself short.
"Initially we thought, we will raise no more than $7,500," Maerki says. However, the foundation has partners committed to paying from $500 to $5,000 and up for each year they elect to be partners.
The first year, partners included the center' s anesthesia group, a large clinic that used the surgery center, the law firm and bank represented on the foundation board, and the surgery center itself. "We [the surgery center] have not thrown a ton of money at the foundation," Maerki says. "We don' t want it to be relying solely on the ASC. We rely on partnerships."
At the lowest level, a $500 partner is listed on the back of the program at the annual fundraiser, plus it is listed on a computer presentation at the beginning and intermission of the event. At the highest level, $5,000 partners are mentioned as sponsors in advertisements on television, radio, and in print media. They also are given tickets to the event.
• Plan a fundraiser.
The annual fundraiser is a music event held at a local theater that the surgery center helps to support. "In return, we get one night' s use of the theater, which we gift to the foundation," Maerki says.
Two of the three previous fundraisers have included music from groups made up of physicians and some nurses. For the upcoming year, the foundation is exploring the hiring of a well-known act.
In addition to the sponsorships, funds are raised through a silent auction, a live auction, and a "Paddle Up." Each attendee is given a program and a paddle with a number for bidding. Students who have received previous scholarships provide a testimony about how the scholarships have helped them. The testimony is followed by the auctioneer or member of the foundation ask if anyone will provide a $10,000 or $5,000 scholarship. After those gifts are recorded, the announcer continues to ask for scholarships in decreasing amounts down to $50. "When we get to the $1,000 range, we have multiple responses," Maerki says. "Last year, we raised $7,000 in the Paddle Up."
This year the foundation added a pre-event dinner and cash bar at a local Japanese restaurant with a sushi bar. Title sponsors were given 10-12 tickets each. "It was a huge success," Maerki says. "We thought we' d have about 50 people, but 80% of the people who could come, did."
Each year the fundraiser has raised between $45,000 and $53,000 for scholarships. About eighty cents of every dollar is used for the scholarships themselves. Approximately $48,000 has been put into a reserve fund that will be available for students who complete undergraduate degrees in the future to receive as graduate scholarships of $5,000 to $10,000.
• Award scholarships.
The foundation' s scholarships are given to 11 area high schools. The student must have participated in a "Careers to Healthcare Pathways" class at their school, which exposes them to the medical field, or volunteered in the medical field in some capacity. Also, the student must have a 3.0 grade point average. The students must submit transcripts with their application, which includes three essay questions. The students respond to those questions with 100-word answers.
Each year, the foundation has received 39-47 applicants. The applications are de-identified. A committee of three persons reviews the applications, with at least two members reviewing each application. Each student is given a combined score of 1-10. The highest scoring students receive the largest scholarships. The highest scholarship amount, which goes to one person, is $5,000.
"I think there' s some good community benefit and potential positive down the road in terms of having some scholarship recipients come back and practice medicine," Maerki says.
Resource/Source
- Bend (OR) Surgery Center Foundation. Web: http://www.bendsurgerycenterfoundation.org.
- Neal Maerki, RN, CASC, President, Bend (OR) Surgery Center Foundation. Email: [email protected].
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