Podcast Summary:

The PM Podcast – “Challenge and Opportunity: A Conversation with Leaders in Healthcare Philanthropy”
Host: Jay Frost
Date: November 4, 2025
Guests:

• Nancy Bussani (CommonSpirit Health)
• Julie Cox (LifeBridge Health)
• John Drake (Baylor Scott & White Irving Foundation)
• David Flood (Intermountain Foundation)
• Bill Littlejohn (Sharp Healthcare Foundation)
• Birgit Stumpf (Deutsche Stiftung Fraum Gesundheit)

Overview

In this episode, host Jay Frost sits down with six top leaders in healthcare philanthropy from both the US and Europe. Each guest individually shares their biggest current challenge and greatest opportunity within the healthcare fundraising sector. The candid conversations, recorded at the AHP International Conference, reveal fundamental shifts, generational concerns, and legacy issues that are shaping the future of hospital and healthcare fundraising.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Building Trust and Community in Fundraising

Nancy Bussani underscores the necessity of involving communities authentically in decision-making processes related to fundraising and philanthropy. Unlike internal-only changes, decisions in philanthropy must maintain stakeholder trust.

• Quote: “We might make this great new policy that saves us a dollar and then jeopardize $10 because community doesn’t see themselves in that conversation.” (01:55, Nancy Bussani)
• Challenge: Balancing efficient operational change with authentic community engagement.
• Opportunity: Elevating true partnership with donor communities, ensuring fundraising remains mission-driven and inclusive.
• Memorable Moment: “Go slow to go fast. Make sure you have all the right stakeholders at the table, make sure you are not co-opting your donor community… be transparent in the why.” (02:32, Bussani)

2. Leadership Transitions & Philanthropy’s Relevance

Julie Cox discusses navigating a leadership transition where CEO candidates often lack philanthropic experience, even though it’s integral to their role.

• Quote: “Most of the candidates are completely focused on operations. In fact, the two more recent candidates have nothing in the resume related to philanthropy, although the profile states that almost 35% of the job is working with philanthropy.” (04:12, Julie Cox)
• Challenge: Ensuring incoming leaders understand and value philanthropy as a critical revenue source.
• Opportunity: Educating executives on philanthropy’s high ROI (“Our team raises 10 times what we spend” – 07:38, Cox), and integrating fundraising priorities into broader business strategies.
• Insight: Leadership transition impacts donor confidence and major gift outcomes—alignment and visibility with philanthropy are key to continued support.

3. Technology, Generational Giving, and Stewardship

John Drake voices concerns over external threats like unauthorized online giving platforms and the challenge of engaging new generations.

• Quote: “In the last couple days a for-profit firm has co-opted 1.4 million charities and produced web giving pages for them. That’s…reprehensible.” (10:29, John Drake)
• Challenge: Online platforms exploiting charities without consent; generational shifts in giving habits.
• Opportunity: Adapting stewardship and engagement strategies for younger donors (Gen Z, Millennials, Alpha) and leveraging tech-savvy staff.
• Memorable Moment: “Our greatest chance of reaching those donors, future donors, I hope, are in good hands. If Hannibal Stevens is any example, then we’re gonna be okay.” (12:55, Drake, highlighting staff potential)

4. Trust, Institutional Skepticism, and Messaging

David Flood points to declining public trust in institutions as the leading challenge in healthcare philanthropy.

• Quote: “The biggest challenge right now… is trust. You know, we've lost…over the last three years, 20 million or more individuals from philanthropy… we’re really being taught… to not trust. To not trust anyone else, to not trust, certainly institutions…” (13:38, David Flood)
• Challenge: Broad societal skepticism affecting nonprofit engagement.
• Opportunity: Distinguishing nonprofit healthcare as “a lighthouse for the country,” emphasizing reinvestment in community and transparent, mission-centric use of funds.
• Memorable Moment: “There’s a thaw that needs to happen… I think everyone still wants to help people, but do they want to come to our institutions to do that? Because the world’s telling them not to trust institutions.” (14:41, Flood)

5. Professional Development & Succession Planning

Bill Littlejohn focuses on the need for deliberate professional development and leadership pipelines within healthcare philanthropy.

• Quote: “If you want to have a successful career in healthcare philanthropy, it’s almost a requirement that you attend, you participate in these webinars, program, educational…But it makes us better leaders.” (17:52, Bill Littlejohn)
• Challenge: Preparing the next generation of leaders and ensuring organizational knowledge is transferred.
• Opportunity: Leveraging virtual programs, mentorship, and consortium-led matriculation to scale up workforce readiness and dramatically improve philanthropic outcomes.
• Memorable Moment: “I joked… I might do kind of a retirement tour…. willing to do an hour every month for the last full-time year I’m working and just dump out all of my knowledge and skills and documents… on everything related to governance and grateful patients and board development.” (18:41, Littlejohn)

6. European Perspective: Leadership Engagement & Structural Potential

Birgit Stumpf compares German and US contexts, identifying leadership disengagement from fundraising as a central issue in Germany.

• Quote: “They create the position, they give sort of a budget and then they say… please leave us alone, we have a busy agenda. But that's not how you raise the full potential of fundraising.” (23:10, Birgit Stumpf)
• Challenge: Hospital executives delegating fundraising without personal involvement, limiting efficacy.
• Opportunity: Learning from US best practices, fostering closer CEO-fundraiser collaboration, and scaling proven fundraising campaigns nationally.
• Insight: Philanthropy represents the “most profitable department in a hospital,” vital for mission sustainability and growth in both US and European systems.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Nancy Bussani:
  • “Go slow to go fast. Make sure you have all the right stakeholders at the table…” (02:32)
• Julie Cox:
  • “Our team raises 10 times what we spend. That doesn’t happen anywhere… certainly in hospital operations.” (07:38)
• John Drake:
  • “In the last couple days a for-profit firm has co-opted 1.4 million charities and produced web giving pages for them. That’s…reprehensible.” (10:29)
  • “Our greatest chance of reaching those donors, future donors…are in good hands. If Hannibal Stevens is any example, then we’re gonna be okay.” (12:55)
• David Flood:
  • “The biggest challenge… is trust…[we’ve lost] 20 million or more individuals from philanthropy…” (13:38)
  • “There’s a thaw that needs to happen…” (14:41)
• Bill Littlejohn:
  • “If you want to have a successful career in healthcare philanthropy, it’s almost a requirement that you attend, you participate in these webinars…” (17:52)
  • “I might do… a retirement tour… dump out all of my knowledge and skills...on everything related to governance and grateful patients and board development.” (18:41)
• Birgit Stumpf:
  • “They create the position, they give sort of a budget and then… please leave us alone, we have a busy agenda. But that's not how you raise the full potential of fundraising.” (23:10)
  • “Philanthropy…[is] the most profitable department in a hospital… basically the cash cow of the hospital.” (25:45)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:19] Nancy Bussani: Community engagement vs. operational efficiency
• [03:42] Julie Cox: Leadership transitions and integrating philanthropy
• [08:30] Julie Cox: Educating executives on philanthropy’s ROI
• [10:23] John Drake: Threats from tech platforms and engaging new generations
• [13:31] David Flood: Societal trust decline and nonprofit healthcare’s message
• [15:19] Bill Littlejohn: Professional/leadership development and succession
• [21:36] Birgit Stumpf: European perspective—leadership-to-fundraising relationship

Conclusion

This episode highlights that, while each healthcare philanthropy leader faces unique local and institutional pressures, common themes unite them: the growing need for authentic community and leader engagement, bridging generational divides, sustaining public trust, developing new leaders, and maximizing organizational learning. As the sector evolves, their stories underline both the weight of the challenge and the promise of what collaborative, mission-driven philanthropy can achieve.