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This Thursday, Feb. 10, the Riverview Health Foundation and Dakota Medical Foundation will join forces for the fourth annual Giving Hearts Day initiative. Over the three previous years in which the two foundations have teamed up for the online fund-raising blitz, RiverView Health has benefited to the tune of $120,000, which has funded an impressive list of things across the RiverView spectrum.
But even Kent Bruun, RiverView Foundation director, isn't immune from accidentally understating the impact of the annual fund-raising effort. "It's been a very successful three years...just a whole lot of generosity on the part of a lot of people who want to make a positive difference," he said.
But, the thing is, Bruun is quick to realize, the $120,000 raised through donations to RiverView and the resulting matching and incentive grants from Dakota Medical Foundation have occurred in three days, not three years. Giving Hearts Day each year involves online contributions over a single, 24-hour period, not an extended effort that continues throughout the year.
"It's a very meaningful, important day for us," Bruun said. "The outcomes of the generosity that has been shown on each day over the previous three years, factoring in the Dakota Foundation grants, leveraging with other matched funds and project funds I have available...the impact has been tenfold."
Here's how it works:
On Thursday, from midnight to 11:59 p.m., the Dakota Medical Foundation (DMF) will match, dollar for dollar, online contributions to the RiverView Foundation of $10 or more, up to $4,000. Donations must be made online, so visit www.riverviewhealth.org and click on the Giving Hearts Day link. In addition to the match grant, the seven organizations that receive the most online contributions over the 24-hour period will be awarded additional grant funds up to $20,000.
"It's a great opportunity to see your financial gift doubled through the Dakota Foundation match," Bruun said.
In 2010 alone, the RiverView Foundation secured over $50,000 in online contributions and matching grant support on Giving Hearts Day. That was good enough for RiverView, out of approximately 75 non-profits joining forces with DMF that day, to raise the fifth-most in contributions, which triggered additional DMF incentive grants.
Donors can specify
The beauty of Giving Hearts Day is that if you want to contribute to something specific at RiverView Health, you have the freedom to specify precisely where you want the impact of your dollars to be felt, Bruun explained. But if you'd rather simply make a contribution and let RiverView leaders determine where the money will be best spent, that's fine, too.
This Thursday, Feb. 10, the Riverview Health Foundation and Dakota Medical Foundation will join forces for the fourth annual Giving Hearts Day initiative. Over the three previous years in which the two foundations have teamed up for the online fund-raising blitz, RiverView Health has benefited to the tune of $120,000, which has funded an impressive list of things across the RiverView spectrum.
But even Kent Bruun, RiverView Foundation director, isn't immune from accidentally understating the impact of the annual fund-raising effort. "It's been a very successful three years...just a whole lot of generosity on the part of a lot of people who want to make a positive difference," he said.
But, the thing is, Bruun is quick to realize, the $120,000 raised through donations to RiverView and the resulting matching and incentive grants from Dakota Medical Foundation have occurred in three days, not three years. Giving Hearts Day each year involves online contributions over a single, 24-hour period, not an extended effort that continues throughout the year.
"It's a very meaningful, important day for us," Bruun said. "The outcomes of the generosity that has been shown on each day over the previous three years, factoring in the Dakota Foundation grants, leveraging with other matched funds and project funds I have available...the impact has been tenfold."
Here's how it works:
On Thursday, from midnight to 11:59 p.m., the Dakota Medical Foundation (DMF) will match, dollar for dollar, online contributions to the RiverView Foundation of $10 or more, up to $4,000. Donations must be made online, so visit www.riverviewhealth.org and click on the Giving Hearts Day link. In addition to the match grant, the seven organizations that receive the most online contributions over the 24-hour period will be awarded additional grant funds up to $20,000.
"It's a great opportunity to see your financial gift doubled through the Dakota Foundation match," Bruun said.
In 2010 alone, the RiverView Foundation secured over $50,000 in online contributions and matching grant support on Giving Hearts Day. That was good enough for RiverView, out of approximately 75 non-profits joining forces with DMF that day, to raise the fifth-most in contributions, which triggered additional DMF incentive grants.
Donors can specify
The beauty of Giving Hearts Day is that if you want to contribute to something specific at RiverView Health, you have the freedom to specify precisely where you want the impact of your dollars to be felt, Bruun explained. But if you'd rather simply make a contribution and let RiverView leaders determine where the money will be best spent, that's fine, too.
This year, he explained, RiverView has identified a needed and meaningful initiative for undesignated contributions. Six outdated defibrillators will be replaced with six cardiac monitors that include AED, defibrillation, pacing, and cardioversion capabilities. "We currently have six crash carts with defibrillators located in radiology, the emergency department, cardiac rehabilitation, post-anesthesia recovery, and on the medical/surgical/pediatrics and ICU floor that are not uniform," Bruun said. "Our Code 7 Team has identified the need to have these units identical for continuity throughout the facility as a top priority."
Over the three previous Giving Hearts Day events, donors who have identified a specific area they'd like their money to go have made a widespread impact, Bruun said. Some areas that have benefited include: Scholarships, Inpatient Windows Replacement Program, Cancer Funding, Cardiac Funding, Stress Test Equipment Fund, Stress Test & Radiology Prep-Procedure Room Renovation Project, Stereo-Tactic Breast Biopsy Room Renovation Project, Golf Classic Fund, Friends for Life Sustained Support Fund, Care Center Dementia Project Fund, Inpatient TV Project, Emergency Room Multi-parameter Monitor, Inpatient Bed Replacement, Kiwanis Children’s Health Fund, Inpatient Renovation Project, Kitchenette for Memory Care, Women’s Health, Family Memorial Funds, Same Day Surgery Multi-parameter Monitor, Oak Court RiverView Home Health Office Remodel, Pressure Reduction Mattresses for Surgical Tables, Adult Day Care Major Appliance and TV, Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab, Care Center Fund, CT/MRI Radiology Project, Annual Campaign Fund, and New Kitchen Appliances.
"If people have a personal or professional tie to something specific or they're passionate about a certain area and that's where they'd like their contribution to go, we honor that," Bruun said. "It's about donor fulfillment, which is something I'm very sensitive to. If somebody, whether it's themselves, a family member or friend, has been touched by the healthcare received at RiverView and they want to give back to a particular area, we encourage that."
The kitchenette added to the Memory Care unit is one example that comes to Bruun's mind. "You have people living there with different levels of dementia, and now they can experience the smell of apple pie, or homemade bread," he said. "It's about giving as much normalcy and integrity as we can."
During this Thursday's Giving Hearts Day, he added, a donor wants to contribute money to launch a "Kindness Fund" at RiverView that will identify patients who "need a little extra love or kindness" because they're alone or dealing with a difficult diagnosis or struggling in some other way. "This donor wants our staff to have the capacity to do something special to touch these patients in a positive way," Bruun said. "I think it's pretty inspirational."
Looking for a word to describe the events that will transpire on Thursday, Bruun came up with "powerful."
"It's a very powerful day because the donations made that day have a lasting effect, for weeks, months, years. It may officially end at 11:59 p.m., but it's just the beginning of an exciting time here when we're able to see that the contributions have the greatest positive impact."
If you want more information about the Giving Hearts Day program or have a question about contributing, contact Bruun at 281-9249 or kbruun@riverviewhealth.org.
