What Motivates Healthcare Donors to Give? A Deep Dive

Author: Megan DePaul (Director of Marketing at BWF)

You’re sitting at your desk when a “ping” breaks the silence; another donation just came through via your hospital's online giving form. A notification appears in your inbox —maybe it’s a familiar name, perhaps it’s not. Either way, the question likely crosses your mind: “I wonder what inspired their gift?” 

Understanding donor motivations is essential for successful healthcare fundraising. By understanding why donors decide to give, you can effectively motivate them to contribute again and in more significant ways.

In this guide, we’ll explore why people support healthcare organizations, how to inspire more giving at every stage of the donor journey, and how internal alignment helps you build stronger donor relationships and raise more.

Every healthcare audience is different, but all donors share a few common characteristics. Let’s explore a few frequent donor motivations and what they mean for your fundraising efforts. 

Having consistent positive experiences with your healthcare staff is one of the primary reasons donors give to hospitals and other healthcare organizations. This form of grateful patient giving is the cornerstone of strong healthcare fundraising programs. 

Grateful patient donors give after receiving transformative care that positively changed their lives. They may also donate because a loved one had a fantastic experience with your healthcare staff.

Everything your physicians do, from providing lifesaving emergency care to trading smiles and stories with patients, impacts whether they feel motivated to give back. 

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an appealing option for businesses, particularly since 77% of consumers are driven to purchase from companies that are dedicated to improving the world. 

Corporate philanthropy to healthcare organizations boosts a company’s local reputation as one that prioritizes giving back. Plus, company-led giving or volunteering strengthens corporate culture. According to Double the Donation’s CSR statistics, 71% of employees say it’s essential for employers to give back through philanthropy and volunteering.

These reputational benefits also extend to individual donors. Wealthy individuals who want to leave a positive legacy might contribute significant gifts to earn recognition, like having a hospital wing named in their honor.

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are the backbone of a healthy, thriving community. Donors from rural areas may want to ensure that their hometown hospital continues to thrive, especially if it’s the only provider in the area. 

Support for healthcare infrastructure also helps make your region a desirable place to live and work. High-quality care can attract employers, families, and retirees to your city. 

Plus, adequate medical support is often critical to hosting large events like concerts, festivals, and sports tournaments. Business owners, tourism bureaus, and civic leaders often support local infrastructure, including healthcare providers, to attract more opportunities to bring visitors to town. 

Many donors consider philanthropic giving part of their efforts to spend or manage their wealth. Donors can receive tax benefits by supporting nonprofit healthcare organizations, reducing their taxable income or capital gains. 

Many affluent donors often come from families that prioritize leaving a positive philanthropic legacy. These supporters may contribute to your healthcare organization through their will, trust, or donor-advised fund accounts (DAFs).

Exploring motivation at every phase of the donor journey

Donors’ motivations might change the longer they engage with your organization. Discover common motivations and strategies to build stronger relationships throughout the donor journey: 

Prospective donors are individuals who are aware of your giving opportunities but have yet to become  philanthropic supporters of your cause. You can identify individuals who are likely to give using prospect development, which BWF defines as the process of collecting data like wealth, philanthropic indicators, and affinity for your cause. 

Motivations to consider giving:

• Altruism and the desire to give back.
• Community leadership or reputational enhancement.
• Connection to a healthcare cause or department.
• Interest in long-term financial planning via philanthropy.

Stewardship strategies:

• Create personalized outreach: Send prospective donors personalized emails that greet them by name and reference healthcare topics they’ve previously expressed interest in. 
• Develop mission-driven messaging: Create social media and blog posts that directly connect fundraising efforts to impact. For example, you could share an interview with a physician who was able to provide a better care experience because of modern technology funded by donations. 
• Host introductory events: Invite prospective donors to meet-and-greets with your fundraising staff or behind-the-scenes tours of your healthcare facility. 

Transforming prospect donors into actual supporters of your cause requires a thoughtful, targeted approach. Your messaging should be donor-centric, allowing prospects to envision the positive impact they can have. 

Motivations to give for the first time: 

• Faith in your organization’s mission.
• Interest in your current healthcare initiatives or innovations.
• Desire to show support or honor the memory of a loved one.

Stewardship strategies:

• Demonstrate impact: Most modern donors are inspired to give after seeing an organization’s measurable impact. Share specific results or milestones made possible by donors’ gifts, such as adding three new beds to your ICU or serving 50,000 patients. 
• Outline tangible donor benefits: Invite donors to engage with your community more deeply by providing access to exclusive newsletters or events and invites to hospital tours.
• Reinforce an emotional connection: Share patient and caregiver stories and testimonials. Consider sharing handwritten appreciation notes from healthcare professionals, patients, or hospital volunteers. 

Donors won’t be inspired to stay involved with your organization if you don’t make an honest effort to retain them. Research from Bloomerang found that almost a quarter of donors stopped giving to a nonprofit because of a lack of transparency about how that organization used their gifts. 

However, more of today’s donors are willing to make recurring gifts. The M+R Benchmarks 2025 study found that revenue from monthly giving rose by 5% in 2024, accounting for 31% of all online revenue.

To capitalize on this philanthropic trend, it’s essential to understand what will motivate donors to keep giving to your cause. 

Motivation to continue giving: 

According to donor experience research, these are the top seven reasons why donors continue giving to nonprofits: 

1. Donor perceives the organization to be effective in trying to achieve its mission. 
2. Donor knows what to expect from the organization with each interaction. 
3. Donor receives timely thank yous. 
4. Donor receives opportunities to make their views known. 
5. Donor is given the feeling that they are part of an important cause. 
6. Donor feels their involvement is appreciated. 
7. Donor receives information showing who is being helped. 

Stewardship strategies:

• Ask for donors’ feedback: Send donors surveys asking for their input, with questions like “What types of communications would you like to see more of from our organization?” or “How could we improve the donor experience?” Follow up with donors to thank them for completing the survey and keep them updated on any changes you will make in response to their feedback. 
• Segment donors by motivation: By grouping donors with similar giving motivations, you can send targeted messages that resonate with each segment. For example, you could send blog posts with physician spotlights to grateful patient donors. 
• Show appreciation for donors: Create social media spotlights on specific donors, invite supporters to appreciation events, and share thank-you notes and messages directly from patients and doctors. 

How can you ensure your efforts to understand and increase donor motivation are successful? It all starts with giving your internal teams the foundation they need to measure and strengthen their connection with donors. 

Use these best practices to take your internal alignment to the next level: 

• Track metrics that matter. Key performance indicators (KPIs) like donor retention, acquisition, and upgrades will help you understand the effectiveness of your efforts and better align your fundraising strategies with donors’ motivations. 
• Maintain ethical fundraising. Ensure strong internal alignment with your fundraising, finance, and legal teams so everyone is on the same page. Your legal team should assess all fundraising efforts to ensure they are compliant with industry regulations like HIPAA. Also, use donors’ gifts as intended to maintain trust and increase giving motivation. 
• Build a top-class fund management approach with a dedicated platform. Fund management technology is essential for maintaining transparency, measuring impact, and organizing finances. Use these solutions to monitor compliance and fund utilization, which will support your efforts to grow donor trust and loyalty. Ensure your leadership team is on board with your efforts by outlining the benefits of this platform and how it will help your organization provide a much more positive donor experience. 
• Show appreciation for the key role that fundraising staff and healthcare professionals play in inspiring and engaging donors. Whether through employee spotlights, bonuses, or other perks, expressing gratitude for your internal team strengthens morale and internal alignment.

Wrapping Up

The key to understanding healthcare donors’ motivations is awareness. Keep your finger on the pulse by staying current on events that might impact donors’ likelihood of giving. Send donor surveys regularly (such as every three to six months) to ensure you know their most recent likes, dislikes, and needs.

Donors today are more savvy and informed than ever before, which means their expectations of their chosen philanthropic organizations are also higher. Now every gift is an opportunity to reinforce donor trust, asking important questions: 

• Is the organization able to make the impact they promised?
• Am I kept informed and updated on the progress?
• What is my relationship and giving experience like, compared to other orgs?

By staying responsive to donors’ shifting needs, you’ll create a healthcare fundraising strategy that sustains motivation.

See You at AHP International Conference!

FUndMiner will be at AHP in Aurora, CO (October 22-24, 2025)

Visit our booth to meet the FundMiner team and learn how we’re helping healthcare organizations streamline fund management and strengthen donor trust.