Hard Work Wasn't Translating to Fundraising Pipeline Growth
Backline fundraisers (like prospect researchers and database administrators) often get trapped in spreadsheets trying to make sense of siloed grateful patient data. The St. Luke’s team knew grateful patients were walking the halls of their hospitals, but relying on manual processes made it difficult to locate the right prospects.
“We did not have a formal rating system in place,” Carla said. “We relied primarily on wealth screenings and other fragmented processes and tools, but the overall approach lacked structure, efficiency and consistency. It was not a very well-oiled machine.”
“St. Luke’s provides amazing care and we always knew grateful patients were here; we just didn’t know how to find them in an efficient way, the most productive way,” Rachel said. “Everything always just seemed so sporadic, labor-intensive, and just a lot of work for no real measurable outcome that we could easily see.”
Fostering Strong IT Collaboration for a Seamless Integration
Accessing and utilizing Protected Health Information (PHI) requires navigating rigorous IT protocols. London Automation provides the specific technical expertise needed to manage these requirements, working directly alongside hospital IT teams to handle the heavy lifting.
Built on security first, London Automation natively integrates Electronic Health Record (EHR) and CRM data sources with HIPAA-compliant, enterprise-grade security. This direct connection and automated workflows eliminated data silos and saved the philanthropy team 800 hours of manual data entry right out of the gate.
“After completing the risk assessments and gaining a clear understanding of London Automation’s commitment to HIPAA compliance and data privacy, our IT Security team was fully confident moving forward with the partnership,” Carla said. “What impressed me most was the seamless collaboration between the St. Luke’s IT team and London Automation. Given that our IT Security team is known for setting an exceptionally high bar for protecting patient information, the speed and ease of implementation made the experience all the more impressive.”
By entrusting the technical integration to the IT and London Automation teams, Rachel and the fundraising staff were able to remain focused on advancing donor engagement and fundraising initiatives, ensuring there was no disruption to their core responsibilities.
After securely connecting disparate data sources, London Automation increased St. Luke’s qualified prospects by 8x. Automated deduplication and daily hygiene replaced manual cleanup, giving the team a clean, actionable database.
“London Automation has been an exceptional partner in helping us enrich our database, and we have really moved the needle in this area,” Carla said. “Their work has significantly strengthened the integrity of our data, providing a more complete and reliable foundation for our team.”
Shifting the Transactional Mindset for Frontline Fundraisers
Giving is not just a wealth game; it is about affinity. Legacy wealth screening tools limit outreach to surface-level, transactional interactions. By incorporating predictive AI and real-time engagement signals into their strategy, the St. Luke’s frontline team overhauled their approach to cultivating grateful patients.
“Not only did we have a shift in how we’re utilizing the data, but we also had a shift in the behaviors and the way that our gift officers practice,” Carla said. “It was very transactional before, and now I believe true relationships are being established, and the data supports that.”
When AI intelligence prioritizes the right donors at the right time, gift officers stop sending cold emails and start acting on actionable gratitude. Maximizing this time on target helped the St. Luke’s frontline team increase its number of contacts by 47% year-over-year.
“When we first worked through the process and sent those initial emails, people started responding,” Rachel said. “They were sharing their experiences at St. Luke’s and expressing interest in meeting.”
The gift officers quickly saw how eager grateful patients were to connect when approached during their peak window of gratitude. They discovered a new level of receptivity by targeting affinity over sheer capacity.
“London Automation introduced a new dimension to our donor identification strategy,” Carla said. “We had traditionally focused on wealth screening and capacity ratings, but now we can also see meaningful engagement indicators. It is powerful to identify individuals who actively utilize our services, have strong ties to our organization, and express deep appreciation for the care they receive.”
Seeing the Full Grateful Patient Picture: Unlocking Transformational Capacity
Disconnected technology tools lead to disconnected fundraising results. By unifying clinical and philanthropic data, London Automation empowered the frontline team to see the complete donor picture and secure transformational major gifts.
“We have a lot of donors who we know are grateful patients, but we never coded them as grateful patients because we didn’t uncover them from the medical record,” Carla said. “There are also folks who are giving at a major giving level, but not at a transformational level.”
Without this real-time clinical context, solicitations were often capped. Connecting the EHR to the CRM enabled the team to identify hidden capacity and dynamically adjust its major giving strategy.
“Now, we can confirm high capacity and engagement,” Carla said. “And we’ve been able to shift some top $100,000 donors to a million-dollar strategy.”
Accurate data builds the confidence needed to engage with and ask for more. That newfound confidence is directly reflected in our pipeline, with St. Luke’s driving a 103% year-over-year increase in the average ask amount.
How Data Prompts Deeply Emotional Legacy Gifts
Grateful patient fundraising is uniquely personal; it is about honoring great care. Beyond continuously updating records, London Automation’s solutions helped St. Luke’s surface profound, deeply emotional stories of legacy giving. One gift officer reached out to an AI-identified individual, only to learn from their partner that they were in hospice. Despite their condition, the donor agreed to a phone call. He recounted waking up alarmed in the hospital years prior, with no memory of how he got there.
“The patient shared a wonderful story about their first experience at St. Luke’s,” Rachel said. “They remembered a nurse who stayed right by their side and helped put them at ease. They said they would never forget that moment.”
The patient had left a life insurance policy to St. Luke’s in honor of the care they received. The gift officer subsequently tracked down the nurse to share the donor’s gratitude.
“Their partner reached back out simply to say, ‘Thank you. They really needed to tell that story,’” Rachel said. “The entire experience was incredibly touching. We were able to connect with them, give them space to share their gratitude near the end of life, and ultimately, a gift was made – that is how deeply grateful they were.”
The story demonstrated the value of proactive, real-time data for the St. Luke’s fundraisers.
“If we hadn’t used London Automation the way we did with that donor, we likely would have received the life insurance policy without any context,” Rachel said. “Instead, it became a full-circle moment that showed what we are doing at St. Luke’s and how London Automation is helping make it possible. This is real, it is working, and it shows exactly how we should be using data.”
Finding a True Partner for Long-Term Philanthropic Growth
Building a better grateful patient program requires more than just adding another fancy tech widget. For St. Luke’s, accelerating its grateful patient program required a partner who understood the nuances of healthcare philanthropy. London Automation provides continuous strategic guidance through regular hands-on support.
“When we were just starting out, the recommendations from the London Automation team were paramount,” Rachel said. “Your team knew that we were just getting started, and to see success, we were going to need some guidance and input. That is what London Automation provides.”
“I always joke with Marko [London Automation data analyst] when we’re on a call,” Carla said. “I ask, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ And then there’s Marko, working on my suggestion… ‘Done’ before we are even off the call. You don’t get that from other partners!”
By eliminating the manual busywork, the St. Luke’s team is focusing their time on driving impact for the hospital network. The fundraisers are feeling the difference in their performance, contributing to a 39% year-over-year increase in total dollars raised.
“Our gift officers are experiencing those tangible results firsthand," Carla said. "Looking back over the past three years, they can undeniably see how far they've come. That visibility gives them confidence and validates the exceptional work they're doing every day."
Advice for Healthcare Foundations Evaluating Technology Partners
For hospital foundation teams embarking on a similar transformation, Carla and Rachel emphasize that the evaluation process must extend beyond the software itself. Every grateful patient program operates at a different stage of maturity, making it essential to find a vendor that provides an adaptable, hands-on partnership.
“For me, number one, find a partner who has the IT side buttoned up and can speak their language to your team,” Carla said. “And number two, look for a real partner, somebody who’s invested in you, somebody who cares about your results.”
"We're all at different phases in our journeys. So, to find a team who is willing to figure this out with you and walk alongside you, that is my biggest takeaway," Carla said. "I always say London Automation is a true partner."
