Grateful Patient Programs Director-Philanthropy

Beth Israel Lahey Health; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Beth Israel Lahey Health is seeking a Grateful Patient Programs Director to lead strategy, implementation, and daily operations of a comprehensive grateful patient and family fundraising program across the health system.

The Director will collaborate with frontline fundraising teams, physicians, and clinical leaders to build a robust pipeline, accelerate major gifts, and foster a culture of philanthropy while ensuring HIPAA-compliant data handling and program oversight.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or certifications a plus.
• 7–10 years in fundraising, institutional advancement, or health-system philanthropy; track record of success in major gifts.
• Experience with donor-centered operations and grateful patient giving.
• Proficiency with CRM/reporting, online databases, and productivity tools (MS Office).
• Advanced PowerPoint skills beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy and day-to-day operations of the grateful patient and family giving program.
• Partner with Philanthropy frontline teams, physicians, and staff to grow major gifts.
• Develop training, compliant data flows, and performance dashboards for the program.
• Ensure HIPAA-compliant workflows and adherence to institutional policies.
• Present program updates and engage departments to drive awareness and adoption.

Skills

Donor relations

Strategic fundraising

Communication skills

HIPAA familiarity

Data analytics

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree or certifications

Tools

CRM systems

MS Office

PowerPoint

Job description

Essential Duties & Responsibilities including but not limited to:

When you join the growing BILH team, you're not just taking a job, you’re making a difference in people’s lives. The Grateful Patient Programs Director leads the strategy, implementation, and day‑to‑day operations of a comprehensive, relationship‑based grateful patient and family fundraising program across the health‑system. This role partners closely with frontline fundraising teams, physicians, clinical leaders, clinical staff, philanthropy colleagues, and research/prospect development to build a robust pipeline, accelerate major and principal gifts, and strengthen a culture of philanthropy throughout the system. The Director will be responsible for establishing training, marketing, oversight of programs, compliant data flows, and performance dashboards to ensure a best‑in‑class program aligned with HIPAA and institutional policies.

Job Description

Essential Duties & Responsibilities including but not limited to:

Program Strategy & Leadership

• Design and drive the multi‑year strategy for grateful patient and family giving, in support of identification, engagement through cultivation, solicitation and stewardship resulting in major/principal gifts secured by the Philanthropy team.
• Provide long‑term strategic direction, program evaluation, reporting, and recommendations for enhancements to ensure a best‑in‑class program for a healthcare system.
• Establish annual goals, priorities, success measures, and oversight (including HIPAA‑compliant workflows) for the program.
• Work directly with Philanthropy frontline leadership and their team members to support local and system‑wide outreach and promote physician and clinical staff engagement.

Clinical & Physician Engagement

• Build close, trust‑based partnerships with Philanthropy frontline teams in support of the frontline staff’s relationships with the local physicians, nurses, administrators, and staff to identify prospects.
• Develop and lead tailored training and educational initiatives for clinicians and leadership to assist local philanthropy teams in expanding, normalizing and operationalizing regular and consistent grateful patient referrals.
• Prepare and deliver presentations in partnership with local philanthropy leaders to increase program awareness and adoption across departments.
• Work with donor relations and the local VPs to build connections with clinicians who receive gifts made in their honor.

Prospect Strategy & Pipeline Development

• Collaborate with Prospect Development and Reporting teams to advise on patient data loads for top prospects, wealth screening validation, and assignment workflows to gift officers, as appropriate.
• Develop systems for tracking referrals and program impact on fundraising revenue, including dashboards and regular pipeline reviews.
• Monitor, collect, and communicate biographical and employment updates for physicians, nurses, administrators, and patients to the Data Administration team.

Operations, Compliance & Enablement

• Ensure strict adherence to HIPAA/PHI and institutional grateful patient policies across all programming and data handling.
• Collaborate with marketing/communications/direct response to create materials that elevate program visibility and support physician and nursing engagement. Cross‑Functional Collaboration
• Foster strong collaboration with Development leadership and colleagues to ensure synergy across Direct Response, Major/Principal Gifts, Planning Giving, and Corporate/Foundation Relations.
• Participate in key events and institutional meetings; model ethical conduct, integrity, and accountability consistent with health‑system values.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree required. Advanced degree or relevant certifications a plus.

Experience:

• 7–10 years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising, institutional advancement, or health‑system philanthropy; track record of success in closing major gifts and a deep familiarity with donor‑centered operations and grateful patient giving strongly preferred.

Proficiency with CRM/reporting, online databases, and productivity tools (e.g., MS Office); advanced PowerPoint skills beneficial.

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities: Exposure to medicine, healthcare, or science environments and familiarity with HIPAA‑compliant data practices.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills

Demonstrated experience engaging faculty/clinicians and coordinating across complex institutions to deliver fundraising results.

Executive presence; persuasive communication skills for diverse audiences; ability to influence and collaborate across a large, matrixed health‑system.

Strong analytical/problem‑solving capabilities; ability to design metrics, dashboards, and internal controls to measure program effectiveness.

Dept./Unit-Specific Skills

• Expert knowledge of healthcare fundraising, donor relations, and applicable laws, rules, and policies; strong ethical standards with strict confidentiality.

Pay Range

$130,000.00 USD - $160,000.00 USD

The pay range listed for this position is the annual base salary range the organization reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this position at this time. Actual compensation is determined based on several factors, that may include seniority, education, training, relevant experience, relevant certifications, geography of work location, job responsibilities, or other applicable factors permissible by law.

As a health care organization, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to care for and protect our patients, our colleagues and our communities. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires that all staff be vaccinated against influenza (flu) as a condition of employment.

More than 35,000 people working together. Nurses, doctors, technicians, therapists, researchers, teachers and more, making a difference in patients' lives. Your skill and compassion can make us even stronger.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled