Case Study: UNC Health Foundation achieves a 73% increase in major gifts and a 164% rise in annual-giving responses with Blackbaud analytics

UNC Health Foundation Advances Grateful Patient Fundraising with Analytics

UNC Health Foundation, the fundraising arm for North Carolina’s largest academic health system, needed a smarter way to engage grateful patients and families to help drive a $1 billion campaign. The team was overwhelmed by broad, unreliable patient lists and a wealth-screening tool that didn’t reveal philanthropic propensity, which reduced clinician confidence and made targeted outreach inefficient.

The Foundation implemented Blackbaud’s Patient Conversion Model, Affluence Insight, and Blackbaud CRM with monthly data updates, a Top 30 Heat Map, and new activity metrics to prioritize prospects and tailor appeals. In the first three quarters after adoption, major gift value from grateful patients rose more than 73% (about $2.7M), annual-giving responses increased 164%, and outreach became faster, more efficient, and better trusted by clinicians.

UNC Health Foundation

Eli Jordfald

Executive Director for Healthcare Philanthropy