Mo Davies Small Organization Award: Parry Sound Health Centre Foundation

West Parry Sound Health Centre Foundation Parry Sound, located on Georgian Bay in northern Ontario, is home to 20,000 year-round residents and the West Parry Sound Health Centre Foundation. A five-year capital campaign, which had mobilized the local community and attracted the support of high profile and seasonal cottagers, ended in 2005.

Years following the capital campaign offered few opportunities for proactive donor engagement, and with the onset of a recession, revenues were at serious risk of a debilitating decline. A swift response was called for and so the Foundation developed a comprehensive three-year, 48-step operational plan to guide all activities and future interaction with its various communities. The goal: to transform and revitalize the organization so that the Health Centre could keep up-to-date with technology, treatment and education, in keeping with its beautiful new facility and the ongoing needs of its local and seasonal community.

Internal organizational goals were set to seize smart ideas, craft more effective programs, and enhance the Foundation’s brand, as well as improve its awareness, accountability and stewardship strategies. Guided by the operational plan, and with these specific goals in mind, the Foundation began to communicate clearly and regularly with donors. It recreated special events, and launched an easily navigable website and e-newsletter. To tweak performance and gauge forecasting accuracy, the Foundation completed a yearly full analysis of revenues.

The Foundation soon began hitting realistic revenue targets. Credit is given to increased creativity and the smart use of technology to execute special projects, now a hallmark of the organization. A series of initiatives reinforced this approach, most significant among them being theBraProject, the brainchild of Executive Director, Lynne Atkinson. This campaign, which centred on the need to raise $650,000 for a digital mammography unit, invited local women to Support the Girls by crafting Art-bras. The community enthusiastically embraced the project, and before long Art-bras were strung on clotheslines throughout the hospital.

The Foundation was then invited to take its Art-bra exhibit to the 2011 Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) where it became the subject of intense media and public interest, spreading the concept worldwide. A dedicated website translated into 52 languages was developed, and a coffee table book will be published in the spring of 2012.

The Foundation, which demonstrates that small can be strategic, surpassed its revenue goals within three years. In 2011, it will transfer almost $1 million to the Health Centre for equipment purchases.

For more information, visit: www.wpshcf.com or www.theBraProject.com