Why People Give
Why People Give
By Shannon Coull, CFRE
Executive Director of the PECMH Foundation
People give for many different reasons.
Studies have shown that giving promotes feelings of happiness. Simply put, helping others feels good. When you donate to a charity that is important to you, you not only help them continue their vital work, you’re also improving your emotional wellbeing.
Giving can also connect you to like-minded people who care about the same cause. And, donating to a charity can give you the opportunity to show gratitude. For example, many of our community members have donated to Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Care Champion program which gives grateful patients and families the opportunity to thank a caregiver for the care they provided.
Of course there are tax advantages to making a donation, but believe it or not, although this is a benefit to the donor, this is not typically the primary motivation for giving.
These are the TOP five reasons why people give to a cause:
1. They believe in the mission,
2. Donors trust the organization and believe in its leadership,
3. Donors understand the impact they are making,
4. They have a personal connection to the cause,
5. Donors want to be part of something meaningful.
I am so very proud to say that the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation can check all of these boxes. We can do this because of the leadership and strong partners with have in place who are helping us to achieve our mission which is to advance healthcare for the patients of our hospital and the people of Prince Edward County.
Our Board of Directors is made up of 17 dedicated volunteers who govern the organization and provide focused and steadfast leadership of, and direction for the foundation’s staff.
The staff also work with 12 members of our PEC community who form the Campaign Cabinet. This group of volunteers are ambassadors for the Back the Build fundraising campaign. These individuals continue to stay informed on the progress of our new hospital campaign so that they can help us to tell our story and share with our donors the impact they are making.
Quinte Health’s leadership team drives the delivery of healthcare across the entire Quinte region. The team keeps our foundation informed as to what is needed to serve our communities. The strong partnership we have with Quinte Health’s leadership team ensures we are fundraising for our community’s highest priorities when it comes to healthcare delivery.
A cause our entire community cares about is access to doctors. Our foundation is proud to be one of the members of the leadership team that is helping to address this important issue.
The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation strives to be an organization that delivers on the top five reasons why people give to a cause which results in long term relationships that are built on trust. Our donors are part of a team that is making a huge impact on the quality of life for the people of Prince Edward County and beyond.
Since the beginning of our fiscal-year (April 1, 2022); we have worked with 1952 individual donors, have received over $2.7 million in outright gifts and our Board Chair, Barbara McConnell and I have personally signed 3475 donor thank you letters.
Thank you to our leadership and our community of supporters for being a part of our foundation family; Your impact is meaningful.
For information about our hospital, or to make a donation call 613-476-1008 ext. 4507, or visit the foundation’s website at www.pecmhf.ca.
