Leave the Clinical Decisions to the Clinicians

A recent article in many upper New York newspapers and publications indicated that staff and leaders at the University of Rochester, through their special constituency’s office, had elevated donors outside of the state’s protocols in timing, to get a COVID-19 vaccination. It appears they basically took a list of donors, called them, and said come in to get a shot.

I’m in the process of completing a podcast on special constituency services, otherwise known as concierge services. Having built one myself, and as a consultant advising on a multitude of others, I think this type of program has a place and can be very supportive of fundraising activities/success.  And in the podcast, I talk about some of the boundaries and communication issues that are needed to accompany this kind of program. However, it is astounding to me that clinical leaders inside this program thought this was a good idea. It defies logic to think that we should do anything else but follow our public health leaders as they try to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible. They set the rules and we follow them.

The result was the President/Chancellor of the University having to shutter the entire program overnight…literally.  Multiple people lost their positions/jobs. The University’s reputation took a very significant hit.  While the decision to close the effort seems appropriate, it also hurt the reputation of anyone who is related to a development office or a foundation office within an educational unit (high education), with healthcare, or just a community hospital that does this type of work. That is a sad and incredibly detrimental reputation hit not only for this University but for all in fundraising and philanthropy.