My Big Mistake When Asking For Money

I want to tell you about a big mistake I made last month... but first, some background.

The busiest hospital in Silicon Valley is, not surprisingly, the one that cares for anyone, regardless of ability to pay. Valley Medical Center, in San Jose, Calif. sees almost all of the working poor, uninsured, and a growing number of newly unemployed. VMC's network of clinics will host a million patient visits this year. It's a growing number of patients... more than last year, and the year before, and so on.

Unfortunately, VMC's budget is going the other direction -- shrinking -- and has been for years. As the public hospital for Silicon Valley, VMC relies in large part on the county's dwindling tax base. Last week, the budget axe fell, and positions at VMC were cut. Again.

My job? I run the VMC Foundation, which works to raise money to support the hospital. You guessed it: Donations from corporations and private foundations are WAY down this year.

The VMC Foundation was desperate. We had to do something. So we decided to ask the medical center staff for donations.

First, we created www.giveaboostershot.org to make it easy for the staff to give. We set a goal to raise $100,000 over the summer to buy new medical equipment and help fund a variety of services and programs. Then, we planned dozens of departmental meetings to promote the campaign with nurses, doctors, administrators, and everyone -- professionals who already give their time, heart, soul, careers and lives to VMC. Now we were going to ask them for their money. Right when the budget crisis was reaching its peak.

Can you now guess what mistake we made? We set our goal too low.

"How DARE you ask us for money when our jobs may be on the line, and our departments are having to cut costs?" That's what we feared we might hear. Instead, when presented with a chance to "give a booster shot" to the VMC Foundation, staff went absolutely bananas.

In the spirit of "we're all in this together," they gave, and gave big. Clinics vied for the highest percentage of givers, and a friendly competition emerged. One nursing unit reached 100 percent participation by Father's Day, and one doctor pledged $250 per pay check for the rest of her career. Then another doctor matched it.

One administrator wrote a check for $1,000, and another gave $1,001 just to show him up. Staff allowed us to film them talking about why they love their jobs, and why they "gave a booster shot." After making their donation, staff would tweet their gift and encourage their coworkers to get in the game. Before the end of June, we'd blown through our $100,000 goal. So just this week, we set it higher -- we doubled it.

Much has been written about how charity can build community. From Robert Putnam's book "Bowling Alone," to the tale of "Stone Soup," history shows that philanthropy -- the simple act of giving -- can bring a neighborhood, a company, perhaps even a nation closer together. At Valley Medical Center, we saw how being asked to "give a booster shot" actually boosted employee morale, and reminded our dedicated staff just why they got into health care in the first place.

And that unity is still growing. With each gift, the VMC Foundation grows stronger in our ability to give back to our medical center's deserving programs. Anyone who donates more than $1,000 gets their name or family's name imprinted on a new donor wall at the hospital. We've also planned a huge barbecue at the end of summer to thank everyone -- but now I hear some departments are planning their own to celebrate their generosity. Our campaign has taken on a life of its own... it's beyond our control now.

So, for anyone who doubts the power of giving, or questions the logic of asking for a charitable gift during trying times, I say come visit Valley Medical Center. You'll see how big my mistake was... and how I should have known better!