Healthcare organizations expect philanthropy to generate transformational revenue, yet the CEO is often left outside the donor relationship. Fundraisers can build the strategy, cultivate the prospect, and manage the process, but at the highest levels, donors also want to understand the vision and leadership of the institution they are being asked to support. If philanthropy is truly an organizational priority, CEO engagement cannot simply happen when the operational calendar allows it. The question is bigger than fundraising performance. It is whether healthcare leaders are willing to treat philanthropy as part of their leadership responsibility.
Read MoreExecutive compensation should reward leadership, but employment contracts should also protect the institutions making those investments. Utah's approach to requiring public university presidents to repay money when they voluntarily leave early raises an important question: why should contractual accountability run only one direction? Talented leaders deserve competitive compensation, but organizations deserve meaningful protection when a leader chooses to leave. Good contracts should balance both.
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