BEST PRACTICES FROM THE
FISHER HOUSE COMMUNITY
Great Ideas from Our Team
Fisher House
2019 Training
Abstract
This document contains best practices and ideas captured from members
of our Fisher House team. The ideas depicted directly assisted in the
support of local efforts and have the potential to help other locations.
1
Table of Contents
Idea from Fisher House Michigan ........................................................................................................ 2
Force Multiplication = Mission Success ........................................................................................ 2
Leveraging Major Gifts to Raise Awareness ................................................................................ 3
Idea from Fisher / Nightingale Houses, Inc. ...................................................................................... 4
Donor Recognition Program ............................................................................................................. 4
Idea from Friends of Fisher House Southern Louisiana ......................................................................... 5
Why Put A Nurse on Your Friends of Fisher House Board? .............................................................. 5
Idea from Rocky Mountain Fisher House Foundation ................................................................... 6
LYFT Concierge Program .................................................................................................................. 6
Ideas from Fisher House in St. Louis ................................................................................................. 7
Every briefing counts .......................................................................................................................... 7
Events that start small can grow each year .................................................................................. 7
Jar Grippers ........................................................................................................................................... 7
ANNUAL golf tournaments also continue to grow ...................................................................... 8
A TOUR of the Fisher House ............................................................................................................. 8
Ideas from Fisher House of the Emerald Coast ............................................................................... 9
Apron Give Away ................................................................................................................................. 9
Socks/Bowties ...................................................................................................................................... 9
National Days ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Superheroes Unite ............................................................................................................................. 10
Edible Art .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Idea from Gainesville Fisher House Foundation ........................................................................... 12
Nutrition ................................................................................................................................................ 12
Idea from Friends of Pittsburgh Fisher House ............................................................................... 13
Keeping the Fridge and Freezer Full ............................................................................................. 13
2
Idea from Fisher House Michigan
Force Multiplication = Mission Success
With a tiny group of volunteers, executing a state-wide mission would be impossible
without force multipliers in hierarchical organizations.
Each state has commanders or presidents of organizations with local affiliates. The
American Legion was the first and best example in Michigan.
We pitched the Fisher House mission to the AL State Commander and he decided to
make it his special project during his term. Not only did he talk publicly about Fisher
House at every opportunity, he directed his District Commanders to support the mission.
Those District Commanders, in turn, directed the local posts in their region to do the
same. What’s more, the SAL and Auxiliary Organizations join in, too!
We defined the mission at the state level (e.g. $1 for every Veteran in Michigan), and
the commander, with his subordinate posts, did the hard work of reaching into every
community in the state for us. In the past 11 months, this has meant nearly $300K in
cash toward the Michigan Fisher Houses.
We helped the Commander draft this letter to kick-start the effort among his
Legionnaires – please feel free to repurpose any of this highly effective language:
Dear Legionnaires,
My home post in Holly has long supported the Fisher House mission, but this
spring, it all changed.
This spring, I had the privilege of standing on the grounds where Michigan’s first
Fisher House will soon stand to support the families of the Veterans who need
treatment at the Ann Arbor VA. Being a part of the check presentation ceremony
during which American Legion Post 46 in Ann Arbor decided to challenge the state
to match their $100,000 gift, I felt an overwhelming desire to do more.
Michigan is the largest state in the nation without a Fisher House, and we
Legionnaires must take the lead in changing that. I have decided to make Fisher
House Michigan my special project for my term as State Commander, and I hope
you will join me in making Fisher Houses in Ann Arbor and Detroit a reality.
You can be part of a lasting legacy for Michigan Legionnaires. Let’s join forces to
do more for Fisher House Michigan. I challenge you to dig deep. There are
650,000 Service Members and Veterans in the state of Michigan, and the least we
can do is pledge a dollar for each of them for Fisher House!
3
Leveraging Major Gifts to Raise Awareness
Major donors give to Fisher House for a host
of reasons, and as we enter relationships with
potential donors, it’s important for us to quickly
understand their individual and personal why.
Believe it or not, this also applies to potential
corporate donors. At the end of the day, it is a
person or group of persons who will make
decisions for the company.
If part of the why is to raise the philanthropic
profile of the organization, there may be
interest in leveraging the gift publicly. Fisher House Michigan has found that match
campaigns are a great way to create such leverage.
A successful “match campaign” accomplishes:
• Marketing opportunity for the donor
• Raises wide-spread awareness of the need for Fisher Houses
• Allows small gifts to make a much larger impact
At FHM, we solicit support for two major match campaigns each year. We have the
Memorial Day Match which runs from May 1 – June 30 each year. We also ask donors
to “Take the Patriot’s Pledge” each year on September 11 (Patriots Day) and run the
match through year-end giving.
During our first year of matches, we secured $550K from challenge gifts across both
matches, and Michiganders rose to meet the challenge. This meant $1 million for the
Michigan Fisher Houses in the first match year. Last year, the number rose to $1.5
million. In 2019, the Memorial Day Match Corporate challenge is $500K, and our goal is
to raise $1 million in May and June alone!
Caring for a match is not easy:
• Must begin with a well-honed major gifts strategy to solicit the match challenger(s)
• Graphic design for print collateral in collaboration with the donor(s)
• Postal and e-mailings with a well-vetted mailing list
• Web presence with fresh content throughout the campaign
• Social media hits across properties to engage the widest possible audience
• Visible presence at Veteran and community events (tables, tents, etc)
• Speaking engagements for FHM leadership at strategically high value events
• Photo opportunities throughout the campaign to celebrate gifts and spur action
from those who have yet to give
We have discovered that this takes a full-time Executive Director, with a trained and
active volunteer corps.
4
Idea from Fisher / Nightingale Houses, Inc.
Donor Recognition Program
The Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc. established a Donor Recognition program on 1
January 2002 to recognize donors. This also serves to solicit return donations each
year. Monthly donors are sent renewal letters, starting two months prior to expiration
(i.e., expiration of 31 December means they get an initial letter on 10 November, a
second request on 10 December and a final request on 10 January – as needed).
Three Donor Levels: Each level is defined by the annual donation made, whether
financial, in-kind or of volunteer time. To the extent an individual or organization makes
a financial, in-kind and/or a time donation, the level of recognition will be the highest
level for which qualification requirements are met. The levels and requirements are:
Level Requirement
Supporter 25 hours of volunteer service or a financial/in-kind contribution of $50 to
$250
Friend 50 hours of volunteer service or a financial/in-kind contribution of $251 to
$500
Patron 100 hours of volunteer service or a financial/in-kind contribution of $501 or
more
Hours of volunteer time in-house are be kept and reported to the Donor Chairperson by
the Fisher House managers. Hours of volunteer time outside the House (e.g., events,
fundraisers) are be kept by the Donor Chairperson. Financial donations are the sum of
all donations made during each calendar year, including designated/non-anonymous
donations made through the annual Combined Federal Campaign.
Impact since inception (as of 31 December 2018):
Active
Supporters
Active Friends
Active Patrons
Cumulative Raised
354 as of 31 Dec 18
88 as of 31 Dec 18
245 as of 31 Dec 18
$7,363,367.38
Donor program renewals in 2018: 270 donations totaling $334,743.07 (of 611 donors
and $643,494.93 in total donations in 2018 – or 44% of donations and 52% dollars
donated).
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Idea from Friends of Fisher House Southern Louisiana
Why Put A Nurse on Your Friends of Fisher House Board?
Marjorie B. Kraus, RN, BSN, MS / [email protected] / 504 453-2125
1. Gallup Poll Data. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/once-again-nurses-
top-gallup-poll-most-trusted-profession-17-years-running Nurses rated the most trusted
professional 17 years running. Eighty-four percent of public rates nurses’ honesty and
ethical standards as “high” or “very high”. Nursing is held to the highest of ethical
standards. Ethics of autonomy, safeguarding privacy, and demanding justice are
practiced on a daily basis
2. Definition of Nursing. Nursing, as defined by Travelbee (1971), is an “interpersonal
process of human to human relationships”. Nurses offer authentic presence and thus
the ability to actively listen to what is said and hear what is not said. Roach’s (1992) 6
C’s of Caring explains how nursing defines their practice of caring to include:
compassion, conscience, competence, confidence, commitment, and comportment.
3. BSN Nursing Curriculum. Because the BSN curriculum contains at least 40 hours
of liberal arts, psychology, education, and sociology courses, nurses can initiate
conversations, using art, history, literature, sports, etc., that result in the establishment
of trusting relationships. Its focus on research prepares the nurse to analyze and
critique quantitative and qualitative studies and interpret factual results and their
implications to the public. Health education skills allow the nurse to teach. Global and
Community Health courses address the impact of disparities, economics, politics, and
environmental and epidemiologic influences on the health of the public.
4. Communication Skills. Nurses know the language of pain, suffering, loss, disability,
hopelessness, and loneliness; on the other hand, nurses know the meaning of hope,
courage, coping, finding meaning in life’s suffering and illness, and the joy of achieving
small and large personal goals. In truth, it is the function of the nurse in any setting to
assist individuals, families, and communities to prevent or cope with the stress of
illness, injury, and suffering or to help all find existential life meaning in the same.
5. Teamwork. Nurses are accustomed to working within interdisciplinary and inter-
professional teams. Nurses appreciate the value of each team member and celebrate
individual team member contributions. Nurses respect the chain of command and are
outcome driven performers. Nurses have highly developed networking systems.
Because of all of the above, nurses can “fit in” in business, educational, political,
religious, and social environments/gatherings.
6
Idea from Rocky Mountain Fisher House Foundation
LYFT Concierge Program
Are you looking for a simplified way of providing guests transportation to
and from your House to the Hospital? Or maybe getting guests to and from
the airport? Taxi’s can be unreliable and calling a Lyft or Uber can be time
consuming because you have to be involved in the process at that moment.
LYFT Business Concierge makes the process easy.
1. The concierge program allows you to order rides for guests by setting
up administrators.
• For example: The House Manager and other FH employees can be set-up as
administrators.
2. Administrators order rides for the guests. And rides can be ordered up to 7 days in
advance.
3. The administrator can also select the type of vehicle and write notes to the driver to
give them more details.
• For example: Give an exact location of the pick-up— south entrance of VA
Hospital. Or make the driver aware the guest has a wheelchair.
4. The guest’s cell phone number is used when ordering the ride, so the driver can
contact the guest directly.
• Therefore the FH employees DO NOT need to be involved with the actual pick-
up.
5. Guests without cell phones can still use the service
• However, the administrator will need to enter his/her phone number for the
driver to contact just in case there are issues.
6. All rides can be billed directly to one credit card.
• For example: the “Friends of FH” credit card can be put on file.
7. Ride receipts are emailed to all administrators in order to easily track all rides and
expenses.
7
Ideas from Fisher House in St. Louis
Jim Donahoe, St. Louis Fisher House Board
Every briefing counts
a. You never know who is in your audience or their influence on others
b. Example: Briefed 20 DAR members; future State Regent happened to be in the
audience
i. She made building 3 new FHs in MO her project for 2019
ii. She plans to raise $100+K to help build at Kansas City VA, Columbia VA, and
St Louis VA (second house)
c. Expects DAR will continue in future years
d. ALL 108 Chapters in MO will participate
e. Highlight is a statewide “Hike*Bike 4 Military* Veterans” in Sep 2019
Events that start small can grow each year
a. Example: Sharpiro Steelfest
i. Began as a stop on the “National Redneck Rat Rod Tour”
ii. <2,000 attendees to start; now at 5-7,000 attendees from across the Central
Midwest
b. Shapiro family buys memorabilia tee shirts; we help sell them
i. They donate profit to the Stl Fisher House
ii. Have donated over $40K in total
c. Is now an annual event; growing each year
Jar Grippers
The jar grippers are a hot item for our clients with Arthritis. They can be used to
open jars, change light bulbs, as a mouse pad, and many other applications. You can
easily put a Fisher House logo on this; each cost about 74 cents.
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ANNUAL golf tournaments also continue to grow
a. Use different, unusual events to create excitement and publicity: e.g. auctions,
helicopter ball drops, ballzooka, etc.
b. The TEST is not how much this year, but total over time
i. Average of $7K / year = $70K over a decade.
A TOUR of the Fisher House
A TOUR of the Fisher House and meeting / talking to the residents is your BEST
incentive for groups and individuals to help you
9
Ideas from Fisher House of the Emerald Coast
Apron Give Away
Socks/Bowties
10
National Days
Superheroes Unite
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Edible Art
12
Idea from Gainesville Fisher House Foundation
Nutrition
13
Idea from Friends of Pittsburgh Fisher House
Keeping the Fridge and Freezer Full
