Smart Business Magazine, Mar 2013

18 Smart Business Indianapolis March 2013 Undeterred Vargo developed a strategy to get the buy in from his target groups He focused on going out into the community to educate and inform citizens about the great things happening at Wishard Hospital which served the most vulnerable people in the community His most successful visits were with Sidney and Lois Eskenazi who owned Sandor Development Co and who donated one of the largest gifts ever made to a public hospital in the United States 40 million and Fifth Third Bank which donated 5 million In honor of the Eskenazis gift the foundation was renamed the Eskenazi Health Foundation and the new hospital will be the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital when it opens in December Having grown up on the South Side of Indianapolis where the hospital is located the Eskenazis wanted to give back to the community in a way that would impact many people Be very thoughtful in your approach ERNIE VARGO PRESIDENT AND CEO OF ESKENAZI HEALTH FOUNDATION The fundraising efforts didnt stop there Vargo gave tours of the current facility just to familiarize potential donors with the hospital and he knew he was getting the buy in when long time area residents were admitting I never knew that I never knew Heres how Vargo achieves buy in by staying in focus to his mission Concentrate focus and deliver When it comes to getting people to donate to a cause its not that different from getting employees to buy in to a new corporate vision statement The main premise is to focus on the mission A hospitals mission is to advocate care and serve those are its core values By keeping those core values in focus Vargo believed he could engage his staff who would then engage people That meant crafting a sales pitch that would be consistent with the mission Be very thoughtful in your approach he says We dont ask people for money the first time they come here But we are trying to engage them so that they feel good about a gift and hopefully that results in bigger gifts for us The sense of making a contribution to a team even an emotional feeling of belonging to a worthy effort is as important as an employee who has been newly empowered with new responsibilities at his company Vargo also stresses that his team is in many ways a collection of networks As many company leaders find early adopters among employees Vargo found early contributors These are thought leaders and their enthusiasm is an invaluable asset to engage others All of those folks on our board of directors and our campaign cabinet were all early contributors he says So they also had credibility when they were calling on people because not only have they volunteered to give their time to do fundraising but they have already made a sacrificial gift COVER ESKENAZI HEALTH FOUNDATION