Emily Ward

Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs

Duke Health is the youngest of the nation's leading academic medical institutions. It has grown in 85 years from a regional hospital, medical school, and nursing school into one of the country's leading clinical and biomedical research enterprises. Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs (DHDAA) is the fundraising arm of Duke Health and seeks to secure philanthropic support across all of Duke Health, pursuing the goals of the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, the hospitals, clinical and basic sciences departments; as well as hallmark programs such as the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Children's, the Eye Center and the Heart Center. With fundraising portfolios organized by both service lines and gift levels, DHDAA's work ranges from connecting individuals' philanthropic priorities in a host of health areas to facilitating transformational gift opportunities for donors. Grateful patients represent a large portion of Duke Health's overall philanthropic support. The Schools of Medicine and Nursing have loyal alumni, many of whom have strong potential for planned gifts. DHDAA manages a group of boards and councils, including the Duke Health Board of Visitors. During the university-wide $3.85 billion Duke Forward campaign, DHDAA raised $1.4 billion. It increased the number and value of major, leadership and principal gifts; strengthened the annual giving and donor pipeline; and engaged generous alumni, donors and friends. In the months following the campaign, the department undertook an internal program review to identify areas of strength and opportunity across DHDAA. Those findings were the catalyst for a comprehensive strategic plan, Advancing Philanthropy for Duke Health 2019-2021. The strategic plan provides a three-year roadmap for Duke Health's fundraising growth and is inspired by DHDAA's deep desire "to create greater connection and enhance collaboration across all our many programs. Our business framework is designed to do that. The categories of Philanthropy, Engagement and Advancement represent the businesses of DHDAA that achieve funding for Duke Health's priorities and programs. Each business is vitally important to the success of DHDAA, and every employee plays a key role in achieving the goals of each business. In many cases, staff's work threads across these business disciplines creating cross-functional teams to achieve overall goals of DHDAA." As a world-class academic and health care system, Duke Health strives to transform medicine and health locally and globally through innovative scientific research, rapid translation of breakthrough discoveries, educating future clinical and scientific leaders, advocating and practicing evidence-based medicine to improve community health, and leading efforts to eliminate health inequalities. Learn more about Duke's relationship with Durham by visiting: https://durham.duke.edu/