Innovation and Philanthropic Funding: Practical Strategies for Expanding Health Center Funding Streams

Rapid changes in population health and healthcare policy mean that new, flexible and creative ideas are more important than ever before, particularly for vulnerable communities. Yet resources to advance new ideas and experiment with new models of care can be elusive and uncertain. Within this gap between opportunity and uncertainty, private philanthropy plays a key role. Community health centers can benefit from philanthropic funding, including local, regional, and national organizations, foundations, corporations, and other nonprofits with an interest in community health, to build programs that may not qualify for federal reimbursement. Grant funding - private and public - provides opportunities for health centers to increase revenue coming into their organization.

Grants should complement existing resources and not create unnecessary burdens on already-leveraged resources. Presenters will focus on the fact that although grants - private and public - are important to a health center, they may not always be the panacea to save a program or start a new one.

This session will serve as a guide to analyze opportunities to ensure that grants benefit your health center, and do not become burdensome. Attendees will learn proven strategies that work such as mapping health center funding priorities, identifying aligned funding partners, creating internal grant review teams, and establishing 'post-award' policies for tracking and reporting. Finally, attendees should consider the role innovation plays in community health and how outside funders may look at the efforts of health centers.

• - Understand the role innovation plays in community health and how outside funders may look at the efforts of health centers.
• - Learn proven strategies that work such as mapping health center funding priorities and identifying aligned funding partners to meet the priorities.
• - Understand the value of creating internal grant review teams and establishing ‘post-award’ policies for tracking and reporting to ease grants administration.