Baptist Hospital Foundation, Louisville, KY

For decades, The Baptist Hospital System (BHS) has been recognized as a leader in healthcare excellence. That success has been facilitated in part by the work of the Baptist Hospital Foundation (BHF). Charitable funds raised through the Foundation help BHS maintain its high margin of excellence, and hospital officials knew that the Foundation would play an even larger role in the future. That’s why the hospital leadership decided to engage The Covenant Group. They wanted to conduct a development audit and philanthropic culture assessment to determine the most effective ways to structure and position the Foundation to maximize growth.

Sue Tamme, President of the Louisville Market for Baptist Healthcare Systems recalls, “We needed to assess our current situation and get a broader understanding of our strengths and weaknesses. The Covenant Group gave us an ‘outsiders perspective’ on how we were operating internally. They brought depth, understanding and experience which were very helpful.” Tamme also noted that The Covenant Group developed a comprehensive plan with fresh ideas and they identified new internal programs that they helped the Foundation implement even before the study was completed. One of the prominent areas of need the study uncovered was staffing. The Covenant Group noted that the Foundation simply could not achieve the intended growth without the leadership of an experienced Chief Development Officer. Again BHS and BHF called upon The Covenant Group to provide Executive Search services and help them find the right candidate to fill this role.

Sue Tamme explained, “We felt like The Covenant Group had the experience, the background and the professional knowledge to understand what kind of candidate we were looking for and where to find that person. Their interview process was in depth and gave us a clearer understanding of the candidates’ true capabilities. They were able to uncover their experience, skills and track record of success and present us with a group of screened, qualified candidates that best fit the position.” Tamme further notes that the benefit of using The Covenant Group as compared to doing the search internally was focus. “With an internal search the people involved are trying to juggle many priorities. The Covenant Group was able to focus solely on finding the right candidate for us.”

The Covenant Group’s work with the Foundation has already proven to be fruitful as the Foundation recently secured the largest gift in its history. Clearly, BHF is well on its way to new levels of growth and achievement. Tamme noted that they now have a comprehensive and strategic fundraising plan in place as well as a new Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at the helm. She believes that they are prepared to “hit the ground running.” Tamme credits The Covenant Group’s Executive Search process as being very targeted and focused with very dependable results.

She concluded by saying that she would recommend The Covenant Group to other firms seeking fundraising counsel or Executive Search services. “Their knowledge of the local community, professionalism and experience are among The Covenant Group’s greatest strengths”.