Whats in a Name? Health Legacy Foundations Heal more than Health in their Communities

Focused on more than health issues, Health Legacy Foundations want their sector moniker to reflect their mission to pursue all types of strategic philanthropic efforts relevant to their communities. Created from former healthcare institutions these foundations wish to honor their health care heritage and their mission to heal the problems of our modern communities. The South is home to nearly half of the nations health legacy foundations.

(PRWEB) August 31, 2004 -- The term health care conversion foundation" has become a fixture in the glossary of philanthropy during the past 15 years. It refers, as people in the field know, to those new grantmaking institutions that came into existence through the sale of not-for-profit hospitals, health systems and health care plans to corporate buyers -- often for tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Unfortunately, its not a very apt descriptor. Some of the so-called conversions became community foundations; others broke loose of their health-oriented moorings and now function essentially as large independent foundations that support many different kinds of community organizations in addition to those with a focus on health. A few of them, from a strictly legal standpoint, havent even been converted.

Even though nobody particularly likes the name, finding a suitable alternative has been a challenge. However, that situation may be changing. At a recent convening of the conversions" by the Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF), the 12-state regional association of grantmakers based in Atlanta, those in attendance decided to take matters into their own hands. After displeasure with the term surfaced once again, several of the board members and CEOs huddled during a break and returned to the full group with a recommendation: hereafter all of them should refer to themselves as health legacy foundations" and ban health care conversion foundations" from their vocabulary. Everyone present supported the idea.

Martin Lehfeldt, SECFs President, who facilitated the meeting, is delighted with the change and is doing his best to spread the word about it. On the one hand," he notes, it may seem like a trivial matter, but the term really was a burr under everybodys saddle. That simple declaration of identity energized the rest of the conference; the next thing we knew, folks were venturing into new kinds of conversations about issues like regional collaboration."

Byron Harrell, President of Baptist Community Ministries in New Orleans, whose doctoral research has focused upon these new foundations, attended the conference. He notes, Our legacy is very important to us. Even though we no longer run hospitals or health systems, we are as focused now on our mission to help heal the problems of our modern communities as ever before. Finding a term that captured our history but didnt insinuate that we had abandoned our vision of a healthy future was remarkable. Our thanks to SECF for supporting such conversations."

Also present was Gary Nelson, President of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, who adds, Fortunately, there are no legal standards or requirements for how we describe ourselves. This new term supports the great flexibility we have to be relevant to the communities we serve and to pursue strategic philanthropic efforts of the highest standards."

SECF has long been promoting the importance of these relatively new foundations to the region the organization serves. As Lehfeldt observes, The South is home to nearly half of the nations health legacy foundations. These 60+ institutions manage about 8% of all the assets held by the 10,000 foundations in our region. Many of them," he adds, focus their activities in fairly localized areas, but collectively they could have an incredible impact. When they come into existence, they often are the largest philanthropic business in town, but its a brand-new business for them that requires an entirely new set of skills. Our interest is in helping them to achieve excellence in governance, management, investment, community leadership, grantmaking and community relations."

Using a small grant from The Ford Foundation, SECF has been collecting data about the health legacy foundations in the South and bringing them together for the past several years to discuss their common leadership challenges. During the recent Peer Support Conference, it also previewed the new interactive website it has developed to promote greater communication among them.

SECF hopes that other philanthropic institutions and associations will follow its lead in making health legacy foundation" a part of standard usage. Nettie Coad, a board member of the Moses Cone -- Wesley Long Community Health Foundation in Greensboro, NC who attended the meeting at which the change was proposed, later wrote approvingly, The new name acknowledges that we are building upon something honored, sacred and valuable." Stephanie Zembar, Executive Vice President and CFO of Baptist Healing Trust in Nashville, TN, echoed that point after the conference, The use of this phrase recognizes with respect the very special source of funding for these uniquely created foundations but does not bind or limit us as we go forward."

The Southeastern Council of Foundations is a membership association of approximately 350 grantmaking foundations and programs in 12 states. SECF promotes excellence throughout the field of philanthropy and the creation of new philanthropic resources to benefit the Southeast. For more information, contact Helen M. Ishii, Communications Manager at 404-524-0911, or visit SECFs Web site at www.secf.org.