A stagnant annual-giving program prompted changes to how City of Hope approaches donor cultivation and acquisition that, in many ways, defy conventional fundraising wisdom.

By Abny Santicola

“A lot of organizations work in silos, and so a program will get shut down because it affects another department,” Oaksmith adds. “But we haven’t found that to be the case at all with City of Hope. [The annual-giving department has] been able to get things approved within the organization, whether they affect another department or not. They really work well with other departments for the common good of the whole organization.”