St. Michael's Hospital Foundation:
Huge Growth in their Legacy Program

The Client

St Michael’s Hospital is affectionately known in Toronto as the Urban Angel. Originally founded in 1892 to care for the sick and poor of Toronto’s inner city, St Michael’s is renowned for providing exceptional patient care. As downtown Toronto’s adult trauma centre, the hospital is a hub for neurosurgery, complex cardiac and cardiovascular care, and is also a major teaching and research hospital.

The Challenge

Our Client — the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation team — had previously mailed a legacy survey pack to donors. They wanted to test out HMA’s recommendation of a two-stage mailing that would begin with a cultivation letter, and then follow-up with the survey and legacy ask.

The Solution

We were testing the best approach, and had a goal of reconnecting with donors who hadn’t responded to previous legacy mailings — since we know repetition is essential in legacy marketing. Our goal was to identify bequesters (confirmed expectancies/legacies), enquirers, and potential bequesters (those who are likely to leave a gift in their Will, but haven’t yet).

The Results

HMA’s two-stage approach won the test, resulting in about 60% more projected revenue from enquirers and potential bequesters.

We helped uncover 41 confirmed legacy donors, and 227 donors who identified an interest in making a bequest. The confirmations alone will be worth over $1.2 million to the Hospital. And the potential bequesters and enquirers will generate millions of dollars in future revenue for the Foundation.