How Do You Want Your Gift To Be Used?

Unrestricted (the Clinic's preference)

An unrestricted gift is clearly the most flexible form of philanthropy.  Such an undesignated gift gives physicians and administrators the ability to be nimble, direct resources where the need is most urgent, and focus funds where the opportunities are greatest.

Making an unrestricted gift is like buying a mutual fund: you know that you will have a part in every research project, every educational initiative, and every patient's care through the work of the Clinic. Unrestricted donors have a share in everything we do.

Departments

If you wish, you may dedicate your gift to a fairly specific area of the Clinic's activities. Medical departments and sections, various nursing groups, technologists, researchers, administrators, and others throughout the Clinic are pleased to accept and recognize gifts in support of their work. Many departments already have established gift accounts and endowment funds.

Equipment

Patients and their families expect Lahey to have the best equipment available for diagnosis, treatment, and therapy. The Clinic invests millions of dollars each year to maintain its technological leadership. A significant portion of this investment comes from private philanthropic sources, in the form of funds to be used for equipment purchases or as gifts in kind.

Facilities

As medicine advances, the Clinic must reconstruct operating rooms, laboratories, diagnostic facilities, and other physical spaces to stay on the cutting-edge of patient care. The next major expansion of the Clinic is a $135 million project to add over 300,000 square feet of clinical space and upgrade technology in several areas. For further details, see the Future of Medicine Initiative case for support.

Naming Opportunities

One of the best philanthropic traditions is naming. Lahey is proud to recognize the generosity of its donors by naming appropriate facilities, endowments, and programs in their honor. We believe seeing the legacy of past donors inspires others, and we want to remind everyone that the care they receive today is made better by yesterday's gift.

Properly done, the impact of a gift lasts for generations.  It is one of the few things you can do that will have an impact that outlasts your lifetime.

Most recently, parents named a radiology conference room for their daughter in honor of the doctor who saved her life and a grateful patient created an endowment in honor of a financial counselor who helped him through the insurance maze.

Several years ago, a patient made a gift of $10,000 to honor Charles Fager, MD, the Clinic's beloved senior neurosurgeon. The Fager Fund now has grown to a market value of more than $1 million with the support of a number of donors. You may wish to name something for yourself, your late spouse, parents or family, or your favorite nurse. We are available to discuss the range of possibilities with you.

Programs

Special programs at the Clinic are as varied as the interests of staff and donors. Clinical areas of historical interest include, but are not limited to:

• Center for Kidney Stone Disease
• Nonsurgical Spine Clinic
• Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program
• Sleep Disorders Clinic
• Sports Medicine Clinic
• Urology Institute

Research

The Clinic conducts millions of dollars of sponsored research in more than 200 projects each year. Lahey's research projects are as varied as the medical specialties in which its doctors have expertise.

Lahey is a clinical institution dedicated to caring for patients, so our research doesn't sit in an ivory tower. When we learn a diagnostic nuance or refine a surgical procedure, we put it right to work in improved care for the patients who entrust us with their health care.

A gift to support research here has a practical and far-reaching effect. Moreover, since most of our research is funded by entities such as the National Institutes of Health and various medical corporations, gifts from individuals need not fund infrastructure: a private gift goes right to work on the research itself and is well-leveraged with other forms of support.

If you have a broad interest in medical research and teaching, you may want to designate your gifts to the Robert E. Wise, MD, Institute at the Clinic.  A gift to the Institute is an investment in both current and emerging specialties of medicine at Lahey Clinic.

Teaching

The best preparation for an aspiring young physician is a close work association with senior physicians. The more experienced the mentor, the more experience the trainee receives, and the better physician he/she becomes in the future.

Lahey Clinic enjoys its closest educational partnership with Tufts University School of Medicine, but also partners with other prominent medical schools in the region. Each year, we bring residents to the Clinic from many of the best medical schools nationwide and throughout the world. We also share our clinical expertise with senior physicians who visit Lahey from around the world to participate in advanced medical education programs.

A gift to educational programs at Lahey has a lasting effect upon doctors, as learners, and on the thousands of patients they care for in their lifetimes. The gift of an endowed fellowship ($1 million) provides funding each year for a promising young physician to study a specialty with a senior physician at the Clinic. An endowed lectureship ($50,000) provides funding each year to bring a distinguished speaker to the Clinic on a topic of special interest to the medical staff.