Major Donations Fundraising in German Hospitals – Donation Potential of High-Net-Worth Individuals for Top-Quality Medicine and Research

Due to financial constraints, urgent investments or even top-quality medicine and research projects with high financial requirements cannot be realized. Acquiring major donations as an additional funding source can contribute to this. Crucial here is the knowledge of the most potential donor target group - the high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs = financial assets of at least $1 million, UHNWIs = financial assets of at least $30 million) as major donors. However, there is no comprehensive empirical data on rich people as donors for medical projects in top-quality medicine in Germany. Thus, for the first time in Germany, the study investigates the extent to which the annual financing gap of the bilingual financing system of hospitals can be reduced with the help of UHNWIs and HNWIs. Furthermore, the focus is on how this target group can support specific medical funding projects in cutting-edge medicine and research to derive practical recommendations for action. This scientifically sound knowledge, obtained for the first time through the study, is indispensable for successful systematic fundraising for hospitals and clinics in the healthcare sector. The study follows a mixed-methods approach. First, splitting the study into two separate sub-studies, each with different target groups (hospital directors and (ultra)-high-net-worth individuals), examining the research question from two different perspectives. The first sub-study with the hospital directors has started, and the interviews’ initial results are already available.