At Northwestern Memorial Foundation, we remain heartened and humbled by the extraordinary generosity of our philanthropic partners. Our donors have allowed us to surpass several important fundraising goals.

This fiscal year, the foundation raised more than $39 million, exceeding our goal of $37.5 million for the year. More importantly, we surpassed the Enhancing our lives: The Northwestern Memorial Campaign cumulative goal of $150 million by receiving commitments in excess of $185 million in support of the construction of the new Prentice Women’s Hospital and its related women’s health programs, other hospital programs, research, education and community services. Among these gifts was the largest single contribution in Northwestern Memorial’s history, a $20 million commitment that will facilitate vital clinical translational research.

The overall number of donors to Northwestern Memorial has nearly doubled over the last two years. Our highly successful ‘The Best Care Begins With Us’ employee and physician campaigns, conducted in fiscal years 2006 and 2007, were responsible for much of this increase, drawing on the previously untapped generosity of the hospital’s own employees and the medical staff. In fiscal year 2005, Northwestern Memorial had 38 employee donors and just two years later, 43 percent of all Northwestern Memorial personnel—a total of 3,408 employees—donated funds or volunteered their time, far surpassing our goal of 30 percent employee participation.

The increasing and wide-ranging philanthropy of the Chicagoland community gives us confidence in the future of patient care, research and education at Northwestern Memorial. We remain committed to providing the hospital with a strong culture of philanthropy, which will help to advance the Patients First mission well into the future.

We deeply appreciate our donors for their commitment to healthcare and their passion for continued progress at Northwestern Memorial.