Q&A with Suzanne Crouch, system executive director of Deaconess Foundation
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In March, Suzanne Crouch was named system executive director of the Deaconess Foundation in Evansville. The former Indiana lieutenant governor, state auditor and state representative will lead the foundation in alignment with Deaconess Health System’s philanthropic goals.
Crouch will also direct the operations of Deaconess Volunteer Services and Gift Shops. She spoke with Inside INdiana Business about what drew her to the Deaconess Foundation, the challenges she expects to face and her transition out of public office.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about the Deaconess Foundation.
The Deaconess Foundation supports the Deaconess Health System. They raise money not just to support programs but also to support employees within the health care system. They have supported scholarships for nursing students. They’ve supported incentives for radiologists. They’ve supported heart [automated external defibrillators]. They’ve also supported mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women. There’s a whole host of things they do.
What drew you to working with the foundation?
I’m from Evansville. My hospital is Deaconess. My doctor’s at Deaconess. After I termed out of office in January, I had opportunities. But I wanted to be back in Evansville because for 11 years I’ve been traveling up to Indianapolis, living in an apartment and then coming back.
I wanted to be associated with an organization that was making a difference and having an impact on people. Because that, to me, is extremely important. We don’t take anything with us. It’s what we leave behind that’s important.
So being able to make a difference in people’s lives is absolutely fundamental to me. To be able to be organized with a highly ranked hospital like Deaconess that is focused on high-quality, patient-centered care was something that attracted me to Deaconess.
The thing that sealed the deal for me was the opportunity to work with Linda White. She’s such an icon in southwest Indiana. She was the CEO of Deaconess for many years, headed up the foundation for a couple of years and then went to Henderson, Kentucky, and turned the hospital there around. The ability to be able to work with someone of her caliber.
What are your responsibilities as system executive director?
Deaconess is affiliated with a number of hospitals in Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. My responsibility is to make sure that the [hospitals that have] foundations are all in place, and they’re operating to benefit the people in that community who are utilizing the Deaconess Hospital system.
Being able to oversee that foundation system, which is new for Deaconess because it used to be just the central area with Midtown and Gateway, but also to be responsible for making sure that we are able to raise money that supports the innovation. programs and employees at Deaconess Central. Then making sure the other foundations are also able to raise the money they need to be able to invest back into their hospitals in their communities.
What are your goals in this new role?
Get everyone on board and have people work as a team. Being able to exceed our fundraising goals from the year before. Being able to accelerate and elevate the fundraising that we have had.
What challenges do you expect to face in this role?
I love to raise money, but I also know that the ability to raise money is affected by the economy. It’s affected by people’s personal situations. Being able to connect with the people in the health care system network and being able to raise the amount of money that we want to raise within the challenges that may be outside our control.
We don’t control the economy, which controls people’s net worth, but we have to also convince them that what they do have would be a legacy by investing in Deaconess. Every socioeconomic group utilizes the hospital. Being able to tell the Deaconess story to people where they understand that when they invest in Deaconess, they’re investing not only in their quality of life but also in their community’s quality of life.
How’s the transition out of public office going?
It’s going great. I got out of politics at the right time, but I’ve also found that my experience in local and state government is beneficial in this role because of the name recognition I have. That’s key in terms of opening doors and being able to speak to people about the quality of care that Deaconess provides and how their investment in Deaconess helps to drive the quality of life and economic development in the community.
It used to be that people followed business, but today business follows people. People want to live in communities where they have access to high-quality health care, which is what Deaconess provides. That is the story that has to be shared with people in the Deaconess Health System to be able to support the programs that they benefit from.
What should people know about the Deaconess Foundation that they may not be aware of?
I always say with fundraising, there are three parts. You have to have a good list of potential donors. You have to know who to go to. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they’re going to support you.
You have to have a good story to tell. And Deaconess has an incredible story to tell with all the specialties and the subspecialties that are associated with Deaconess, the fact that people can travel here and get as high-quality health care as they can if they travel to St. Louis or Louisville. We keep that care here at home, close to people in their communities where they live.
And the third part of raising money is the ask. That’s the easy part.