What a Baby Photo Can Teach Healthcare Fundraisers About Donor Engagement Strategy
May 3, 2025
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Hospital foundations rarely lean into playfulness. That’s understandable. After all, we’re raising money for serious things: critical research, life-saving treatments, and compassionate care.
But if you’re looking for more effective donor engagement—especially as part of your long-term donor retention strategies—sometimes a dash of warmth and vulnerability can spark emotional connections with donors and grateful patients no other message can.
Behavioral Health Research: How The Right Image Boosts Donor Engagement
Psychologist Richard Wiseman and his team wanted to know: What moves people to act with compassion?
They dropped 240 wallets around a city to see which, if any, would be returned. Each wallet contained a small amount of cash, contact info, and a clearly visible photo.
Return rates changed dramatically depending on the image used, providing science-backed insight into how images influence donor behavior:
👶 Baby photo – 88% returned
🐶 Puppy – 53%
👨👩👧 Family – 48%
👵 Elderly couple – 28%
If a baby’s face doubles the odds that a stranger returns a wallet, imagine how the right photo can engage donors in your next fundraising appeal.
Wiseman’s behavioral research shows how the right fundraising images can tap into donor compassion by signaling vulnerability and shared humanity. That emotional spark isn’t just soft science—it’s one of the most effective donor engagement strategies you can use.
Here are a few examples of some of the best images for fundraising campaigns I've seen in actual healthcare foundation donor appeals over the past year:
A newborn’s hand curled around a parent’s finger
A preemie’s foot with a hospital ID bracelet, framed by blurred NICU monitors
A smiling toddler clutching a stuffed bear, wearing a headscarf on her bald head
Each image tells a story instantly, no caption needed. That’s the kind of nonprofit visual storytelling that moves people to act—whether it’s returning a wallet or opening their own wallet to give.
When to Use Fundraising Images To Ignite Donor Emotion
Not every donor communication should be wrapped in sweetness, of course.
But when your donor impact storytelling includes children, genuine moments of innocent joy, or a even a therapy animal (that puppy photo prompted more than half of folks to return the wallet, after all), don’t hold back. One perfectly chosen image might do more to engage donors than a thousand words ever could.
Dr. Jen Shang, the world’s first PhD in Philanthropy and co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, has shared how cuteness converts nonprofit donors, especially when cute images are part of thoughtful, intentional messaging aligned with your broader donor engagement strategies.
Look for more science-backed examples of how to engage donors in an upcoming blog post.
Ready to Put These Healthcare Donor Engagement Strategies to Work?
Book a free 30-minute phone call to discuss how your healthcare foundation can build deeper donor relationships with smarter donor engagement and retention strategies. No prep needed and no strings attached!
Just bring your biggest donor engagement challenges, and we’ll work through them together.
You’ll walk away with 2–3 personalized, actionable recommendations for more effective donor engagement, grounded in research, behavioral insight, and real-world experience.
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