VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation With Katherine Pui, Associate Vice-President, Philanthropy

Katherine Pui, the Associate Vice-President of Philanthropy at the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, shares her transition from a medical background to full-time healthcare fundraising. She highlights the strategic importance of major gifts and how they drive innovation within the provincial hospital network. Katherine explains the player-coach model of her new leadership role and why it is critical for meeting ambitious campaign goals. She offers a look into the foundation’s collaborative culture and why this position represents a rare, historic opportunity for a fundraising leader. Listeners get a clear picture of what success looks like in this high-impact, donor-focused environment.

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VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation With Katherine Pui, Associate Vice-President, Philanthropy

Welcome to another episode of the show. I have the pleasure of speaking with Katherine Pui. Katherine is the Associate Vice President of Philanthropy at VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.

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Welcome, Katherine.

Christoph, thank you for having me.

Not at all. It’s my pleasure. I’m so looking forward to this conversation speaking about a very interesting role. It’s such a dynamic and fascinating time at the foundation. Philanthropy leads to major gifts. I know we’re going to talk about the role. We’re going to talk a little bit about the title. There’s lots that we’re going to talk about. I want to talk about a bunch of things, but since you’re the guest, I want to start off with you a little bit. Tell me a little bit about your background. What are you responsible for at the foundation?

From Medicine To Philanthropy

Thank you for that, Christoph. I have been very fortunate to have spent a part of my career in medicine, initially and now full-time in healthcare philanthropy. My perspectives come from both ends and they all are very intertwined. What continues to inspire me is that opportunity to connect people, the good cause and enablement to make that difference.

Managing Major Gift Portfolios

A little bit about my role. I have the fortune of leading our Philanthropy team. That’s including major gifts, transformational giving. Alongside giving estate planning and philanthropy administration operations. I have excellent people that’s with me. I’m a very productive and high caliber group of people. We get going on supporting our donors, physicians and organizational leaders within the foundation’s mandates.

For the record as well. I will say that your area, like major gifts at the foundation. We’re going to talk a little bit about the foundation a little later, but major gifts are defined as $100,000 or more. It’s not an insignificant portfolio that you have. I might argue the largest fundraising portion of the foundation’s annual target for that matter, is it not?

Typically, accounts for about 72% to 80% of our organizational flat rocket revenue on the year-to-year basis. Certainly, it’s a major part of it and alongside any other very important aspect of the foundation’s activity.

Healthcare philanthropy connects people to the cause and enables real change. Share on X

What inspires you then, Katherine? You’ve talked about your own background, seeing both sides. That medical practitioner background and now in philanthropy. What keeps you doing the work you’re doing you? I wonder if you’re ever tempted back to the world of medicine given how immersed in it you are for that matter. Not that I’m inviting you to do so.

Maybe to go a little bit deeper about my medical background. I am a family physician. What that means is that I have a very broad spectrum of what healthcare means for people in general. At the same time, I’ve witnessed how philanthropy can impact the system. What inspired me to continue to stay within healthcare philanthropy is the ability to do. To put that connection between two very intricate connected, but very different worlds. They are intertwined with this notion of philanthropy. That truly helps to build our communities into better events healthcare. That is what drives me, and then the relationships and the people that’s tied to medicine.

 

I imagine you deal with so many different people at all stages of their lives and professions. That’s excellent. Very compelling work. Thank you for sharing that. Let’s pivot a little bit to the foundation itself for those that may not be familiar with the foundation. If you’re anywhere near Vancouver, you’re certainly familiar with the foundation’s brand and its public perception. There’s some great promotions around the World Cup and the search goal response there for that matter. Beyond that, tell me a little bit more about the foundation itself, its fundraising mandate, what it does, and who it works with and for.

Provincial Impact And Reach

We are definitely the leading charity within the province supporting healthcare innovation. Sometimes, it can be a bit of a misconception, because our brand is Vancouver General for the most part, and VGH. Sometimes people just tie that Vancouver proper. However, I would say that we are very much a provincial hospital that serves the whole entire province sometimes and beyond. Immediately, within our mandate, we are talking about our beneficiaries, which are the Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, as well as Vancouver Community and GF Strong.

The impact is truly diverse. It touches all ages and through many generations. We had the fortune to have engaged with donor communities, intelligent fundraising teams to support the success that we’ve had in the last 40 some years that we have been around as a foundation. It’s very exciting. We are entering a different chapter, a very exciting chapter with ambitious schools.

Our culture is bold, collaborative, and supports challenging the status quo. Share on X

I’m glad you mentioned that. Even though VGH is the name, it’s not just VGA. It’s so much more than that. The community impact, the provincial impact and the dynamism that’s happening. It’s quite compelling again. Speaking of compelling, tell me about this new role, philanthropy leads to major gifts. Why have you created this role? Why now? What are they going to be responsible for fundamentally in your view?

Strategic Necessity Of The New Role

To give a bit of a high-level description about this role and the reasoning behind it. We created this role because our fundraising program has reached a point where we needed another layer of support of leadership and strategic leadership to help us meet the ambitious schools and in the directions that I have previously just shared.

As our donor community and fundraising opportunities continue to grow, this is where it’s critically important. The very exciting opportunity for us to bring in somebody who can both lead people on aspects of things. As well as the fundraising side of things for themselves and in part the wisdom onto the rest of the team. It is intentionally, the role specifically, as a player as well as a coach model. It’s a blend of two. The successful candidate will be in a very good position to lead a very experienced team and continue to develop them throughout the whole entire journey with the foundation.

 

Very much. I want to highlight that, the seniority the experience of the team members of this person is leading. We talked about financial targets before. Correct me if I’m wrong. It’s my understanding that each of these flat three advisors themselves have financial targets of up to $10 million potentially.

$10 million and beyond.

Fair enough. I’m speaking to a fundraiser, $10 million and beyond. That’s not a limit. That’s the floor. Not a ceiling. As well as this person having their own target fundamentally as well. In the neighborhood of $60 million or $70 million or perhaps more million dollars of annual revenue for the foundation every year. Not at all an insignificant role.

As you say, the player coach model is able to enable, support and guide this team. They don’t necessarily need a lot of direct support but at those key moments, this person’s going to be there for them fundamentally. As well as having the credibility, the gravitas to manage their own team or their own pipeline. We don’t want anyone to stand back and just be a leader. They are going to be able to engage with donors, too.

For sure.

I’m getting some questions already. I know that you are as well a little bit about the title Philanthropy Lead. It’s a unique one. It’s unique in the marketplace. It’s very progressive on the part of the foundation. Tell me a little bit about the thinking of this title.

We have intentionally chosen the title lead as it reflects the seniority and then influence of the position within the foundation. As a foundation ourselves, we have also done a validation of different titles that represent truly what that role is responsible for and then the strategic influence within the organization. The lead, as to how you read it, that is it. We look at that person as a leader. That sounding board and that wisdom that people can go to and support and mentor their colleagues, their teams and strategize and play that important leadership role across the organization.

Success in this role means building relationships and driving strategic impact. Share on X

The one thing that we haven’t touched on but you alluded to this a little bit, the new era of the foundation and what’s happening. Maybe you want to talk more about the campaign. There’s so much excitement around the campaign at the foundation. This person’s going to be working in that as well. Tell me a little bit more about that.

We are stepping into this comprehensive campaign for our foundation. It will be the largest campaign within the healthcare industry and certainly, within British Columbia. Again, it’s super exciting. Alluding to some of the mandates just on the foundation itself and then the care that we provide. The impact will be just astronomical in terms of what philanthropy can provide into the campaign. I’m certainly super excited about this. I would invite somebody to imagine what contribution and the impact that one could have on this centric world.

Fair enough. That’s exciting. Thank you for sharing that. Katherine, I always get questions from candidates about culture, the environment. What it’s like to work at the Foundation. You mentioned people at the very beginning that’s been a recurring theme here in terms of the people that you get to work with. Tell me a bit about the working environment of the foundation.

A Balanced Foundation Culture

It’s doing the right thing for everybody to get curious about culture. It’s so important. I would describe our culture as collaborative. Pretty bold and that ties with the ambition that we have. Supportive in the way that we can do things differently and to challenge how we are doing things currently. Within my teams, people do care about each other genuinely. Not just on the personal level, but also about how we can support each other on their personal and collective success.

We all work hard. We play hard. We do take time to enjoy ourselves and get to know each other on the non-work levels. Overall, it’s a very balanced culture to enable efficiency as well as excellence. Meanwhile, maintaining that personalized intention of getting to continue to build that personalized and relationship-based model that we have within philanthropy.

 

That intentional model where you do work hard. It’s very achievement-oriented. I was joking before the line to achieve those goals. They exist for a reason and you’re doing incredible work and rightfully so. I’m pleased you put it that way. That’s also what I hear when I speak to people about you. When I speak to people about your leadership, your style. In your view, how will you be working with this person? What’s your leadership style like, Katherine? You’re going to have a close working relationship with them. They’re going to rely on you for some things, too. How will that play out?

Leadership Through Trust

I am all about giving that trust first. I trust that people are here to do their best job possible. My leadership style is not micromanaging. I believe in establishing that foundation of trust in that relationship. I’m very much a coach myself in terms of how I coach my team and be a support system for them. How I see that is their success is my success and I take that very personally. What thrives me is when I see the impact that I can have on somebody that’s reporting to me or somebody that’s within my team is their success. That fuels me and drives me.

That’s great. You alluded to this a little bit in terms of this player coach status. Tell me a bit more about your ideal lead candidate. What’s the background, the experience, the competencies you’d want to see in your ideal candidate?

I would say proven track record in terms of securing major gifts on a consistent level with regularity and have a clear understanding of our donor communities overall. Not to say that it needs to be specific within healthcare. We welcome different perspectives in fact to add to what we already have. However, within our current immediate catchment within our province, what does that look like with us as a donor community?

Certainly, great leadership skills and styles. You may be asking, “What does that even mean?” Going back to when I was just describing the role itself. It’s around being able to have that very productive conversation as well as that coaching and growth mindset as a leader that grows with the team in this very exciting phase of the campaign. That’s what I will be seeking for. The last thing is about strategies. Be creative and open-minded on how we can approach donors as we look into a transitioning of this intergenerational wealth and all the changes in different generations and what that looks like. A little bit of everything.

We are entering the largest campaign in our history. The opportunity for impact is massive. Share on X

The proverbial unicorn then, I suppose. I also get questions, Katherine, about what success looks like. If the lead joined you and you’re reflecting back on the first 3 months or 6 months. What would success look like for you in the early days? What are some early things they might be working on, some early wins they might have or things to think about early on?

I am also equally realistic. Three to six months is not a whole lot of time. The first 3 to 6 months, because of the complexity of our organization and in addition to the institutions that we support, it’s about learning, listening and getting to establish those relationships with the teams organizationally. Also, learning what that means and what makes our foundation unique. It’s about that team building, understanding donors and that relationship building side of things.

Closer to the sixth month mark, what I would be hoping for is identification of different opportunities where the individual can start to add value. That could be pre-existing or it can be completely new. Without going into anything too granular, I would say high level. Those are some of the things that I could be looking for. That would be a fair expectation as well.

 

I’m so glad to hear you would lead with realism and pragmatism in that answer because you can ask for the sky. In closing, Katherine. You’ve summed up or you’ve alluded to so many things in this conversation already. They are so compelling. In your mind, to use the fundraising terminology is the case. Why would someone want to come join you at the foundation?

You’re putting me on the spot here.

 It’s not a test. Only a conversation.

Historic Campaign Opportunities

Going back to the campaign that we were just talking about. That is a historical opportunity that will only come every so often. Within that and to not try to give too much away, there are different opportunities within that campaign that fundraising opportunity wise could be very different from what historically healthcare flat B will be fundraising for. It’s about the things that somebody would be having a strategic leadership role within the foundation as part of the critical phase of the campaign.

In addition to even contributing their skill set to add to creativity as with innovation within how we fundraise in British Columbia and beyond. Those two things. If I can just make a plug for my team. They’re all excellent people. I certainly get a kick out of working with them. By getting to know them and seeing how their brains work in terms of doing their roles and working philanthropy. I even find that fascinating sometimes for myself. It’s great. All of the above.

My leadership style is about trust. I believe in coaching my team to reach their goals. Share on X

Fair enough. That’s a great summary and an excellent case. Well done. I was going to say that the only thing I might add is you talked about the history of the foundation. It’s reputable and credible. There’s a basis of support there, great relationships with all these facilities and these doctors and physician community, and donor community. It’s a rare and compelling opportunity to take this base of excellence and build, innovate and be creative in this dynamic idea. Thank you. That’s nicely put. I end a lot of conversations like this, whether it’s a reference call or an interview. Anything else we should have talked about? Anything I may have missed or anything else you wanted to add for that matter?

I don’t think so. We look forward to meeting great people with equal amounts, if not more passion. Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak about the role itself and to give an overview about the foundation and to introduce my role to the potential candidate.

It’s been my pleasure as well. There’s lots more information available through the Discovery Group page through, the VGH & UBC Foundation page, which is VGHFoundation.ca We’re both relatively public, so people can look us up and learn more about you very publicly as well for that matter. Again, I appreciate the opportunity. I’m looking forward to bringing some candidates forward for some compelling interesting conversations as people do their due diligence as well. Thanks, again, Katherine. We’ll chat soon.

Thank you.

 

Important Links

• Katherine Pui on LinkedIn
• VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation
• The Discovery Group