Making the Practice Giving Program work for you!
“I had a patient yesterday thank me for offering the Optometry Giving Sight program and giving her an opportunity to support people in need. My patients with moderate and large refractive errors can’t imagine what their lives would be like if they didn’t have corrective lenses,” said
Jill Geering Matheson O.D., Alaska Vision Center, Juneau, Alaska.
The Practice Giving Program is a great way to raise the profile of optometry in your community and directly benefit people in developing countries who do not have access to basic eye care services.
The concept behind Practice Giving is simple. Participating practices make a commitment to raise funds for Optometry Giving Sight in one of the ways listed below – and then invite their patients to match their contribution in some way.
Generally, this will be in the form of a small donation to Optometry Giving Sight when the patient comes into your office for an eye examination, new pair of glasses, or even a simple screw repair. This donation can be as little as a few dollars – and can be added to a patient’s invoice or collected separately – whichever is more convenient for the practice and/or patient.
There are now three easy options:
Option A - Matching Donations. Here the practice invites the patient to make a small donation as described above, which the practice undertakes to match. This can be a one to one match, limited to a maximum monthly amount or a monthly guarantee.
Option B - Product Related Donations. In this option the practice donates an agreed amount from the sale of one or more of its products (for example, $5 from the sales of every pair of glasses) and advises the patient that this amount will be donated to Optometry Giving Sight. The practice may also choose to display an authorized collection tin in their practice to invite donations in return for screw repairs, etc.
Option C - Special Promotions. Here the practice chooses to support the World Sight Day Challenge by agreeing to donate a day’s revenue on World Sight Day and by inviting their patients to add a dollar or more to their bill throughout the month of October.
Remember, it is the financial commitment demonstrated by the practice that makes the Practice Giving Program so powerful and helps to build a tremendously positive rapport with your patients. Experience shows that at least 70% of patients will happily match your leadership gift.
