The Hastings Center invites proposals from fundraising consultants experienced in leading feasibility studies and strategically planning and advising nonprofit organizations in conducting endowment-focused campaigns. Fundraising consultants who identify as members of groups underrepresented in such work are strongly encouraged to apply.

About The Hastings Center

The Hastings Center, in Garrison, New York, is the world’s leading independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute. Widely credited for helping establish bioethics as an academic field and a subject for public debate, we work by engaging a broad range of communities in conducting research and formulating values-based responses to social and ethical challenges emerging in health, science, and technology.

Anchoring our reputation as a leading platform for bioethics worldwide are our two peer-reviewed journals: the Hastings Center Report (with accompanying special reports) and Ethics & Human Research. We also publish the online Hastings Bioethics Forum, focused on emerging or enduring bioethical issues.

Over the years, our work on issues integral to end-of-life care, disability, immigrant health care, and pandemic ethics has helped shape policies and standards of practice adopted by health professionals globally. We are committed to a broad definition of bioethics that focuses not only on clinical medical ethics, but also population health ethics, collective and systemic barriers to health and human flourishing, human impact on the environment, emerging biotechnologies such as gene editing, and AI.

In recent years, we have launched pathway programs designed to encourage and mentor undergraduates and PhD students from backgrounds underrepresented in bioethics. Many of our elected Fellows—experts in bioethics and adjacent fields—partner with us to expand the impact and reach of our grant-funded projects, papers, webinars, events, and other public-facing work.

Our 2023 annual report details our recent work and impact, fueled primarily through competitive grants and philanthropic support.

Recently Completed 50th Anniversary Campaign

Historically, The Hastings Center secures about 45% of its revenue through philanthropy, 45% through competitive research grants, and about 10% from a modest endowment. Motivated by the belief that realizing Hastings’ mission required expanded capacity in these areas, the board of directors in 2019 proposed and implemented a surge funding campaign, launched to coincide with the commemoration of Hastings’ 50th anniversary. The campaign had three primary pillars. First, it aimed to enhance the Center’s research capacity focused on two broad themes: just healthcare for all people and the wise use of emerging technology. In addition, we sought to elevate communications and public engagement efforts and professionalize the development operation. After an initial leadership or quiet fundraising phase, the campaign target was set at $12.5M.

In December 2023, The Hastings Center successfully completed the five-year comprehensive campaign. We raised about $13.9M in current-use/surge funding against the $12.5M goal. The Center has used and continues to leverage that funding to expand our research capacity and enhance our fundraising and public engagement infrastructure. In addition, we raised nearly $875K to establish the quasi-endowed Mildred Solomon Fund to Enhance Bioethics’ Contributions to Population Health and Wellbeing in honor of our president emerita when she stepped down as president in June 2023. We also formalized our planned/legacy giving program and recorded $1.1M in gifts and future gift intentions through that work. Combined, The Hastings Center secured $15.8M in total commitments from over 900 individual and organizational donors over this five-year period.

President & CEO Vardit Ravitsky, PhD

In fall 2023, The Hastings Center welcomed Vardit Ravitsky as the Center’s next president and CEO. Vardit joined the Center from the University of Montreal, where she was Professor at the Bioethics Program, School of Public Health. She is also a Senior Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her PhD from Bar-Ilan University in Israel, her MA from the University of New Mexico, and her BA from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

Ravitsky runs an active research program and holds several positions on advisory boards. Her research in bioethics focuses on ethical, legal, and social implications of genomics and assisted reproductive technologies, with an emphasis on emerging biotechnologies and their implications for women’s autonomy and for disability rights. She also studies the ethics of AI in biomedicine. She is immediate past president and current vice president, of the International Association of Bioethics; a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and of The Hastings Center; and a 2020 Trudeau Foundation Fellow, where she Chaired the Foundation’s COVID-19 Impact Committee.

Strategic Visioning Process

One of Vardit’s top priorities during her first year was to lead an extensive and inclusive strategic visioning process, anchored by a representative task force and two working groups focused on The Hastings Center’s peer-reviewed publications and financial positioning. This yearlong process will culminate in December 2024, when Vardit presents the final strategic plan to the board of directors for approval. The tenets of that plan will inform scholarship, publishing, engagement, and fundraising over the next five years. Over the course of the strategic visioning effort, the far-reaching strategic benefit of significantly building Hastings’ current ~$7M endowment has emerged as a key throughline. This RFP is a direct reflection of this realization, embraced by the task force, the board of directors, and Hastings Center staff.

Proposal Objectives/Scope of Work

Informed by the trajectory of success and visioning outlined above, The Hastings Center seeks campaign council to evaluate the feasibility of the Center launching an endowment campaign in 2026. Hastings seeks assistance from a consultant or consulting firm to take the organization’s case for building endowment while maintaining current levels of annual current-use fundraising to approximately 30 of the Center’s leadership donors and all board members and gauge our donor base’s enthusiasm and capacity for such a dual-focused effort. Based on those conversations, Council will provide an expert opinion of how much Hastings might raise in total endowed funds; advise as to whether launching an endowment campaign is feasible at this time and, if so, provide a blueprint outlining the details of such a campaign (goal, length, gift pyramid, etc.); and offer strategies for “combined solicitations,” leadership challenge gifts, or other mechanisms to help ensure robust annual fundraising while building the endowment.

If the feasibility study reveals sufficient support for an endowment-focused campaign, The Hastings Center likely would plan to retain the fundraising consultants to help strategically structure and drive the campaign itself—particularly during the initial quiet phase as we seek to secure lead gifts. Examples of this work may include helping Hastings’ president, chief advancement officer, campaign chair(s), and other leaders develop the materials, define the calendar (including launch or other events), identify the individual asks, and strategize our approach to each ask.

This RFP seeks responses from consultants outlining how they would approach the feasibility study and how they would assist with planning and conducting the quiet phase of the campaign, if deemed feasible.

Proposal Format and Requirements:

The Hasting Center welcomes proposals from fundraising consultants who bring a diversity of perspective, experience, and identity to their work. Complete applications (PDFs, please) should include the following:

• Executive summary
  • Brief history and description of your previous and ongoing work in this area, highlighting any work with similar organizations

• Customized support for The Hastings Center
  • Statement of proposed work
    • A description of any special experiences or insights relevant to academic institutions, think tanks, research organizations, and/or policy institutes that will inform your approach
    • Any benchmarks for periodically assessing if and how the consultancy’s stated goals are achieved throughout the consultancy

• Logistical information:
  • Titles, roles, and experience of consultants who would lead the work with Hastings
    • An implementation plan and timeline for each of the two phases described above (feasibility study and support for campaign planning/quiet phase implementation)Budget and deliverables (with target dates or timelines for each phase)Explanation of how you prioritize diversity of perspective and experience and commitments to inclusion and belonging within your organization and your work with clientsThree client references with contact information
    • Affiliations, financial arrangements, or activities that would or could create a perceived conflict of interest with The Hastings Center (if applicable)

Please submit proposals to Ryan Sauder, Hastings’ Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer, at sauderr@thehastingscenter.org by 11:59 p.m. EST on December 13, 2024. A team of Hastings board and staff members will conduct in-person interviews of up to three finalists on January 22 in NYC, with the final decision anticipated by February 15, 2025.

Please email questions and requests for additional information to Ryan at sauderr@thehastingscenter.org. No calls, please. Questions posed by applicants and The Hastings Center’s responses will be added to the end of this RFP, whenever such responses are shared with any applicant.

Evaluation Criteria and Timeline:

• RFP released: November 12, 2024
• Proposals due: December 13, 2024
• Finalists notified by December 31, 2024
• Interviews in NYC: January 22, 2025
• Selection date: February 15, 2025

Questions posed by applicants and The Hastings Center’s responses:

What type of endowment will be the focus of the possible future campaign?

The results of the feasibility study will inform the answer to this question. Internally, there is interest in building The Hastings Center’s “general” unrestricted endowment and also creating specific endowed funds for purposes integral to the Center’s current and anticipated future mission. Currently endowed funds are to remain in the endowment in perpetuity, but quasi-endowed funds (including termed spenddowns) also could be feasible depending on feasibility study results.

Is The Hastings Center board highly engaged?

Yes. We have a highly engaged board with 100% participation in our fundraising effort.

Is the president and CEO enthusiastic about public communication, engagement, and fundraising?

Yes, Vardit is enthusiastic and eager to advance work in each of these areas—in addition to continually building the Center’s research portfolio.

Is the current fundraising program primarily domestic or global?

The bioethics issues we engage are often of global importance and require analysis that includes global perspectives, but our fundraising program is primarily domestic at this point in time.