Background Between 2017 and 2022 our caseload almost doubled, however, our in memoriam donations did not significantly increase. This piqued our curiosity: What was the relationship between the care we provided, and the in memoriam donations we received? This project supports the development of our next strategic plan (2024+). There is surging demand for the support of our Dementia Team, and increasingly, patients who are presenting with frailty and other more complex conditions. We sought to understand how the change in the profile of our caseload could impact on our future in memoriam fundraising.

Aims To understand the correlation between the patients who had been remembered with in memoriam donations and their personal circumstances/support from us. To identify if in memoriam fundraising could be at risk. To align care ambitions and fundraising potential in our next strategy.

Methodology Donation information from our fundraising database was exported. It was traced back to patient records by a specialist research colleague. They overlaid the donation information with a set of pre-determined patient criteria including age, illness, team contact, time on caseload and place of death. We also looked at the time-period loved-ones donated for, after their loss.

Results We will use this research to:

• Deepen the relationship between our clinical teams and fundraisers.

• Inform our future financial planning, aligning it with anticipated care-need trajectories.

• Invest hospice resources in areas which are likely to support our financial sustainability.

Conclusions Most in memoriam donations are for people who have died from cancer and stayed on our Inpatient Unit. However, the giving behaviour of loved ones who have lost someone to other illnesses is different, they are giving less, for shorter periods. We must incorporate these insights into our future plans.