Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Advancing Cancer Research and Rethinking Philanthropy with Matt Zarcufsky

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Advancing Cancer Research and Rethinking Philanthropy with Matt Zarcufsky · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
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  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
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  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
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  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
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  - And it's why the most effective c suite
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  - leaders are deliberate about where they go to
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  - pressure test their thinking.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
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  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - For the agenda and event details,
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - and click on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:53
  - Podcast.
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  - We're thrilled today to be joined by your
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  - brilliant leader. We're joined today by Matt Zarkovsky,
• 1:01
  - and Matt is the lead at the Tower
• 1:03
  - Cancer Research Foundation.
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  - He's a transformational
• 1:07
  - leader,
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  - philanthropic
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  - efforts, and we'll talk about what he does
• 1:12
  - and where the focus is today.
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  - Matt, can you take a moment and introduce
• 1:16
  - yourself and and tell us about the Tower
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  - Cancer Research Foundation?
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  - Sure, Scott. Thanks for having me.
• 1:23
  - Tower Cancer Research Foundation was founded thirty years
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  - ago here in Beverly Hills, California,
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  - a group of dedicated
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  - cancer,
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  - oncologists and and,
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  - researchers,
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  - thought that they could create a nonprofit that
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  - would help fund some of the research that
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  - wasn't being funded
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  - at the time by the NIH. Early stage
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  - ideas,
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  - that that that didn't attract
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  - the the the big types of money, but
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  - but were important to consider.
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  - So
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  - Tower has really acted as an angel investor,
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  - so to speak, in the in the cancer
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  - research space. And so we've we've we've funded
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  - the cutting edge ideas, really, that young people
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  - are creating on the back of nap ins,
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  - but but lack the support
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  - to, to bring to fruition.
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  - We also,
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  - about fifteen years ago, we we started
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  - we we created another piece of our organization,
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  - and that that work that piece is working
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  - in the patient support,
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  - realm. So,
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  - we offer
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  - a a variety of classes,
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  - in nutrition
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  - and
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  - exercise and wellness,
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  - as well as mental health,
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  - support for those who are living with cancer.
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  - Fantastic. And talk about your career
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  - and how you got started in philanthropy
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  - in in in your background, and are you
• 2:38
  - a Raleigh Messamino fan?
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  - I am absolutely a a Raleigh fan and
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  - and also a Jay Wright fan and and
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  - just an overall Villanova fan. So thanks for
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  - mentioning that,
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  - Scott.
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  - I I actually got my my beginnings in
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  - philanthropy at at my Alma Loner, Villanova.
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  - It's where I learned about, even though I
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  - had a degree in finance, I I had
• 3:00
  - no desire to go sit behind a computer
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  - and crunch numbers on Wall Street, and, that's
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  - where I learned about nonprofits and,
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  - fundraising
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  - and and,
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  - long before there were degrees in it.
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  - And so, I've carried that forward. I'm a
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  - generalist, so I've worked in all parts of
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  - the sector, health care, education,
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  - the arts,
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  - social services, you name it. And,
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  - and so, have the,
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  - the wonderful opportunity to come to Tower on
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  - their, on the occasion of their thirtieth anniversary
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  - and and help them think about what the
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  - next thirty years
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  - looks like.
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  - Well, thank you. And when you look at
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  - how fundraising has changed over the last decade
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  - or two,
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  - talk to us about what you've seen. Is
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  - it is there still an eighty twenty rule
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  - where a lot of focus on big donors?
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  - How much of it is grassroots donors? What
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  - what does that look like?
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  - And and does it and and how does
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  - it impact the thinking and strategy of of
• 3:56
  - philanthropy?
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  - It's really interesting. You know, a couple of
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  - things that have changed. Number one is is
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  - the volunteer
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  - focus. You know? In the in the early
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  - days,
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  - you know, it was very much based on
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  - volunteers
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  - and the board and how you,
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  - how you engage with other
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  - volunteers in the community to support organizations.
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  - That has changed with the number of organizations.
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  - I mean, we now have almost 2,000,000 nonprofits
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  - in the country. The number of organizations asking
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  - for money you know, the profession
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  - professionalization of fundraising has really, you know, taken
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  - place and and is evolving.
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  - You know, I tell a lot of folks
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  - now, you know, don't don't be connectors. Don't
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  - worry about making the ask, but but if
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  - you can connect me to the right people
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  - who are interested in our mission,
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  - we'll make the right ask of them. I
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  - I will do that. So so that that
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  - piece of fundraising has been professionalized.
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  - I think to the other point of of
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  - what you're saying,
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  - the eighty twenty rule, you know, it's
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  - it it's still in play, although there's some
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  - variations on that. But I I would say
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  - one of the biggest trends we're seeing,
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  - which is is is one of the biggest
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  - challenges, is the the middle of the donor
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  - pyramid
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  - is disappearing.
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  - You know, those folks who are who who
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  - are once willing to give you 25 or
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  - $50,000,
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  - are are are are not as,
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  - able to do so. And and I think
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  - for a couple of reasons.
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  - Number one is the good news is people
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  - are living longer, but now they're not sure
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  - about what supports they'll have in in forms
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  - of in the forms of Social Security or
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  - or Medicare.
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  - They're they're not sure how much money they'll
• 5:27
  - need to care for themselves. And the other
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  - thing is is they're they're helping their children.
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  - They're quite often, especially in a place like
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  - Los Angeles, they're helping their children buy homes
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  - or or pay tuition or or do those
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  - types of things. So so the hardest gifts
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  - to come by now are really the that
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  - middle of the pyramid, $2,550,000
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  - dollar gifts. Then on top of that, it's
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  - how do you attract the attention of the
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  - uber high net worth
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  - individuals. That that's another challenge that that I
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  - think every organization faces. And then finally, the
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  - other side of this is how do we
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  - ramp up, you know, our operations and and
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  - our way of thinking in the digital space?
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  - We know we can raise a lot of
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  - money from a lot of people. Just look
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  - at what GoFundMe does every day.
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  - So but what's the infrastructure
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  - needed to make that happen?
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  - And and that's, I think, where most nonprofits
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  - are
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  - sorely behind.
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  - And it's what we're trying to do here
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  - at Tower is to really focus on those
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  - 25 and $50 gifts, but from a lot
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  - of people, because LA is a big place,
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  - as you know.
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  - No. Thank you. And and talk about that.
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  - The what what I found the most fascinating
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  - is that middle of the
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  - investment area, that 10 to $100,000
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  - sort of gift.
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  - Those people that are
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  - wealthy but not ultra high net worth
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  - are are fighting more stress
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  - to sort of maintain their long term livelihood
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  - or or lifestyle,
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  - and so it does have an impact on
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  - their giving. So you end up with
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  - lots of people giving small gifts, a small
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  - number of people giving super large gifts,
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  - but this middle the the sort of middle
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  - level of
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  - givers,
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  - what you might think of as a second
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  - or third tier, but what was traditionally a
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  - very important tier
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  - is a tougher tier
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  - because that group of people,
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  - I don't know what the net worth numbers
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  - are, what the income numbers are, are a
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  - little bit more concerned about maintaining the lifestyle
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  - for the long term, so so I have
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  - to be a little more careful in their
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  - giving.
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  - Exactly. That that's really what it boils down
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  - to. And and, you know, for us,
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  - that that that's where we've really had to
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  - work to change the strategy and and how
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  - we're you know, not not that those people
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  - are are that we're not still focused on
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  - them, but it's it's it's how do we
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  - focus on really all maximizing revenue from all
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  - sources. By by the way, not just individuals,
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  - even though they're the largest contributors, but also
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  - how are we maximizing our corporate partnerships, and
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  - how are we attracting new foundations?
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  - For for Tower, though, we we still do
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  - believe that that middle of the pyramid is
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  - important, and we also believe it's where we
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  - can attract some new donors
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  - in the sense that what we're really striving
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  - to be moving forward is sort of a
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  - a a community foundation or donor advised fund
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  - for cancer, if you will. It's also those
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  - middle of the pyramid,
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  - gifts that that,
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  - you know, that that that they're they're very
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  - impactful, but you don't necessarily get the attention
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  - of the major research organizations.
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  - And so,
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  - we believe that that in creating this model
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  - where we can, you know, be the intermediary,
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  - so to speak, of of connecting
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  - those, you know, $25.50, $100,000
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  - gifts with the academic research going on, you
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  - know, and and get you access to a
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  - researcher and get you,
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  - access to the institution to really understand what
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  - they're doing and how their, you know, how
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  - their research is is changing the the the
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  - the landscape
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  - is really a potential business opportunity for us
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  - to really seize upon. This is, you know,
• 8:49
  - this is about re really a tower we're
• 8:51
  - trying to reposition ourselves for what the future
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  - of cancer looks like. And that also goes
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  - with the same on our patient support side.
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  - You know, as cancer changes, our organization needs
• 9:00
  - to change with it to address what we
• 9:02
  - believe will be the evolving needs in the
• 9:04
  - lands in the, in the ecosystem.
• 9:07
  - Thank you so much. And and and talk
• 9:09
  - a bit about
• 9:11
  - when you look at Tower and your exciting
• 9:14
  - donors about Tower,
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  - tell us a little bit about the pride
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  - in what Tower does and some of the
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  - focuses that that make it exciting for donors,
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  - and and what does that look like?
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  - Mhmm. Well, I I think, you know, we
• 9:26
  - we recently at our at our recent gala,
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  - we we talked about, you know, the impact
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  - that, you know, our first thirty years has
• 9:33
  - had,
• 9:34
  - in the in the landscape. I mean, and
• 9:36
  - most importantly, we we see that in the
• 9:38
  - fact that the five year survival rate for
• 9:41
  - those who, you know, who have cancer is
• 9:43
  - now over seventy percent. So the that's the
• 9:45
  - great news. People are living longer with cancer.
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  - Now
• 9:50
  - the the challenge that lies ahead for us
• 9:52
  - is, well, what does that mean for people
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  - who are living longer?
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  - How do we care for them? And that's
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  - what a lot
• 9:58
  - even major research institutions will say, well, we
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  - don't know because we haven't we don't have
• 10:03
  - the data. We don't have the research.
• 10:05
  - We have a lot of ideas.
• 10:07
  - But but what what is the impact of
• 10:09
  - mental, mental health? What is the impact on
• 10:11
  - on your body that requires
• 10:13
  - exercising in a different way and eating in
• 10:15
  - a different way?
• 10:16
  - That's the new horizon for us. In addition
• 10:19
  - to continuing
• 10:20
  - to fund the research that that advances,
• 10:23
  - you know, what what will hopefully eventually be,
• 10:25
  - you know, maybe not a cure, but but,
• 10:27
  - you know, something really close to it. I
• 10:29
  - mean, that's the other the the other advances
• 10:31
  - that we're following. I mean, yesterday,
• 10:33
  - developments in vaccines for melanoma.
• 10:36
  - Those types of things are
• 10:39
  - are are really exciting for for our work,
• 10:41
  - and it's what excites,
• 10:42
  - you know, the the folks that we work
• 10:44
  - with is that they're they can see,
• 10:46
  - you know, how they're making a difference with
• 10:49
  - their investments.
• 10:51
  - That is fantastic. When you look over the
• 10:53
  - next year or two,
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  - two questions.
• 10:57
  - What are you most focused and excited about?
• 11:00
  - And then second is,
• 11:02
  - what is your
• 11:04
  - perspective of the big changes you expect to
• 11:07
  - see in the philanthropic
• 11:08
  - world over the next couple years?
• 11:11
  - Okay.
• 11:12
  - What am I most excited about? Well, I
• 11:13
  - just referenced some of it. I mean, the
• 11:15
  - the the the research coming out all the
• 11:17
  - time on on new opportunities in the space,
• 11:20
  - vaccines in particular,
• 11:22
  - but but a lot of the a lot
• 11:24
  - of the advanced immunotherapies
• 11:26
  - and and,
• 11:27
  - things like CAR CAR RT cell,
• 11:30
  - research, the the the way we're able to
• 11:32
  - get ahead of cancer and genetically engineer cells
• 11:35
  - to to address it,
• 11:37
  - is really exciting. And I think, you know,
• 11:39
  - we are, we are really on the the
• 11:41
  - forefront
• 11:42
  - of some great,
• 11:44
  - discoveries, I would say, within the next five
• 11:45
  - to ten years
• 11:47
  - in the cancer space. I think for us,
• 11:49
  - I'm also really excited about,
• 11:51
  - again, the opportunities that come with that with
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  - people living longer for our dual mission
• 11:56
  - to be able to support more people
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  - in their as they're living longer with the
• 12:01
  - with the programs that they need to to
• 12:04
  - understand how to to to live and thrive,
• 12:07
  - you know, as a as a cancer survivor.
• 12:09
  - In philanthropy,
• 12:10
  - you know, I I again, I I think
• 12:12
  - what I'm most interested in is
• 12:15
  - how do we get more money into the
• 12:16
  - philanthropic economy, and how do we, as I
• 12:19
  - said earlier, how do we get those big
• 12:21
  - ideas out to the,
• 12:24
  - you know, to to the the the major
• 12:26
  - philanthropists?
• 12:28
  - I think the biggest challenge that we face
• 12:30
  - and the trend that I watch is, you
• 12:32
  - know, even though the nonprofit sector is the
• 12:34
  - fifth largest employer in the country, we're we're
• 12:37
  - really facing a a a challenge in, you
• 12:39
  - know, with,
• 12:40
  - especially in a market like Los Angeles, paying
• 12:42
  - living wages. You know, it used to be,
• 12:44
  - oh, well, they're working for charity. They'll take
• 12:45
  - a pay cut. Well, you just can't do
• 12:47
  - it. I mean, the things that have happened
• 12:49
  - to us, you know,
• 12:52
  - wages have increased. Even when we do an
• 12:53
  - event, the cost of food has increased, you
• 12:55
  - know, but labor has increased. So, you know,
• 12:58
  - we're facing increasing costs, and we're not able
• 13:00
  - to keep up with with, you know, with
• 13:02
  - with that and inflation.
• 13:05
  - You know, I mean, even if you look
• 13:07
  - at the overall number, 600,000,000,000
• 13:09
  - given away last year, and that rose, I
• 13:11
  - believe, at a rate of around three to
• 13:12
  - 4%, but yet inflation was well over that.
• 13:15
  - So
• 13:16
  - how are we how are we taking care
• 13:18
  - of, you know, the the the people who
• 13:20
  - are leading this work,
• 13:22
  - across the sector, but but even in the
• 13:23
  - research sector. There's there's some,
• 13:26
  - anecdotal data out there now that younger people
• 13:28
  - aren't going into research because it's harder to
• 13:31
  - find research grants,
• 13:32
  - and money. And that's that's why tower is
• 13:34
  - so important because we are willing,
• 13:37
  - 30 later still, to to make those, you
• 13:39
  - know, investments in young people with with with
• 13:42
  - ideas that all they need is is to
• 13:43
  - be given a chance to, you know, to
• 13:45
  - provide proof of concept to get more money.
• 13:47
  - But there's not a lot of tower cancer
• 13:49
  - research foundations out there. So I I think
• 13:52
  - that's the the the the the the kind
• 13:54
  - of trends that I'm I'm watching and, you
• 13:56
  - know, because I wanna be at the forefront
• 13:58
  - of addressing them before they before they get
• 14:00
  - out of hand.
• 14:02
  - No. Thank you so much. And and and,
• 14:04
  - Matt,
• 14:05
  - you've had this great career in the philanthropic
• 14:07
  - world.
• 14:08
  - Any advice you would give to emerging leaders
• 14:11
  - in the philanthropic world?
• 14:13
  - Yeah. I I would say, first of all,
• 14:15
  - for anyone who's interested in creating a nonprofit,
• 14:18
  - don't.
• 14:19
  - There there's already someone out there doing what
• 14:21
  - you're doing. It's find find that organization and
• 14:24
  - figure out how to help them do what
• 14:26
  - they're doing in a bigger, better way.
• 14:28
  - I I think the second piece is is
• 14:30
  - is, you know, we we have a,
• 14:33
  - we we have a leadership vacuum right now.
• 14:36
  - And and so, you know, much like the
• 14:37
  - tower taking a chance on a young, investigator
• 14:40
  - and researcher, we need to we need to
• 14:42
  - put our, you know, a a lot of
• 14:43
  - our work in the hands of a of
• 14:45
  - a younger generation. But with that comes
• 14:48
  - the the idea that we also need to
• 14:50
  - understand,
• 14:51
  - you know, what younger people are looking for
• 14:53
  - in the workplace, those types of things, and
• 14:54
  - how they're looking to be, you know, and
• 14:56
  - to to to make an impact.
• 14:58
  - One of the biggest challenges now is is
• 15:00
  - the the generational gaps in the workplace and
• 15:02
  - how to address them, you know, and that
• 15:04
  - can be as simple as
• 15:06
  - working in the office versus not working in
• 15:07
  - the office. And where I I don't think
• 15:09
  - we've done a good job, of addressing those
• 15:11
  - those challenges and and and, definitely something to
• 15:14
  - think about for, you know, my generation of
• 15:17
  - leaders who, you know, who are trying to
• 15:19
  - manage and navigate this when, ultimately, you know,
• 15:21
  - we're looking at, you know, having to raise
• 15:23
  - more money and all of the challenges behind
• 15:25
  - it. But I think those are the it
• 15:27
  - is a great career. As I said, I
• 15:29
  - I I I have a finance degree but
• 15:31
  - chose to use it in a different way.
• 15:32
  - And,
• 15:34
  - and, you know, the sector is great, and
• 15:35
  - the sector is important.
• 15:37
  - I would say, overall, Scott, too, the other
• 15:38
  - thing that we need to understand is is,
• 15:41
  - nonprofits are businesses too. We are just given
• 15:43
  - the ability to meet our bottom line in
• 15:45
  - a different way.
• 15:46
  - But I think that's the other thing. Bring
• 15:48
  - bring a business mindset to this.
• 15:51
  - Bring a a critical thinking, I think, is
• 15:53
  - the most important skill
• 15:55
  - and, and the ability to pivot and be
• 15:57
  - flexible, which I think has been a challenge
• 15:59
  - for a lot of the nonprofits over the
• 16:01
  - years.
• 16:02
  - Fantastic. Matt, it's remarkable what you're doing and
• 16:05
  - what the Tower of Cancer Research Foundation does.
• 16:08
  - Hey. I wanna thank you for joining us
• 16:09
  - today on the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Thank you
• 16:12
  - so much for joining us, ensuring what you
• 16:14
  - do. Just fantastic. Thank you. Thank you, Scott.