Community Member Spotlight: Meet Angel Lawrence with Adventist Health

Crystal Bruce

Self-proclaimed data geek and movie lover, Angel Lawrence from Adventist Health steps in our member spotlight! Read more about her life and her role at a Blackbaud Impact Award-winning organization.

Angel Lawrence

, donor database management analyst at Adventist Health, steps into our Community Member Spotlight.

Read on to learn more about Angel, the impact she is having at her organization, and her thoughts on the future of AI in fundraising!

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

A: I am a 15+ year philanthropy veteran who got my start in a tiny nonprofit counseling office wearing every hat from entering and receipting donations to planning and executing fundraising events and speaking with our donors on how to support. I have managed, directed, and wrangled many philanthropy services teams and events over the years mostly in the higher education and healthcare sectors and have a geeky passion for all things data and streamlining. Don’t get me started …. ?

Q: What do you like to do for fun?

A: I am at the movies every week so if you are bored let’s hit up the theater! I love the storytelling and immersion of movies and live theater! When I am not at the movies you can usually find me at the latest festival, theme park, zoo, or comedy show to help me laugh through life’s twists and turns. I navigate life’s changes like a roller coaster—screaming with joy and occasionally losing my snacks.

Q: What is an achievement (personal or professional) of which you are particularly proud?

A: I am a proud recipient of several employee of the year and other professional awards that gave me great pride and awe but all seem centered around what I consider my deep passion and joy which is building a team that feels like family and caring for them in ways I would care for myself. I am a firm believer that when you care about your team on both a personal and professional level, and truly want to see them succeed, you can create a world that cannot just move mountains but build mountains where you wanted them to begin with.

Q: What is one memory that always makes you smile?

A: I am a huge Jurassic Park fan - like one of those annoying fans - haha. My husband knows this and so instead of a traditional wedding he took me to Hawaii to get married on the hillside where they filmed the original Jurassic Park. It was gorgeous!!! We also did a tour and pictures on the ranch where they still have tons of the original and newer sets. Oh, and yes, I walked down the aisle to the Jurassic Park theme song!!!

Q: Tell us about your organization.

A: Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit, integrated health system that serves more than 100 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii with over 440 sites of care, including 28 acute care facilities. My organization provides care in hospitals, clinics, home care, and hospice agencies and is comprised of a compassionate and talented team driven in pursuit of one mission: living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness, and hope.

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Q: Adventist Health was a Blackbaud Impact Award winner in the Silo Buster award category recognizing your organization’s use of Blackbaud products to bring 25 markets into a single donor database with single donor records, creating a standardized, system-wide approach to managing donor data, prospect research and philanthropy communication. What does being part of an Impact Award winning organization mean to you?

A: Being part of an Impact Award winning organization means being part of something that truly makes a difference. It signifies my organizations commitment to excellence, innovation, and integration. It means I get to wear the “I’m awesome by association” badge with pride and I get to tell people “Yeah, I work here”. For me, it is a great source of pride as it reflects not only the success of my team and my organization but the ability for us to positively influence and contribute to meaningful work, collaborate with passionate individuals, and be a part of a team that values both progress and purpose.

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Q: How has that database standardization improved your day-to-day tasks?

A: IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE … it is a game changer for the work we do. It’s like going from a pile of sticky notes of things you have done or need to do to a well organized, systematic, and comprehensive database. My team can now find what we need, record everything in a way that makes sense to our front-line fundraisers and our donors, and work with efficiency while gaining so many hours back in our week. I love working in a world where there is consistency and a passion for keeping that way and pushing it even further!

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Q: What are you tackling next to make an impact at your organization?

A: Our systems team is a relatively new team that is still on the ground level in many ways, and I love how my team values my expertise, ideas, and their willingness to test out new ways of streamlining processes. I am a valued member and a key stakeholder on how our database works and runs. A key piece of work I am tackling to make a great impact is the implementation of a standardized and complete procedure manual and documentation. Integrating so many markets into a single donor database requires us to have a clear blueprint of what we have done and how to do it. This way if I (or any team member) am gone for a day, a week, or I win my dream vacation and am out for 6 months on a cruise to the Arctic, I know I am leaving my team with a clear and detailed procedure, and nothing gets missed.

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Q: Is there a specific initiative or way that your organization supports the community that you are most passionate about?

A: I am proud and encouraged to work for an organization with such meaningful initiatives and also understands that priorities can change at the drop of a hat. Just recently Southern California areas in and around a few of our Adventist Health Hospitals were ravaged by wildfires. Many staff, patients, and surrounding community members were forever impacted. Adventist Health saw the urgent need and took time and resources to focus on support and care for these areas. It may not have been the “planned” initiatives but became an urgent need that Adventist Health did not overlook.

Q: What is the greatest benefit you found in leveraging the Blackbaud Community and why do you encourage others to become active?

A: CONNECTION!!! I love that there is a place where you can find passionate people that understand and feel your struggles and challenges and because we all use the same products you can find real world help and practical solutions to troubleshoot most problems you may face. The platforms are great for connecting and getting help and feedback but have also provided a space to meet people and get to know them outside of the platform where I can now text a friend I met in the community to run a thought, idea, or challenge by them and see how they have tackled it. If you haven’t engaged, you should! If you don’t yet know anybody in the community, reach out because we really are here for each other and want to help. Reach out to me! I would love to meet you and talk all things data ?