Stakeholder management and financial sustainability in philanthropic hospitals.

Purpose: This paper explores how the maturity of social relationship management in philanthropic hospitals affects community engagement as well as economic and financial support.

Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on a sample of 121 philanthropic hospital organizations located in Brazil, answered by hospital managers. Using structural equation modeling, this study examines how the hospital's maturity in managing community relations influences both the community's engagement with the hospital and its economic and financial support. The model is related to the maturity of community relationship management (technology, process, people, strategy and organizational culture), community engagement (interactivity, social presence and loyalty) and community economic and financial support.

Findings: The results reveal that community involvement positively impacts economic and financial support, but there is no positive and direct correlation between the maturity of community relationship management and economic and financial support. As hospitals mature in management practices, community involvement in economic and financial support tends to decrease. Nevertheless, effective community engagement remains crucial for economic and financial support. The study emphasizes the need for structured relationship management within philanthropic hospitals and the implementation of effective strategies for community involvement.

Originality/value: This study introduces a new model for evaluating the maturity of hospital-community relationship management.