Executive Summary

ProBonoDoctors.org is a philanthropic initiative with a single focus to help doctors develop and implement their pro bono activities. With the support of donors and medical volunteers, ProBonoDoctors.org intends to alleviate specialty care needs, treat as many patients as possible and train local doctors to build a long-term solution. The potential number of lives saved or substantially improved is very large.

Our internet network will allow doctors, donors, patients and healthcare vendors to interact so that pro bono medical activities are facilitated with minimum friction. ProBonoDoctors.org will extend hospital donor pools, by presenting single, well-defined projects sponsored by one or a few doctors. The projects will focus on high impact, scalable medical specialties led by doctors of recognized excellence. They will be rigorously and independently screened before joining our platform. Detailed accountability will be provided by the doctors to the donors.

In summary, by closing a gap that currently exists between donors and doctors, we hope that our internet platform will accelerate the origination and implementation of pro bono medical services.

Patients in Need

There is a large number of communities underserved in healthcare: disadvantaged urban communities, indigenous, remote or foreign populations, etc. In addition, state-of-the art healthcare is rarely accessible, as it is concentrated in a few for-profit centers of excellence. The lack of access is particularly severe in various specialties in high demand. Doctors prefer to exercise their practice in academic centers where they have better living conditions and can access a high level of support, research and paying patients. Local governments have limited resources and public healthcare facilities often are often overcrowded, resulting in long waiting lists and inconsistent care. As a result, many lives are lost or suffer that could be adequately treated, were they fortunate enough to live in “better” neighborhoods. Well-intentioned bright doctors and nurses in these areas seek to help but often lack the necessary resources, financial, time or otherwise to improve the situation.

Doctors’ Need

A number of doctors and nurses engage in pro bono activities, mainly providing medical education, waiving practice fees or providing care in underserved or foreign communities. They require financial assistance to help pay for medical facilities, equipment or supplies, travel, lodging and living expenses. In addition, they spend considerable time seeking donors that can help them. Hospitals host a large number of doctors and interns that may not have access to financial help, as their smaller projects are not prioritized. Hospitals are also not well equipped to find donors for small projects.

ProBonoDoctors.org can supplement hospitals donors network with donors preferring smaller, well-defined and accountable projects. Doctors will be helped in presenting their projects online. They will save time and reach more donors by directing potential donors to a single online location, where their project info will be confidentially accessible. We will initially focus on doctors with recognized excellence in life-threatening or life-altering medical categories, where the doctor’s expertise can be rapidly scaled and spread to other doctors and regions.

Donors’ Need

Donors seek to identify superior opportunities for their giving, maximizing the positive impact of their dollars and efforts, while minimizing waste and fraud. Healthcare giving ranks high among philanthropic choices, as it can result in an immediate, measurable and substantial improvement in human lives and health. In addition, wealthy patients are natural givers to their own doctors, as they have a strong personal relationship, based on trust and proven personal health benefits. Giving back to one’s own doctor is a natural, strong vector of philanthropic giving. Yet, doctors, particularly those working in independent practices, have traditionally under-exploited this source of funding for a variety of reasons, including timidity, lack of time and inexperience. Also, some donors restrict their giving to clearly defined and accountable programs, the focus of ProBonoDoctors.org. ProBonoDoctors.org will create new donating opportunities for them.

Healthcare Vendors

Vendors such as pharmaceutical, medical supply and equipment companies devote substantial corporate resources to non-profit activities that can achieve public good and help their long-term market position. Providing support to pro bono activities of doctors is a natural part of this strategy, particularly effective as it is both ethical and uniquely targeted to their doctor and patient customers.

Our Mission

ProBonoDoctors.org seeks to provide a uniquely focused and comprehensive solution helping doctors, donors, patients and vendors meet in pro bono activities. On our site, Doctors can describe their general goals and detailed needs. Donors, patients and vendors can screen the doctors to achieve their respective objectives. ProBonoDoctors.org will ensure that all needed information and functionality is provided in a philanthropic and trusted manner. The platform’s single focus on pro bono activities will enable it to identify mission-specific issues, develop and implement optimal solutions that can be scaled efficiently to an increasing number of platform participants.

Our Mission is not limited to providing medical and surgical treatment for critical specialty care. It also seeks to raise the standards for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care of critical illnesses in targeted geographic areas. We hope that our missions will represent a new partnership between the in-country medical community and ProBonoDoctors, one that focuses on education and training so that host country physicians and healthcare professionals will over time, provide high quality treatment to their children long after we have moved on to help another country.