Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Recognizes Scott Sikes with Highest Distinction – the AHP Fellow

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 20, 2011) – The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) will present Scott Sikes of the Shepherd Center Foundation, Atlanta, Ga., with the “Fellow in AHP” (FAHP) medallion at a ceremony Oct. 20 in Boston during the association’s annual international conference.  

Sikes earned the FAHP status based on his outstanding career record and after passing rigorous oral and written examinations as a development professional in the health care field.

“Elevation to the status of Fellow in AHP is the highest level of achievement in the field of health care philanthropy,” said William C. McGinly, Ph.D., president of the association. “Conferring of the Fellow designation is not so much an award as it is recognition of individual professional distinction, well earned through dedication and continual self-advancement.”

Scott Sikes is executive director of Shepherd Center Foundation. Shepherd Center is the largest nonprofit hospital in the United States devoted to research, intensive medical care, rehabilitation, and advocacy for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain. Growing from one family’s dream to 132 beds in only 35 years, Shepherd Center has treated patients from all 50 states and more than 40 countries.

Shepherd Center recruited Sikes in spring 2007 from an 18-year career in the University System of Georgia where he was interim executive director of development for the University of Georgia, vice president of external affairs for Valdosta State University and executive director of VSU Foundation.

Sikes, who holds a master’s degree in business in administration and is a certified fundraising executive (CFRE) and certified financial planner (CFP), has worked professionally in alumni relations, development, community relations, governmental relations, patient relations, publications, and marketing. He has raised funds for the financing and construction of hospital rooms, student dormitories, athletic facilities, patient/family residence centers, parking decks, a museum, and a student union.

A former president of the Georgia Planned Giving Council and the Athens Area Estate Planning Network, Sikes has been a speaker at national and regional conferences of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the Georgia Hospital Association’s Georgia Association for Development Professionals and the Association for Fundraising Professionals (AFP), as well as accounting, legal, financial and estate planning conferences. He is a member of the Atlanta Kiwanis Club, a trustee of their foundation, and has been a Boy Scout volunteer for almost 25 years.

AHP is dedicated to the advancement of nonprofit health care institutions and organizations through the enhancement of its members' performance and professionalism. The association sets professional standards for health care development officers, offers comprehensive educational programs to help them achieve those standards, and examines them to determine who meets the standards. Professionals who successfully complete the Fellow written and oral examinations earn the designation Fellow of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

Successful applicants must have earned the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) designation, have at least eight years of experience in raising and managing philanthropic funds for a health care organization, and pledge in writing to adhere to the AHP Statement of Professional Standards and Conduct and to uphold the AHP-endorsed Donor Bill of Rights. 

Established in 1967, AHP’s more than 4800 members direct philanthropic programs in 2,000 not-for-profit health care providers throughout North America.