The American Heart Association is experimenting with new ways to grow revenue, according to an interview with AHA Chairman Ron Haddock in the Dallas Business Journal.

Haddock says the group’s exploration of alternative revenue-raising techniques includes an accelerator program that gives financial assistance to researchers who evaluate emerging science in the field.

The Science & Technology Accelerator Program awarded its first investment to CytoVas and BD Biosciences to support their joint development of a blood-based diagnostic test that predicts a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke.

AHA also developed a program that certifies that hospitals are meeting  the association’s cardiovascular health guidelines. More than 1,300 hospitals have signed on to its Get With the Guidelines program  to date.

Haddock hopes to see the organization’s revenues grow to $1 billion annually—up from its current $620 million.

“The opportunity to impact and improve people’s lives is so great in many of the countries where I go, including China,” Haddock said in the interview. “With the science and technology that [AHA has], we’re ideally suited to do that. We can do these deals with multinational companies so it brings us revenue, and it helps their revenues and people in their communities.”

What are some innovative plans your association has developed to raise revenue? Let us know in the comments section.

(iStockphoto/Thinkstock)