It's been some time since I've posted. Here we are again -
PINK October. I've recently found Susan G. Komen's financial statement on their website. The
numbers were shocking. This is what I found.
Per Susan G. Komen's 2013 - 2014 Final Audited Financial
Statement. I welcome anyone to check these numbers against SGK's financial
statement on their website. See attached link:
I'm going to
focus on SGK's marketing campaign - Susan G. Komen for the CURE. We are all "aware"
of this marketing campaign. It's been SGK's platform for as long as I can
remember. First, I'll start with the money that was donated for the CURE through races, donations,
etc.
March 31, 2013 - March 31, 2014 - One year
- Accrual Basis
Under the accrual basis of accounting, expenses are matched
with the related revenues and/or are reported when the expense occurs, not when
the cash is paid. The result of accrual accounting is an income
statement that better measures the profitability of a company during a specific
time period.
$203,190,915 Contributions,
sponsorships, race entry fees, contributed goals
$ 48,288,225 Contributed goods and services
($27,396,500) Less direct
benefits to donors and sponsors
$224,082,640 Total
$4,034,803 Interest & dividends
$8,897,279 Net realized gains on investments
$8,177,885 Net unrealized gains on investments
$436,777 Other
$48,491,634 Net assets realized from restrictions
$294,121,018 Total
net public support and revenue
Yes, you all read that
correctly. SGK brought in two hundred three million, one hundred ninety
thousand, nine hundred and fifteen dollars - $203,190,915. A staggering
amount that should be well commended. I
applaud their marketing campaign. I
will use this number for my calculations, but you can see above, that number
doesn't reflect the total net public
support and revenue of $294,121,018.
Below are the numbers that were reported on SGK's financial statement
for Awards and Grants.
$32,911,550 RESEARCH
$10,691,018 Public health
education
$32,765,005 Health
screening
$11,115,718 Treatment
services
0 Race for the cure
0 Other fundraising
0 Affiliate relations
0 Other
$87,483,291 Total
Awards and Grants
As you can see, even though eighty seven million, four hundred eighty
three thousand, two hundred ninety one
dollars - $87,483,291 went to Awards and Grants, only $32,911,550 of that money went to RESEARCH.
Now let's break down their research number. In the interest of making
this short, I will consolidate the expenses of research into one figure. You
can check the website for a breakdown of the expenses.
$32,911,550 RESEARCH
- Portion that actually goes to research.
$10,485,423 Expenses: i.e. Salaries, marketing,
supplies, etc.
$43,396,973 Total
spent on "RESEARCH"
$32,911,550 actual RESEARCH dollars divided by $203,190,915 of donations = 16% that actually
went to RESEARCH after expenses.
Please remember $203,190,915 didn't include
interest, dividends, gains, etc. So let's look at it that way and add back in
the expenses for research. So just for fun, I will add that back in.
Research with expenses ($43,396,973), divided by total net public support and revenue ($294,121,018), which would equal a
dismal
14.75% to research.
The international affiliates
(Italy, Germany, Puerto Rico) are not included in any of these numbers. This is
only for SGK's USA headquarters and USA affiliates, as seen in their financial
report.
The breakdown tells a whole different story, and puts all those
donation dollars into perspective. Can
you see where "Komen for the Cure"
could anger a whole lot of women and men with breast cancer? The donation
dollars are huge. The lives we are losing are sobering. My metastatic sisters and brothers are dying - one, by one.
I guarantee you that a large majority of the participants running for the cure have no idea that 16% is the true number going to RESEARCH for the CURE. Or, if you read
my other calculation, as little as 14.75%.
How many of us read and understand financial statements??
Now that it's PINK October, men
and women are out there running, sweating, and celebrating everything PINK -
clueless of the REAL numbers - running for the CURE. I type it often
because we've seen and heard it often - running
for a cure. If you slapped a sticker on the forehead of a runner or donor
that says 16% of $203,190,915 or 14.75%
of $$294,121,018, I bet they wouldn't be so quick to run, or donate. But Komen
has known this - the reason the "for
the CURE" marketing campaign was so crucial.
Recently, SGK
has come under fire for the running for
the CURE marketing campaign. Runners and donors are starting to realize what
a small portion actually goes to the CURE.
Is that the reason SGK has removed for
the CURE from their logo?
SGK has also
come under fire for the salary of the former CEO, sister of Susan G. Komen
(Nancy Brinker) - so SGK hired a new CEO. People are becoming "aware." A much different awareness than I'm sure SGK wanted.
I wish Nancy Brinker would remember why SGK was
founded in the first place. Brinker made a promise to her sister that she would
do everything she could to help eradicate
the disease. I don't think 14.75%
or 16% is a realistic goal to
fulfill that promise. I believe SGK can do better, I believe breast cancer
patients deserve better.
I apologize
for the angry tone today. My friends are dying - I may follow in their footsteps. We
are long overdue for the eradication. It's time for that CURE so many have been running for all these years. This WILL NOT happen without more research
dollars.
Yesterday
SGK had an open Twitter session for metastatic breast cancer. I signed up for
Twitter yesterday so I could help bring Komen's lack of research dollars out in the
open. I had no idea how to use Twitter, but I was able to tweet a few things
within a ten minute span. Why just 10 minutes? Because once I started tweeting,
SGK suddenly ended the session. Mine wasn't the only tweet regarding research dollars. I was able to capture a screen shot of one of
the tweets I responded to.
Keep in mind, they didn't give a time frame on that previous $130M. Look at their financial statements. It tells the true story.
I guess we are supposed to throw ourselves at Susan G.
Komen's feet and thank them for the
crumbs they are offering today. I'm guessing the bad press and decline in donations
is starting to get to them. So generous of them to let the donors chose where
their donations can go THIS month. There are actually people celebrating
this offering. See link below:
I guess it's one baby step to more research dollars. I can't help but thinking what incentive SGK would have to donate more to research. If a CURE for BC is found, wouldn't Komen cease to exist??? Something to ponder.
Thanks for reading. Once again, I apologize for the angry tone. If you're going to donate to a non-profit, please consider METAvivor. See link below:
Much love,
Beppy ツ
