Komen Earns Number One Ranking

Charity Evaluator GuideStar Rankings Affirm Komen’s Leadership in Research, Community Outreach, Advocacy and Global Mission

DALLAS – October 27, 2011 – Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, has also been named the cancer non-profit making the biggest impact in cancer advocacy and outreach by independent charity evaluator GuideStar.

The Number One ranking from GuideStar’s Philanthropedia arm is based on the assessments of 46 experts from 25 non-profits, universities and businesses, who reviewed 73 cancer non-profits and identified just 16 “top” cancer organizations.  Komen for the Cure led that list.

“This is a tremendous recognition of the hard work that Komen staff, Affiliates and volunteers do every day to help women and end this disease,” said Komen founder and CEO Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker. “I know that every one of our employees, volunteers, donors and partners feels the tremendous pride I feel, knowing that our work is noticed and held in high regard.”

The rankings included assessments of cancer organizations’ impact in research, awareness and outreach and are listed on GuideStar’s website.  Among the comments:

•   “The organization has mobilized American companies and individuals to an unprecedented degree and has been able to raise enough money for research to move the science forward dramatically.”

•   “(An) excellent organization making an important move from ‘awareness’ to ‘action.’ I expect great things from them in the future on behalf of breast cancer patients.”

•   “They have become the ‘gold standard’ taking breast cancer from a disease people didn't discuss to part of the national and corporate discourse.”

•   “I have been impressed overall with how much they do and it is primarily with volunteers. Their community fundraising goes directly to the communities. I think they are great!”

In addition to the new GuideStar rankings, Komen this year earned top four-star rankings from independent evaluator Charity Navigator for the fifth year in a row, a feat accomplished by just 5 percent of the nation’s nonprofits. In March, the 2011 Harris Interactive EquiTrend® study ranked Komen among the top two national nonprofits in terms of brand equity and as a charity people are most likely to donate to. 

Komen has invested $685 million to breast cancer research and another $1.3 billion to community health and education programs since its founding in 1982. The organization currently is funding more than 500 active research grants totaling more than $300 million to institutions worldwide.

Komen’s research focus is on treatments for aggressive and metastatic disease, disparities in outcomes, preventive strategies and environmental issues in breast cancer, with a goal of bringing science from the laboratories to the public in the shortest period of time.

In communities, Komen and its 120-plus Affiliates partner with almost 2,000 organizations nationwide to provide treatment, aftercare, education and screenings, with a focus on getting low-income and uninsured women access to care. The organization funded 700,000 breast screenings last year and provided financial and social support to 100,000 women, helping to provide medical co-pays, prosthetics, child care, groceries and aftercare support programs.

Komen’s advocacy arm, the Komen Advocacy Alliance, preserved $100 million in public funding for breast cancer programs in 40 states this past year, while Komen’s global outreach expanded to more than 50 countries.

Brinker founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1982 after promising her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer.  “Our mission has never wavered since that promise,” Brinker said. “We are here to end suffering from this disease through research, education, and by providing real help to women and men in our communities.”

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide, with 1.6 million new cases of breast cancer expected in 2011 and 465,000 deaths.  In the U.S., breast cancer is expected to be diagnosed in more than 230,000 women with 40,000 deaths this year.  A woman dies of breast cancer, somewhere in the world, every 74 seconds.