How we're doing so far
Thanks to our many sponsors (friends, family, work colleagues and businesses) and anonymous "tag day" donors, between March 2006 and September 2009, we raised around $48,500 benefiting major breast cancer research facilities in Canada. By June 2009, we also raised $5,000 benefiting colorectal cancer research at the Princess Margaret.
By the June 2010 we were two thirds of the to our 2010 goal of $17,000, having raised almost $12,000 benefiting colorectal cancer research and women's cancers.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors and sponsors, to date, we have donated $65,200 to leading cancer research centres across Canada, and through our tag days, we have been able to spread awareness to thousands of people in many cities throughout southwestern and central Ontario.
How much of your donation
goes to cancer research
People ask us all the time how much of their donation goes to cancer research, care and education. Here's the answer to that question.
When you make a donation to the Walking for the Breast Reason team for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer or the Ride to Conquer Cancer, following is the percentage of your donation that is received by the cancer research facilities benefiting from the events:
- 100% of your online donation
- 100% of your mailed in donation
- 100% of your cash donation if you do not receive a pink ribbon item
- 200% of your cash donation where a store is matching your donation
- 45% to 100% of your donation if you receive a pink ribbon item
On average, after deducting the cost of pink ribbon awareness items (including our 2007/2008 Think Pink Calendar), 82% of all money raised by Walking for the Breast Reason has been received by research centres benefitting from the Weekend to End Breast Cancer or the Ride to Conquer Cancer.
Not only that, but we purchase all our pink ribbon awareness items from not-for-profit companies that donate to breast cancer research and from other companies that donate a portion of their profits to cancer research. Which means even more of your donation goes to cancer research.
Also, we received sponsorship to cover almost all the cost of printing our 2007/2008 Think Pink Calendar which meant 99.5% of the proceeds went to breast cancer research. We also created our own fundraising items or had other items donated by friends.
In addition, our Think Pink Calendar and other creations have been sold to other fundraisers who have also raised funds for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer and the Ride to Conquer Cancer.
All-in-all, the cancer research centres benefitting from our fundraising efforts have received an estimated 85-95% of all money raised by Walking for the Breast Reason.
Creating awareness is just as important
However, don't think of this 5-15% as being money wasted. Over the past 3-1/2 years we have created awareness for breast cancer across much of central and south western Ontario, as well as other Canadian provinces and other parts of the world. Here's how:
- dozens of fundraising tag days at stores & malls
- thousands of visitors to our website
- hundreds of faxes, emails and letters to stores & other businesses
- dozens of emails, messages and phone calls to friends, family & co-workers
- thousands of copies of our 2007/2008 Think Pink Calendar
- fundraising BBQ
- door-to-door fundraising
- several posters & flyers posted in stores/businesses
- radio announcements and newspaper media releases
- thousands of people that have seen us walking 900 km and riding 210 km
Every time we fundraise at a store, thousands of people pass by our table of pink ribbon items. They do not all make a donation. That's OK. We don't expect everyone to make a donation. But just by walking by our table and seeing our breast cancer awareness signs and pink ribbon awareness items they have become more aware. And awareness is just as important in preventing breast cancer as research is!
