The Good Breast Cancer Charities

As you are asked to 'pink' all through October, you are advised to give to the good charities and skip the pink crap. Charities are rated by Charity Navigator and Charity Watch. These two organizations list the following as the 'good' ones to give to:

Charity Watch

• Breast Cancer Research Foundation - a grade of A+, 90% of their funds go to programs (not overhead), and it costs them $7 to raise $100.
• National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund - A, 83%, $13
• Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (Formerly Breast Cancer Fund) - A-, 77%, $13
• Also recommended:
• Cancer Research Institute
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Prevent Cancer Foundation 
• Entertainment Industry Foundation's Stand Up To Cancer. 

Charity Navigator

• Breast Cancer Foundation  - received the highest rating of four stars. 
• National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund - three stars
• Breast Cancer Prevention Partners - three stars
• National Breast Cancer Foundation  - four stars, score 96/100, 82.9% spent on program expenses
• Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation - four stars, 92/100, 81.9%
• Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation  - four stars, 90.9/100, 92.1%
• Bay Area Cancer Connections - four stars
• It's the Journey - four stars
• Casting for Recovery - four stars
• Sharsheret - four stars
• BreastCancer.org - four stars
• Prevent Cancer Foundation - four stars
• Living Beyond Breast Cancer - four stars
• American Italian Cancer Foundation - four stars

A special note is provided on the Susan B Komen Foundation (for a Cure):

"The charity received mixed scores from the watchdogs. Charity Navigator gives Susan G. Komen for the Cure a 3-star rating (out of four) and lists the percent of its expenses spent on programs and services at 81.6%.

Charity Watch gives the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation a C+ rating with program percentage of 62%-77% and the cost to raise $100 of $12-$27." 

Based on these numbers Komen (for the Cure) would be very low on my list of donations. But if you do I am sure you will get a thank you note covered in pink ribbons.

In reviewing charities, the important things that are looked at include how much of the money they raise is used for their cause and their programs, as opposed to overhead which covers things like salaries and rent. Those highly paid executives at many big charities can easily change their percentage just by taking a pay cut.

So let me make a few comments here. First of all I find it interesting the differences in the two lists. This shows how objective this can be. But I am taking what was quoted in a USA Today article and have not checked the two sites lists myself. 

Second of all, I am not a fan of the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund. These are the people who want to eradicate breast cancer by 2020. They have two years to go so I don't think its going to happen. And they do not focus on metastatic cancer, hence they are also known as #deadby2020.

Finally, my personal preference of where to donate would be: Breast Cancer Foundation, BreastCancer.org, or Dr. Susan Love Foundation.