Establishing a Cancer Research Fund

Anyone can help in the fight against cancer by establishing a designated cancer research fund within AACR. When considering creation of such a fund, it is helpful to consider the purpose of the fund, its program format, and the financial scale, as well as other concerns. Following is additional information about creation of such a fund.

Fund Purpose

Decide what area within cancer research the funds are to be applied.

• Site of Cancer Origin: You may wish to create a fund that focuses on a specific type of cancer, such as breast, prostate, liver, colorectal, renal, or others.
• General Group of Cancers: You may wish to focus on a group of cancers such as childhood, women’s, or blood cancers.
• Basic Cancer Science: You may wish to direct the funds generally to studying the molecular origins of cancer, genomics, proteomics, and other discipline areas.
• Translational Research: You may wish to focus on providing funding that will help bring laboratory innovations into use for the general public.
• Cancer Prevention Research: You may wish to focus on providing funding that will support studies about how to prevent cancer.
• A Combination: The purpose may also be a combination, such as “clinical research focused on later childhood cancers."
• Unrestricted Fund: Funding for general use of AACR in fulfilling its mission of providing support for cancer researchers.

Fund Name

A fund may be named after the donor or donors, family members living or deceased, or in honor of another individual.

Examples:

• The Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prizes
• AACR-Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award
• AACR-Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award Fund

Programmatic Format

Consider how you wish the program to deliver funds for research:

• Research Grants: These awards to established investigators or a research team with records of outstanding achievements and expectations of significant future accomplishments provide substantial, multi-year financial support for ongoing research activities.
• Prizes, Awards, and Lectureships: Prestigious support awarded in a single sum to very accomplished investigators based on competitive evaluation of past work and of potential for ongoing contributions to cancer research.
• Professorships, Career Development Awards, and Fellowships: Support awarded for one, two, or three-year periods to accomplished individuals or promising young researchers to fund ongoing research through positions at academic institutions or established research centers.
• Scholar-in-Training Awards: Support for graduate students, medical students and residents, clinical fellows or equivalent, and postdoctoral fellows to attend AACR Meetings and Workshops.

Financial Structure and Term

Determine whether you would like to create a permanent endowment or a standard restricted fund, and how long you would like the fund to operate.

• Endowment Fund: A fund that maintains its principal balance in perpetuity, while applying an annual spending amount based on fund return to the program expenses. It provides a perpetual naming opportunity.
• Ordinary Restricted Fund: A fund that applies its funds to a specified programmatic activity, but may cease to operate when funds are depleted. The term of the fund may be determined by a spending formula.

Donor Recognition

Appreciation for AACR Foundation donors is expressed through a number of ways, depending on program format and timing:

• Award Announcement and Call for Nominations: Announcements of the named research award and call for nominations will appear in various AACR publications, the website, and in outside venues.
• Announcement of Award Recipients: Press releases are sent with the name of the award and the announcement of the recipients to key scientific publications as well as donors’ local publications and national publications. They also appear year-round on the AACR website.
• Award Presentation: Donors are acknowledged during the presentation, which for the main awards is during the AACR Annual Meeting, the leading scientific gathering for cancer researchers in the world.