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CancerMail from the National Cancer Institute
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* CANCER FACTS *
* National Cancer Institute *
* National Institutes of Health *
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Cancer Fund-Raising Organizations
Numerous private cancer fund-raising organizations operate locally
and nationally in the United States. None of these is affiliated with
the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is the Federal Governments
agency for cancer research.
As a Federal agency, NCI receives most of its operating budget through
congressional appropriations. NCI may also accept contributions for
cancer research, but the Institute does not solicit funds or conduct
campaigns to raise funds. Although some private cancer organizations
refer to the NCI and include the toll-free telephone number for the
NCIs Cancer Information Service in their fund-raising literature, the
Institute does not participate in or endorse their fund-raising
activities. Also, because it is a research agency, not a regulatory
agency, the NCI is not in a position to monitor or comment on the
fund-raising practices or programs of other cancer organizations.
You can use the following questions to evaluate the operations of a
fund-raising organization and make an informed decision about
contributing to the organization:
* Is the organization willing to make public its budget and a
complete annual report, including an audit by an independent
certified public accountant?
* Are the groups fund-raising and administrative costs reasonable?
* Does the organization use ethical and economical fund-raising
methods?
* Is the management of the organization made public?
* Is the information it distributes misleading, deceptive, or
inaccurate?
You may also wish to contact the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, an
affiliate of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, for free
information on the practices of selected charitable organizations. The
BBB Wise Giving Alliance, formed in 2001 by the merger of the National
Charities Information Bureau and the Philanthropic Advisory Service of
the Council of Better Business Bureaus Foundation, uses specific
standards for charitable solicitation to evaluate the fund-raising
activities of private, nonprofit organizations. These standards
address the practices of public disclosure, financial accountability,
fund-raising activities and materials, and the governing body of the
organization. You may obtain this information on the Internet at
http://www.give.org/inquire/index.asp or contact the Alliance
headquarters directly at:
BBB Wise Giving Alliance
Suite 800
4200 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Telephone: 703-276-0100
Fax: 703-525-8277
E-mail: give@cbbb.bbb.org
Web site: http://www.give.org
Local Better Business Bureaus (BBBs) also report on local fund-raising
organizations. The address for the office nearest you is available in
your telephone directory, and on the BBBs Web site at
http://www.bbb.org/BBBComplaints/lookup.asp on the Internet.
You can also obtain information on charitable organizations from:
* The Office of the Attorney General in your state. Most offices
have a consumer protection division that investigates complaints
from the public lodged against companies and other organizations.
Contact information is located in the blue Government pages of
your local telephone directory.
* The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers a publication called
Charitable Donation$: Give or Take, which has information about
making donations to organizations and whom to contact if you have
questions or complaints. This publication is available at
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/charity.htm on the
Internet, or through the FTCs toll-free line listed below. The FTC
also handles complaints from the public about organizations. To
file a complaint, you can contact the FTC at:
Consumer Response Center
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Washington, DC 20580
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)
TTY (for deaf and hard of hearing callers): 202-326-2502
Web site: http://www.ftc.gov
This fact sheet was reviewed on 2/08/02
# # #
National Cancer Institute Information Resources
You may want more information for yourself, your family, and your doctor. The
following National Cancer Institute (NCI) services are available to help you.
Telephone...
Cancer Information Service (CIS)
Provides accurate, up-to-date information on cancer to patients and their
families, health professionals, and the general public. Information
specialists translate the latest scientific information into understandable
language and respond in English, Spanish, or on TTY
equipment.
Toll-free: 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)
TTY: 1-800-332-8615
Internet...
http://cancer.gov - Cancer.gov is the NCI s primary web site and provides
immediate access to critical cancer information and resources. It contains
material for health professionals, patients, and the public, including
information from PDQ about cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics,
supportive care, and clinical trials, and CANCERLIT, a bibliographic database.
Cancer.gov also includes information on understanding trials, deciding whether
to participate in trials, finding specific trials, plus research news and
other resources.
E-mail...
CancerMail
Includes NCI information about cancer treatment, screening, prevention,
genetics, and supportive care. To obtain a contents list, send e-mail to
cancermail@cips.nci.nih.gov with the word "help" in the body of the message.
Fax...
CancerFax
Includes NCI information about cancer treatment, screening, prevention,
genetics, and supportive care. To obtain a contents list, dial 301-402-5874
or 1-800-624-2511 from a touch-tone telephone or fax machine hand set and
follow the recorded instructions.
Date Last Modified: 02/2002
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This information has been brought to you by
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