The American Cancer Fund® (ACF) and its subsidiary the American Cancer Association (ACA) are dedicated to educating, supporting, and empowering those diagnosed with cancer. We are sure you have heard that from other organizations as well. So really, how are we different? Well two important ways: the first is that we look to provide you with simple but critical information on all aspects of cancer so that you can make educated decisions; and the second is how we spend money.
The first way is simple, our website and staff organizes and clarifies the highly technical and truly confusing flood of information about the disease and its treatment. We seek to elevate the level of understanding of this deadly disease. This is how most of our donations are spent; education and empowering for a better, more positive outcome. Educating yourself about cancer is one the most important parts of surviving this awful disease. Before you can make a rational, informed, empowered choice whether to seek treatment and if so, what kind of treatment and by whom, you must understand cancer, how it’s staged and the possible treatment options available to you. “We inform. You decide.”
We take very seriously the trust our donors show us and spend our donations very carefully to best serve cancer patients, survivors, and their families. And this brings us to our second difference: We help cancer patients find all the resources they need to fight cancer. We make sure to use as much money as possible to fund outreach initiatives for prevention to educate and inform others.
Individuals make donations to ACF/ACA for many reasons. Most notably they want to honor a friend or loved one who has recently passed away from cancer or to show much greater support by identifying ACF/ACA in their last will and testament as an everlasting bequest. Additional reasons include honoring a friend who has recovered from cancer or been helped by our information and services. Sometimes a donor will give a gift to our organization during a month that is honoring a particular cancer type or they may honor a loved one during a birthday month.
Every year all nonprofits like ACF/ACA must submit a Form 990 to the IRS which lists the organization’s income and spending. You can find our 2013-2021 Form 990’s online at guidestar.org; 2021 should be posted shortly if it is not there yet. From this information you can see that we use our money to fund outreach programs like street fairs in many states and cancer education programs. We maintain and up-to-date website with information on the most common types of cancer, treatment options, healthy living, and even support for caregivers.
ACF/ACA has provided grants to other organizations that engage in cancer education and cancer research projects. Some of the projects receiving ACF funding include:
- Medical research for finding treatments and a cure for skin cancer, blood related cancers and pediatric catastrophic diseases,
- Research to develop early detection and successful treatment of lung cancer,
- Research into prevention and developing a cure for breast cancer, and
- Free professional case management services to those impacted by cancer throughout the United States.
Our staff appreciates every single dollar we receive. Your generous donation allows us to help meet our mission and help others through their struggle with cancer by advocating and supporting all those requiring help.
If you have any questions about ACF or ACA, including how you can donate and support our efforts and/or how we spend the money entrusted to us, please feel free to contact us by emailing us: admin@americancancerfund.org or fill out the contact us page.