I love the Internet! With thanks to my friend GG, a stellar webcomber, I have been spending the last couple of days studying the most recent independent audit of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. The audit is available to all as a PDF at that link.
First, the numbers
The Komen financial year runs from the first of April through March thirty-first. The most recent independently audited annual financial statement dates from March 31, 2012, and this post is based on those numbers.(*)
The good news first. Komen spends a relatively small portion of income on support services–about 19% of total expenses(the blue slice of the pie at the left). These support services expenses consist of fund-raising costs ($52,118,804 or 69%) and general/administrative costs ($23,064,504 or 31%).
The largest portion of Komen income, about 81%, is very appropriately spent on program expenses (the green slice). I am…
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My Eyes Are Up Here 
I gather that Komen must be a large American Breast Cancer Charity as I have not heard of it here in Australia… I also gather that there is some unrest in how it is run or what the money is used for as I have seen references on other blogs… As you say over the years needs change and these charities need to move with the times.. They can easily loose sight of what they were originally created for……
Helen, I had written you a long reply and then accidentally deleted it! First, I re-blogged this from Telling Knots. I thought she described the concerns well and was fair about it. As you may have seen in the U.S. breast cancer blogs, there are folks who are rabidly opposed to them and present them almost as if they are evil.
Komen is an ENORMOUS charitable foundation started in 1982. I can think of no other charity for any cause that is more visible in my daily life than the Komen Foundation and that includes the years prior to my breast cancer diagnosis. Their pink ribbon logo is everywhere and they have formed partnerships with all kinds of national companies to put their logo on grocery store products, office supplies, and I read recently that there is even a handgun for sale that comes with the pink ribbon logo. So one criticism is that they are commercializing breast cancer.
Another criticism is that they have left metastatic disease off of their priorities. That, however, seems to be a problem with research funding, generally, not just this foundation. So it’s a valid criticism but not unique to them.
The biggest national negative news story about them occurred a couple of years ago when the then Executive Director announced that they would no longer be funding mammograms for patients at Planned Parenthood, a large not-for-profit that provides healthcare to low income women. The decision to remove funding was made in response to political pressure by those who oppose abortion, a service that Planned Parenthood provides. There was national outrage following the announcement, Komen quickly reversed their decision, and the director resigned. Since Komen also uses images of idealized female bodies in their awareness campaigns, the whole foundation strikes a lot of women as being anti-feminist.
Thanks.. Will do a google search and have a read…