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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 Government’s agency for cancer research. 

As a Federal agency, the NCI receives most of its operating budget through congressional 

appropriations. The 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 NCI’s Cancer 

Information Service in their fund-raising literature, the Institute does not participate in or endorse 

their fund-raising activities. 

Because the NCI is a research agency, not a regulatory agency, the Institute is not in a 

position to monitor or comment on the fund-raising practices or programs of other cancer 

organizations. Moreover, the NCI does not endorse or suggest specific organizations to which 

individuals may contribute. The NCI does, however, publish a fact sheet called National 

Organizations That Offer Services to People With Cancer and Their Families, which lists many 

organizations that provide cancer-related services and support cancer research. This is not a 

comprehensive list of such organizations, and inclusion on the list does not imply endorsement 

by the NCI. It is available at 
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http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/support/organizations on the Internet and from the 

NCI sources listed at the end of this fact sheet. 

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 group’s 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 
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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 BBB’s 

Web site at http://lookup.bbb.org/ 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 FTC’s 

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: 1–866–653–4261 

Web site: http://www.ftc.gov 

# # # 

Related Resources

Publications (available on http://www.cancer.gov/publications) 

• National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet 1.1, Cancer Research Funding

• National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet 1.12, Donations to the National Cancer Institute

• National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet 1.23, The U.S. National Cancer Institute

• National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet 8.1, National Organizations That Offer Services 

to People With Cancer and Their Families 
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National Cancer Institute (NCI) Resources

Cancer Information Service (toll-free)

 Telephone: 1–800–4–CANCER (1–800–422–6237) 

 TTY: 1–800–332–8615 

Online 

NCI’s Web site: http://www.cancer.gov 

LiveHelp, NCI’s live online assistance: 

https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/livehelp/welcome.asp 

This fact sheet was reviewed on 12/22/03