November 5, 1998 | Read Time: 3 minutes
THE PHILANTHROPY 400 – No. 118
(Table of Contents)
Year founded: 1970
What it does: Raises money for research to find a cure for diabetes and to help people deal with physical problems caused by the disease
Number of staff members: 274 in 103 chapters
Spending on fund raising: $8,280,119
Largest single gift in 1997: $5-million from Lawrence DeGeorge, a financier in Jupiter, Fla., and his wife, Florence, to pay for research on the transplantation of healthy insulin-producing cells in patients with diabetes
Location: New York
World-Wide Web: http://www.jdfcure.org
How Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International reached the top: Since the charity started to seek planned gifts two years ago, it has brought in $2.7-million in such donations and another $44.6-million in pledges. And the charity’s goal to raise $200-million in gifts of $10,000 or more by the turn of the century has yielded $183-million to date in cash and pledges.
Fund raising by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation differs from that of other health groups in two respects: First, the charity does not provide any educational programs or patient services. Because its sole focus is raising money for research, it can keep costs low and its entire staff can concentrate on bringing in donations. Second, while other health groups are trying to reduce their reliance on special events, Juvenile Diabetes is doing more of them. The charity’s Walk to Cure Diabetes, which recruits companies to publicize the event to their employees, raised $23.7-million last year, up from just $3-million in 1992.
Biggest fund-raising challenge: Leaders of Juvenile Diabetes say that their biggest challenge is to keep up the hopes of donors that a cure is possible. Since the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes in 1921, there have been few major breakthroughs, although researchers have found ways to help people with the disease keep their health problems under control.
Fund-raising climate for health groups: Health organizations on the Philanthropy 400 saw an 11.6-per-cent increase in contributions last year. After decades of relying heavily on direct mail and on walkathons, marathons, and other such events to raise money, the charities have begun to pull in significant sums from efforts to seek big cash donations and planned gifts from individuals. Those efforts — started just two or three years ago at most health organizations — are motivated by an increase in the number of competing fund-raising events, plus the growing cost of direct mail.
Don’t Try to Do Everything
“We are renowned for our focus on research, and in fund raising, too, we do not try to do everything. You have to be very selective. What we do not want to do is chase the fund-raising idea of the minute. This is the hardest thing to do, because people are always walking up to you and saying, ‘This guy has money, why don’t you pay him a call?’ even though he has no connection to diabetes. Or they want you to sell somebody else’s calendar and get 10 per cent of the proceeds.”
— Stephen Leonard, Director of Fund Raising and Development
