December 16, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
How much does it help fund raising when a charity makes a national magazine’s top rankings?
A good deal, say fund raisers behind the year-end Thanks and Giving campaign at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Even as many charities report a substantial decline in corporate giving, St. Jude’s campaign is achieving impressive gains: Last year alone, contributions rose by 21 percent, and the charity expects another gain of 10 percent or more this year. More than 60 companies are participating, up from 20 in 2004 when the campaign started.
The fund-raising campaign—which starts each year after Thanksgiving and runs through December—recruits companies to solicit customers for donations, usually by adding a dollar to their purchase at the cash register or agreeing that a portion of a credit-card purchase will go to St. Jude. Now in its seventh year, the campaign has raised more than $186-million, not counting the returns that have begun coming in this year.
St. Jude is able to head off the competition from other charities seeking corporate sponsors at holiday time by noting that it never turns down a patient, even if the patient cannot afford to pay.
But, says John Remington, the hospital’s senior vice president of corporate alliances, another selling point is the fact that St. Jude places highly in national rankings.
For example, in US News & World Report’s annual list of best hospitals, St. Jude was ranked the No. 1 pediatric cancer hospital for 2010 and 2011. And, along with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, St. Jude was declared one of two most trusted brand names in America by Harris Interactive this year.
“That kind of branding really helps,” says Mr. Remington. “Corporate partners want to associate with us.”
