Open Letters Make Case for Big Increase in Type 1 Diabetes Research Funding
Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance publishes letter after over 20,000
people sign a petition
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today the Juvenile
Diabetes Cure Alliance published an open letter to the Boards of
Directors of the two largest Diabetes-related fundraising organizations
in the United States, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
and the American Diabetes Association (ADA). One letter was written to
each organization. The letters ask for commitment from the Boards of
Directors for a significant increase in funding for research related to
Type-1 diabetes.
Achieving a cure for diabetes is a central mission for each organization
and the majority of fundraising activity strongly suggest that donations
will be used to bring about a cure. In actual fact, however, based upon
each organizations financial statements, only a minority of annual
income is actually used for research grants.
According to a recent
survey of the Type 1 Diabetes community, the main reason 92% of
respondents make donations is to fund research that will find a cure for
type 1 diabetes and 96% state unequivocally that cure research is their
number one priority. 67% of T1D donors said they would be ‘disappointed’
if they found out their gifts were not being used for cure research.
To address this lack of alignment between donors and major fundraisers,
in September of 2015 the JDCA launched a petition calling on JDRF and
the ADA to significantly increase Type 1 Diabetes research funding.
“Over 20,000 have signed the petition” said Phil Shaw, Executive
Director of the JDCA, “roughly the same number of people who participate
in the 10 largest fundraising walks for diabetes combined.”
The open letters to the boards of each organization transform the
petition wish into a formal request. The open
letter to the JDRF ask the Board to make a formal commitment to
restore research funding, over the next three years, from 44% of annual
income in 2014 to its historic average of 65%. The
open letter to the ADA asks that T1D research funding exceed at
least 25%, up from roughly 5% today. The letters were send care of the
organization CEOs – Derek Rapp of the JDRF and Kevin Hagen of the ADA.
The JDCA is a privately funded T1D-focused nonprofit that aims to
empower donors and prompt transparency in the major diabetes
charities. The JDCA’s mission is to accurately represent donors who want
a Practical Cure.
Sign the Petition: http://petitionforacure.thejdca.org/
Become an Alliance member: http://eepurl.com/bcc7Zb
Become a fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejdca
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JDCA2025
If you’d like more information about the petition or to schedule an
interview with the JDCA General Manager Phil Shaw, please call
212-308-7433 or email js@thejdca.org.
Contacts
Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance
Joanna Smykowski, 212-308-7433
js@thejdca.org
