The American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) is the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Its sole mission is to raise the funds and awareness necessary for St. Jude's continued operation.[1] ALSAC is the largest healthcare related charity in the United States.[2] The National Executive Office is located in Memphis, Tennessee. ALSAC also has over 30 local fundraising offices located in cities throughout the United States that hold over 30,000 fundraising events annually.[3][4]

Purpose and activities

As of 2021, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital costs nearly $1.7 billion per year to run, and donations provide an estimated 87% of those funds. Only 6% of the money to operate the hospital comes from insurance recoveries and 5% comes from grants.[5][6]

To cover these costs, ALSAC has been raising more than $1 billion annually for the hospital through its more than 30,000 fund-raising activities.[7] Notable fund-raising programs for the hospital include the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which is a PGA Tour event, Up 'til Dawn, and the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend. Other fund-raising programs include direct mailings, radiothons, and television marketing.[8][9][10]

One of the hospital’s most successful fund-raising efforts has been the Dream Home Giveaway. The giveaway allows contest entrants to reserve tickets for $100 each to qualify to win homes valued up to $775,000. The Dream Home Giveaway is conducted in cities within the United States.[11]

In November 2004, St. Jude launched its inaugural Thanks and Giving campaign which encourages consumers to help raise funds at participating retailers by adding a donation at checkout or by purchasing specialty items to benefit St. Jude. The campaign has been is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, featured content on The Today Show, and movie trailers.[12]

St. Jude has been named one of two International Philanthropic Projects of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a women's service sorority. Since 1972, ESA has raised more than $200 million for St. Jude.[13][14]

In September 2021, Inspiration4 became the first crewed orbital mission with no professional astronauts on board. The mission raised more than $240 million for St. Jude, which was its sole charitable beneficiary, and the crew included a stuffed puppy toy modeled after two service dogs at St. Jude.[15][16]

From 2021 to 2022, a large plush duck toy, nicknamed “Mr. Vanderquack,” was used to fundraise for St. Jude . Groups of volunteers carried the duck through all fifty of the United States. In 2022, the convoy raised over $130,000 for St. Jude.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ^ "Careers at ALSAC/St. Jude". www.stjude.org. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  2. ^ "How Much America's Biggest Charities Raise: 26 Years of Data - the Chronicle of Philanthropy". Archived from the original on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  3. ^ Glenn Gamboa (July 22, 2021). "St. Jude hits donation milestone to fight childhood cancer". Associated Press.
  4. ^ Greg Akers (December 6, 2018). "ALSAC, USA: Meet the nationwide network that supports St. Jude". Memphis Business Journal.
  5. ^ "Millions from Millions". Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "2020 Annual Report" (PDF). St Jude.
  7. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (2021-07-22). "St. Jude hits donation milestone to fight childhood cancer". WRIC ABC 8News. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  8. ^ Brandon, Richard (2022-11-24). "St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend raises over $12 million to help children battling diseases". ActionNews5. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  9. ^ Swetlitz, Ike (2017-05-25). "The 6 nonprofit hospitals with the most valuable TV ads of 2016". STAT. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  10. ^ Farthing, Lydia (2021-12-01). "Carrie Underwood, Lady A, More Partner With St. Jude For 'Love Music. Stop Cancer.' Campaign". MusicRow.com. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  11. ^ Unger, Jordan (2022-02-02). "Chance to win $10k shopping spree in FOX 8 St. Jude Dream Home giveaway". Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  12. ^ "Thanks and Giving: St Jude's Brands A Holiday". The NonProfit Times. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  13. ^ "St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – ESA service project - Epsilon Sigma Alpha (ESA) - An International Service Organization". www.epsilonsigmaalpha.org.
  14. ^ "Bags for Bucks raises nearly $6,000 for St. Jude". Akron News Reporter. May 7, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  15. ^ Browne, Ed (2022-03-28). "SpaceX to Stop Making Its Crew Dragon Capsule—Here Are the Records It Broke". Newsweek. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  16. ^ Boris, Teejay (2022-09-18). "SpaceX Inspiration4 Crew's Puppy Stuffed Toy Based on Real-Life Hospital Dogs Flies to Orbit". TechTimes. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  17. ^ Gregor, Tamara (2022-09-04). "One Jeep at a time: Duck set to travel across all 50 states". Duncan Banner. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  18. ^ Marion, Scott (2022-03-18). "'Mr. Vanderquack' raises money for kids at St. Jude". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  19. ^ Tudor, Jerry (2022-03-07). "Jeep convoy raising money for St. Jude crosses U.P." TV6 & Fox UP. Retrieved 2022-11-25.

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