Canadian Cancer Society asks Canadians to give back for Giving Tuesday

Canadian Cancer Society is wrapping up a one-week, $200,000 fundraiser tied to Giving Tuesday, a global movement on Dec. 2 dedicated to giving back.

On Nov. 25, Canadian Cancer Society launched the Great Canadian Innovation Grant, asking Canadians to donate to its “high-risk, high-reward” cancer research project. The Society’s Innovation Grants program supports unconventional approaches to creatively address problems in cancer research.

“We know from talking to donors that they want to support cancer research and it’s one of the things we’re very well known for,” said Mike Kirkpatrick, director of marketing for Canadian Cancer Society in Ontario. The Great Canadian Innovation Grant “was a good reflection of what we do and something that could bring the country together.”

This year, the Society awarded 97 Innovation Grants, worth more than $18 million in total. “A lot of the competition for funding these days has been very conservative and risk-averse, focusing more on things that are really feasible versus innovative,” said Kirkpatrick. “The Innovation Grants program… is meant to foster more unconventional approaches and concepts that will move us forward quickly.”

To promote the Great Canadian Innovation Grant, Canadian Cancer Society reached out to donors via email, direct response, social media and its website Cancer.ca

“If we raise $200,000, early in the new year, we’ll be able to announce the specific project that will be named in honour of the Canadians who supported the campaign,” said Kirkpatrick.

Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 by New York-based non-profit 92^nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation as a response to the commercialization and consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In Canada, the national movement is led by a number of founding partners, including CanadaHelps and GIV3.

Canadian Cancer Society took part in Giving Tuesday last year, but it was more focused on growing the movement in Canada, said Kirkpatrick. “This year, we’ve more specifically attached a tangible outcome to our efforts.”