Colbert Hits Komen Cancer Foundation For Suing Other Charities With Donor Money (VIDEO)

During his "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" segment last night, Stephen Colbert satirically tipped his hat to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation after learning from HuffPost that the foundation has been using donor money to go after smaller charities who have the audacity to use the phrase "for the Cure" in their own efforts to battle cancer.

Anybody who knows me knows I am a huge supporter of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, which raises millions of dollars a year in the fight against breast cancer . . . So I'm giving a big Tip of my Hat to the Komen foundation for spending almost a million dollars a year in donor funds to sue these other groups. If they don't own the phrase "for the Cure," then people might donate money thinking it's going to an organization dedicated to curing cancer, when instead it's wasted on organizations dedicated to curing cancer.

Check out the clip below, and be sure to read Laura Bassett's article on the Komen foundation.

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Comments

[lovintheconstitution]

02:04 PM on 02/08/2011

My dollars will go to the research foundations themselves from here on out. I work in the fundraising world and recently found out that of the money given to Komen, only $.28 of every dollar actually goes to help women or research...the other $.72 is for their "administrative" costs...i.e. their fancy offices, their high salaries and leagues of attorneys who dig up stuff on other little fundraising efforts and then threaten to sue them...yeah, I'm done!

[Skylar Aud]

12:49 PM on 01/26/2011

there's got to be a better way. A coalition of people who gather free meds and treatments so to reduce the out of pocket costs and then another network that literally pays all the bills of the sick person while the person is unable to work. So if you get breast cancer or aids or retardation then we'll pay your light bill , rent, medication and walk your dog while you're sick. If you die we'll miss you. If you get better then you pay it forward.

[LamAng]

01:53 PM on 01/25/2011

One word - GREED - that's all there is to it. Why not work for a cure for cancer. I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer. Should there be discrimination on which cancer needs more attention too? The pain and suffering does not recognize anything or anyone. The cause should be for the disease itself not what is trendy. This foundation is a joke.

[lovintheconstitution]

02:07 PM on 02/08/2011

Just as an fyi, the leading killer cancer of women is actually lung cancer. Heart disease and sudden cardiac arrest are THE leading killers of women, the second is lung cancer. Percentage wise, more women DIE of ovarian cancer than of breast cancer. I am an ovarian cancer survivor but it was a fluke that it was caught...screening for ovarian cancer is a joke whereas a woman can regularly do self breast exams to catch something early. The majority of lung and ovarian cancers aren't caught until they are at least Stage II. Komen started a terrific push to bring awareness of gynecological cancers to the forefront; but they've been sidetracked by the sexiness and cache of the attention the cause has gotten, and they forget from whence they came!

[vpmedley]

09:56 PM on 01/24/2011

I am outraged that monies raised for the Susan G. Komen charity are being used for legal fees to go after other legitimate charities that are using the phrase "For the Cure". That is a very generic slogan and definitely should be able to be used by any organization that is raising money for ANY kind of health cure. How dare they spend the funds raised by volunteers and sponsors for a lawsuit such as this!!! I would never give them a cent after this. I have supported them in the past, not as much as the American Cancer Society, but never another cent will they receive from me and I definitely will spread the word to my friends and relatives to not support them. They should be ashamed of themselves!!!

[libluv235]

05:46 AM on 01/08/2011

Komen foundation started out with good intentions but has become too big for it's rich britches...

[janeinmia]

05:04 PM on 01/07/2011

This is a horrendous charity that gets a pass because who doesn't want to seem that they are for "the cure?"

My POV (as a cancer survivor) is that the Komen Foundation, like the rest of the cancer industry, is far more interested in the dollar than in the cure.

Check out cancer/medical research today and you'll see -- the lion's share of funds and other forms of energy are going toward massively expensive drugs that can lengthen life by mere months, and are not by any stretch of imagination about a cure, or, even better, prevention of cancer in the first place.

Prevention of cancer, of course, might be a huge financial debacle for corporations that foist carcinogenic substances on us hapless consumers. Instead, these same corporations are allowed to make untold sums by slapping on a pink ribbon, thereby deeply enriching the bottom line.

This is why I'm a grinch and won't participate in any runs "for the cure."

[AgingLady]

11:35 AM on 01/07/2011

Muy interesting. Thanks for the article. So they think 'the cure' belongs to them? big laugh. It is the first time I have thot of an organization displaying ego. Curious. Yes, Susan and friends have greed and ego whether individually or corporately.

If they are keeping more than 20-cents out of every dollar for administrative costs -- or any other costs -- then they are not doing their job. The money is given to go to developing an effective cancer treatment. Or we can give to other places developing an effective cancer treatment. See? We do not need the word 'cure'. They can have it.

[Andy Cerrone]

10:52 AM on 01/07/2011

I still don't get it-- so why is it that we believe in things such as sport that we work together for a common goal, but as a country, if we compete for the best scores we'll succeed? Seems contradictory. This seems to be a perfect example.

[IWantAJob]

10:32 PM on 01/06/2011

Top Person: Nancy G. Brinker
Top Pay:4 $531,924

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/14/charity-10_Susan-G-Komen-for-the-Cure_CH0155.html

[LeeCalif]

10:10 PM on 01/06/2011

What a clueless audience.

As usual.

[Cubroncs03]

11:07 AM on 01/25/2011

What are you even talking about? Clueless audience you've never trusted?

[LeeCalif]

10:05 PM on 01/06/2011

I've never trusted them .

[AnotherIADem]

08:15 PM on 01/06/2011

So maybe the '80s Band "The Cure" should sue the Komen Foundation for trying to take ownership of "the cure"? Just seems fare to me, so long as they donate all the money they get to the Cancer Foundation.

[R U Sirius]

05:17 PM on 01/06/2011

This is SO wrong...on so many levels. Is working together, cooperating, and single-mindedly pursuing a goal on everybody's behalf just no longer an option in America? WOW.

[angelcakesinc]

11:33 PM on 01/06/2011

They're hardly the only charity that wastes exorbitant amounts of money on frivolous and pointless endeavors. The Salvation Army, for example, uses huge portions of its donations to fight against equality for LGBT people. When donating to charities people really need to do a lot of research to find out what their money is REALLY being used for.

[Jericho the Red]

09:29 AM on 01/07/2011

you are correct-

[R U Sirius]

09:38 AM on 01/07/2011

Thanks. And I'd also like to point out that there are LOTS of resources online that permit people to compare and contrast to see which charities spend more on actual charitable work and less on paying themselves for their admirable goodness.
http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=484
http://www.charitywatch.org/criteria.html (with A-Z listing link, bottom)
...to list a few.

[Anarchy4hire]

10:28 AM on 01/06/2011

I often wonder where all the money that is donated to these places goes, if they cure cancer than that's the end of their money making

[Lellie]

09:44 AM on 01/06/2011

Cancer fundraisers have raised hundreds and hundreds of millions over the past 20 years. The Terry Fox Run in Canada alone, has been a boom time for those collecting the money.

No one questions... in detail... where every penny goes... interesting.

The Susan Komen Foundation needs to remember it's not a design house or a grapple-grommet maker... and get its priorities in line.