American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities

The American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) has been the exclusive fund-raising organization of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital since 1957. ALSAC is the third largest healthcare related charity in the United States. The National Executive Office is located in Memphis, Tennessee.

Purpose and activities

As of 2014, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital requires more than $1.9 million in operating costs each day. Around $180,000 is covered by patient insurance, the remaining $1.74 million/day is funded by charitable contributions to ALSAC.[1]

To cover these costs, ALSAC has been raising more than $500 million annually for the hospital through its more than 30,000 fund-raising activities. These include the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which is a PGA Tour event and one of the most visible fund-raising events for the hospital. Other fund-raising programs include the St. Jude Math-A-Thon, Up 'til Dawn, direct mailings, radiothons and television marketing.

St. Jude also has a merchandise catalog called the Hope Catalog. The catalog contains everything from shirts to office items, and from patient art to "Give Thanks" wristbands.

One of the hospital's most recent and 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 $420,000. The Dream Home Giveaway, one of the largest national fund-raising programs, is conducted in cities across the United States.

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 is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, interactive marketing on Yahoo! and a movie trailer that runs on 20,000 screens nationwide. Corporations such as Target, Domino's Pizza, the Williams-Sonoma family of brands, CVS/pharmacy, Kay Jewelers, K-Mart, 7-Eleven, Inc., American Airlines, American Kiosk Management, AutoZone, BJ's Wholesale, Brooks Brothers, Busch Gardens, Casual Male XL, Catherines, Club Libby Lu, The Coffee Beanery, Diane von Fürstenberg, Dollar General, Easy Spirit, GNC, Gymboree, Home Shopping Network, J. P. Morgan Chase, Marshalls, The Melting Pot, Memphis Grizzlies (NBA), Nine West, Rochester, Sag Harbor, Saks Fifth Avenue, SeaWorld, St. Louis Rams (NFL), West Elm, Westfield Shoppingtowns, Yahoo! give customers a host of opportunities to support St. Jude.

St. Jude has been named one of two International Philanthropic Projects of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a women's service sorority. As of July 2006, ESA has raised more than $100 million for St. Jude.

Fund usage

From 2001 to 2005, 83.7% of every dollar received by St. Jude has gone to the current or future needs of St. Jude. As of 2006, for the past two years 47% of program expenses have gone to patient care and 41% to research.[1] By 2013, the percentage has dropped to 53.5% (23.2% patient care, 24.5% research, 5.9% education and training).[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Annual Report" (PDF). 2005. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. January 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2006-11-03.
  2. ↑ "Annual Report" (PDF). 2013. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. January 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-10.

External links