How to Include Breast Cancer Awareness in Your CSR Strategy
Introduction
Breast cancer may be the world's most prevalent cancer. The World Health Organization reports that in just the five-year period from 2015-2020, 7.8 million people were diagnosed with breast cancer, 99 percent of whom were women.
This month, Deed is highlighting nonprofits that support breast cancer patients, educate the public about risk factors, and raise money for life-saving research.
In the early 1990s, a woman named Charlotte Haley began making peach ribbons by hand. Haley, the granddaughter, sister, and mother of women who had all battled breast cancer, passed out thousands of ribbons with a card that read: “The National Cancer [Institute‘s] annual budget is $1.8 billion, only 5 percent goes for cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon.”
The breast cancer awareness movement as we know it today would not exist without Haley. And while many organizations have since made progress toward improving breast cancer treatment, your employees can still wear Charlotte Haley’s ribbon in word and deed.
What is Deed’s “Cause of the Month” initiative?
Deed launched our “Cause of the Month” initiative in response to the important moments we see happening in the world around us. With our toolkits, we aim to inspire our client-partners and rally employees to become volunteers, donors, and leaders by supporting causes they really care about.
With “Cause of the Month,” we aim to bring greater context to periods of observance—from Pride Month to Women's History Month—such that anyone who reads our toolkit will have a clear plan of action for how to maintain their support today, tomorrow, for the rest of the month, and throughout the year.
What will I get in every “Cause of the Month” toolkit?
While every “Cause of the Month” toolkit has unique insights and engagement opportunities relevant to each particular cause, you can always expect us to cover certain areas.
For a better idea of what you’ll be getting, here’s what’s included in our Breast Cancer Awareness Month toolkit:
- Volunteering and giving opportunities in the U.S. and around the world.
- A calendar of awareness days in October.
- Employee and employee resource group (ERG) engagement ideas, as well as a walkthrough of how to craft a social impact campaign around Breast Cancer Awareness.
- Recommendations of worthwhile books, podcasts, and films that explore the science of breast cancer and advocacy for better patient outcomes
Preview: “Cause of the Month: Breast Cancer Awareness”
How to rally your employees to raise awareness and help end breast cancer once and for all
Breast cancer is a global problem that requires collective action with a broad goal to end the disease. In 2020 alone, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 people lost their lives, according to the WHO. But as corporate social responsibility leaders, we have an opportunity to share reminders of early and regular testing, to spread news of emerging treatments, and to rally our employees to medical research institutions and hospitals working to find a cure, we have an opportunity to make an impact as individuals and
Deed is a workplace giving and volunteering platform that puts people first, because user experience shouldn’t stand between you and doing good. We help CSR and DEIB teams foster genuine human connection by empowering employees to support causes they care about together in-person and online. Backed by PayPal and a solid infrastructure of trusted payment processors, our Fortune 500 partners support +2 million nonprofits with ease. And together, our community is doing more good deeds everyday at work, at home, in our neighborhoods, and all over the world.
To work with a true partner in social impact this September, reach out now and receive the full “Cause of the Month: Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month” toolkit.