Spending Our Money: The Grant Process

This year, the Breast Cancer Alliance awarded $1.7 in 16 grants to researchers and education and outreach organizations, local in reach and national in influence. We've come a long way from a fairly humble beginning. After thirteen years, it seems a good time to look back and reflect on how our grants program has grown.

"In the first year, there was no formal grants process," says Kenny King Howe, Alliance co-founder and past co-chair of the Grants committee. "We were thrilled to raise $90,000 at our first Benefit - we gave $10,000 to the American Cancer Society and the balance to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to support their programs." In the next few years, the recipients expanded to include Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Yale Cancer Center. The Alliance's Medical Advisory Board also became involved in selecting the award recipients. At that time, the grants were non-specific, given to the institution but not an individual, for general breast cancer research purposes.

From early on, the Alliance made a commitment to outreach grants as well, beginning with the Greenwich Hospital Mammography program and the Stamford Hospital Mobile Mammography program. "Just as with the research grants, we take great care in selecting which organizations we will fund. We review the type of service offered, determine whether that service meets our stated mission, and make sure the organization is equipped to provide that service and measure its success," notes Ms. Howe.

1999 was the year of a major shift in the grants selection process. The Alliance began using a Request for Proposal (RFP) to encourage interest in the grants. Recollects Carol Santora, past president of the Alliance and former co-chair of the Grants Committee,"We knew that the time had come to make the grants process more professional. We were raising significantly more money and had a fiduciary responsibility to spend it wisely and be more accountable. At the same time, we found that breast cancer research had become more sophisticated and we needed an objective way to determine which projects met our mission and funding criteria."

From that point, new programs developed rapidly. Highlights include:

• In 2001, the Alliance awarded its first "Young Investigator Grant," to Dr. Gina Chung of Yale Cancer Center. This unique program offers two years of research funding for doctors and scientists in the early stage of their careers. To date, we have funded six Young Investigator grants, and four Joanne and Michael Masin Young Investigator Grants (funded by longtime Alliance supporter and board member Joanne Masin and her husband).
• In 2002, the Alliance began using an external medical review board, a panel of medical and scientific experts, to analyze the research grant applications we receive each year.
• In 2003, research grant applicants began submitting proposals in one of two categories, Young Investigator Grants or Exceptional Project Awards, open to researchers or scientists at any stage of their careers. These grants recognize creative, unique and innovative research that may not qualify for more traditional funding.
• In 2004, the Alliance started offering grant application forms on its web site, reducing paperwork and administrative costs dramatically. Last year, we began accepting completed applications and conducting the review process via e-mail.
• In 2005, we instituted a Letter of Intent (LOI) procedure for Exceptional Project grants. This effectively allows pre-screening of those grants, allowing us to cut down on review time and ensuring that marginal applicants do not spend time on paperwork for a grant which they have little chance of receiving. In 2007, the LOIs themselves will go out for external review, consistent with the high screening standards the Alliance has set for grant applications.

"What makes our grants process come together is our insistence on site visits," says Frannie Burns, board member. "When we award a grant, we want to meet that researcher or program director, visit the site where the work is done and really understand what activities our funding is making possible. We believe that interaction gives both the grantee and our organization a much more compelling stake in the outcome of the project."

"The growth of the grants process over the past 13 years is reflective of the evolution of the Alliance in general," continues Mrs. Burns. "We're proud of the way we have been able to step up our process to meet the ever more sophisticated and challenging requirements of grant allocation. But most of all, we're delighted to be able to fund programs and projects that make such a difference to our communities and women across the country."

The Breast Cancer Alliance would like to thank all of its former Grants Committee members as well as members of the current committee: Jane Batkin, Frannie Burns, Patti Fast, Kim Fulton, Kathy Hanson, Polly Hyman, Carla Kidd, Ilda Lee, Joanne Masin, Gloria O'Connell, Carol Santora, and Cathy Sutton.