Does Susan G. Komen Foundation Bully Smaller Cancer Charities?

You’ve probably heard that the Susan G. Komen Foundation doesn’t mess around when it comes to fiercely protecting its trademarked name (and its hundreds of other registered trademarks) related to the behemoth’s breast cancer fundraising efforts. When much smaller, less powerful charitable nonprofits unknowingly (or, in the naive spirit of “we’re all in this fight together”) use the color pink to promote their cancer fundraiser or tack on the phrase “for the Cure” to the name of their mom-and-pop charity (“Kites for the Cure,” “Surfing for the Cure,” “Par for the Cure,” “Cupcakes for the Cure, etc.), the Susan G. Komen Foundation comes after them with all the mighty power of a huge, global juggernaut like McDonald’s or Sony. We’re talking hundreds of cease-and-desist letters, big-shot legal teams, court dates, and mediation settlements.

Of course, it’s the right of every company (for-profit and nonprofit) to protect its name, copyrights, and trademarks, and to lessen any confusion among donors as to which charity their money is actually going. And sure, some of the offending cottage industries raise funds for cancers other than breast (lung, for example). But, in the end, don’t these nonprofits all share the same objective, i.e. to cure cancer? Isn’t the point to funnel as much money as possible into cancer awareness, treatment, and research, no matter who raises it or where it originates? Apparently, the Susan G. Komen Foundation uses a cool $1,000,000 of its donor contributions to bully smaller well-meaning cancer charities into submission every year. So, many donations to Susan G. Komen don’t actually go to fighting for a cure at all – they go straight into the pockets of fancy lawyers, who, in effect, are trying to shut down (or at least derail) other good, private citizens who are simply trying to raise funds to help find a cure for cancer. After all, if and when doctors and researchers find a cure for one type of cancer, that discovery will surely benefit other types of cancer. (And, it goes without saying that none of these smaller nonprofits have money or resources for pricey legal counsel; most of them are forced to enlist pro bono lawyers in order to respond to the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s allegations and threatened lawsuits.) Which, in our opinion, is a complete waste of everyone’s time, money, energies, and charitable donations. But it’s clear that a nonprofit organization is just as much a business as a for-profit company; they both strive to make as much money as possible for their benefactors every year, at any cost.

So what do you think? Is the Susan G. Komen Foundation right to protect its trademarks against other smaller charitable nonprofits, or should it just back off and let other goodhearted people join in the global fight to raise funds for cancer awareness and research, even if they do co-opt the phrase “for the Cure” or wear pink t-shirts at their event? Sound off below.

via The Huffington Post