3 responses to “Komen Versus Planned Parenthood”

1. Jeff M says:

   February 3, 2012 at 8:25 am

   Hey Tom, do you remember when Planned Parenthood affiliates in seven or eight states accepted donations restricted for aborting black children?

   Do you consider that “effective” fundraising?

   Now, please remind me again: Does Planned Parenthood perform mammograms?

2. Debra Richmond says:

   February 3, 2012 at 12:27 pm

   Tom,

   I am surprised. Not that you would be pro or anit PP, or pro or anti Komen, but that you would pass along this article as excellent analysis.

   I will agree that from a grassroots perspective & engaging their followers, yes, PP has done well with that. And yes, Komen partnering with KFC & suing others for the use of “cure” were bad moves. And yes, those that support this move (even if they don’t understand the WHY of the move) have been WAY to quiet. All that said, there are some holes in the analysis….

   Here are my problems with this article:
   1) Yes, the news broke Tuesday, but PP was informed in December of this change to the application guidelines, so the “immediate response” was 6 weeks later. (Regardless of whether or not you agree with the change, the Komen FOUNDATION is a foundation that has the right to change their funding guidelines. We as fundraisers deal with foundations that do this all the time, but more on that later). So if it was so devastating to PP, why didn’t they break the news in December?

   2) The Penn State Grant that Schwartz’s references is to the Hershey Medical Center (a part of Penn State, but I will admit I don’t know to what extent). That grant was a 5 year grant made before the change in the application guidelines (& by my guess before the investigation & scandal at Penn State broke). This multi-year grant, much like the multi-year grants to PP, are being paid out as awarded. From what I have read, most of Komen’s grants to PP will end on March 31st of this year, but some are multi-year going into next year, and at least one that I have heard of goes into 2015. Since these grants were already awarded, they will be honored, it is just that PP cannot apply for any NEW grants at this time. (Again, something we as fundraisers deal with from time to time)

   3) Komen is still funding breast health screenings for ALL women, they are just not sending the money to PP clinics. In the Austin area alone, TEN other organizations receive funding from Komen under this program. There are other low-income, under-insured, & uninsured clinics out there, they are just not as commonly known as PP. (Shame on them for not marketing themselves better)

   4) From a Nonprofit Management standpoint, Komen is trying to give their donors the most bang for the their buck by granting money to those clinics/organizations that preform mammograms. PP does not provide this service. They provide manual breast exams and then refer to other clinics for mammograms if necessary. Isn’t this what we would like ALL nonprofits to do? Use the money donated to them to work on their mission? If any of us give to Komen to help rid this world of breast cancer, they are still doing that. If you give to Komen to fund money to PP, then why are you giving to Komen? It is our right as charitable givers to decide where OUR charitable dollars go, and it is a foundations right to set guidelines to make our dollars given have the most impact. Aren’t we always saying that we should not forgo mission to appease donors? Shouldn’t we stick to our mission & cause and help our donors see WHY we are allocating funds one way & not the other? I will agree that Komen did not do a great job of explaining to their donors why they made the change.

   5) Maybe this approach works for PP (I doubt it) but even when a foundation turns down one of my organization’s proposals or gives us new funding guidelines, my organization does not publicly bad mouth that foundation. Seems to me that would make it very hard to get funding from them in the future.

   My two cents, for what they are worth (maybe a half a cent?).

3. Nancy Schwartz says:

   February 3, 2012 at 10:44 pm

   Dear Debra,
   Thanks for sharing your thoughts here.

   My issue with Komen is their lack of transparency, honesty and reliability. They’ve been backpedaling wildly, changing their story and that to me says there’s something fishy going on.

   The fact that they’re hemorrhaging leadership and affiliate EDs tells me that others inside Komen feel just the same way.

   Regards,
   Nancy