Prostate Cancer Canada

About Prostate Cancer Canada:

Founded in 1994, Prostate Cancer Canada (PCC) funds research projects looking to improve diagnostic tests and develop improved treatments for prostate cancer. PCC also provides support services to improve the lives of patients and survivors of the disease. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Canadian men, accounting for approximately 21% of all new cancer cases in men. One in seven Canadian men will have the disease at some point in their life. PCC’s mission is to eliminate prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer Canada spent $15.4m on research in F2017, including 5.7m deferred from F2016. Research makes up 89% of PCC’s program costs and grants. PCC provides grants to fund projects that look into one of six major categories of prostate cancer research: biology of the disease; causes of the disease; prevention of the disease; early detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of the disease; treatment for patients; and control and survivorship. PCC provided 47 new grants to propel prostate cancer research in F2017, bringing the total number of PCC-funded researchers to 125.

Prostate Cancer Canada has an established partnership with the Movember Foundation. PCC receives funds raised by Movember and determines research groups and projects deserving of grants and awards. In 2017, Movember provided PCC with $6.2m for granting purposes toward 87 new and continuing research projects.

As a part of its support services programming, PCC introduced the True NTH program in 2015. The program is designed to help prostate cancer patients get better access to information and services to improve their quality of life. Funding for the program comes from the Movember Foundation. True NTH connects patients with physicians, experts, survivors, caregivers, and key leaders in the field of prostate cancer research and treatment. It provides services related to lifestyle management, decision support aid, palliative care and peer-to-peer support.

Prostate Cancer Canada spent 6% of program costs on publication and awareness and 5% on support groups and survivorship. In F2017, PCC provided support and responded to questions on prostate cancer through 503 emails and calls, up 21% from F2016. PCC mailed over 56,400 resources on prostate cancer to individuals, clinicians, cancer centers, and support groups across Canada.

Results and Impact: In 2017, 67 scientific papers were published by research groups funded by PCC grant money, compared to 118 in 2016 and 80 in 2015. PCC collaborated with mdBriefCase to create courses for doctors on prostate cancer, including active surveillance, which is a practice where prostate cancer patients monitor their disease and take treatment when necessary instead of immediately going into treatment upon diagnosis. A post-course survey indicated that 98% of enrollees felt prepared to identify patients who were appropriate to undergo active surveillance.

Financial Review:

Prostate Cancer Canada is a Large-sized charity with $13.0m in donations and special events revenue in F2017. Administrative costs are 9% of revenues and fundraising costs are 48% of donations. For every dollar donated, 43 cents go to the cause, which exceeds Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Funds received from Movember Canada were not included when calculating the charity’s fundraising cost ratio.

Prostate Cancer Canada has funding reserves of $15.0m of which $9.5m are endowed by Movember Canada. Excluding endowed funds, current funding reserves cover over 4 months of program costs, showing a need for funding. In addition, Prostate Cancer Canada has committed to grant $13.8m in the next year and has additional long-term grant commitments for future years of $15.6m.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Prostate Cancer Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 25, 2018 by Joeyanne Cheung.