BC Cancer Foundation

About BC Cancer Foundation:

Founded in 1967, BC Cancer Foundation (BCCF) raises money for BC Cancer Agency. The foundation funds research, patient care, and major equipment purchases. BC Cancer Foundation reports distributing $25.6m in grants in F2018 – 75% for research and education, 19% for equipment, and 6% for patient care. The money funded six BC Cancer Centres in Kelowna, Abbotsford, Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, and Prince George.

BC Cancer Foundation funded 396 research projects in F2018. Researchers at BC Cancer - Victoria are working on a new oncogene-targeted T cell therapy to improve health outcomes for lymphoid cancer patients at risk of relapse. Also launched in 2018, Enhanced Pancreatic Cancer Profiling for Individualized Care is a Canada-wide research initiative on pancreatic cancer biology that sequences pancreatic tumors to develop new treatment options. BC Cancer’s flagship study in precision medicine, called Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG), looks at genomes of metastatic cancer patients to find cancer-driving genetic markers and identify individualized treatment options. As of September 2017, over 900 people are enrolled in POG and 50 types of cancer have been studied.

One of BCCF’s major equipment purchases in 2018 was a PET/CT scanner for BC Cancer - Victoria. PET/CT scanners save patients from unnecessary radiation, surgery, imaging tests and biopsies. There are currently two PET/CT scanners operating in BC (both in Vancouver). BCCF is campaigning to buy and install three scanners in Kelowna, Victoria, and Vancouver. According to BCCF’s website, the campaigns for Victoria and Kelowna are complete.

Results and Impact: In May 2019, BC Cancer researchers published a paper in Clinical Cancer Research demonstrating how they improved health outcomes of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer using lung cancer therapies. They made this treatment decision after identifying a rare genetic trait in advanced pancreatic cancer patients that resembled other cancer types and was potentially treatable. BC Cancer – Kelowna cured 75 breast cancer patients using a new brachytherapy technique that delivers radiation treatment internally using 'seed' implants, as opposed to traditional external radiation. The foundation states that BC Cancer - Kelowna is a national leader in this specialized form of radiation treatment. 

Financial Review:

BC Cancer Foundation is a Major 100 charity with $49.7m in donations and special events fundraising in F2018. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 26% of donations and fundraising. Per dollar donated to BCCF, 68 cents go towards its grants, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Funding reserves of $146m include $56.6m in endowed funds. BC Cancer Foundation does not specify how much of these funds are donor-endowed. Including all endowed funds, BCCF can cover annual grants to BC Cancer Agency for 5 and a half years.

BC Cancer Foundation reported using external fundraisers in its 2018 T3010 CRA filing. In F2018, BCCF paid $1m to external fundraisers that raised $2.5m. This produces an external fundraising ratio of 41% – BCCF received 59 cents of every dollar donated to external fundraisers.

Fundraising revenues per full-time staff member were $721k in F2108. With an average full-time salary of $93k, each dollar paid in compensation brought in $8 of fundraising.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to BC Cancer Foundation for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on May 17, 2019 by Katie Khodawandi.