26.2 WITH DONNA (THE DONNA FOUNDATION)
Using data as of: March 2016
Rating: AVOID
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About
26.2 With Donna (Also known as the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer or the Breast Cancer Marathon) is well known in the Jacksonville area for their annual marathon, which is the only marathon in the U.S. dedicated to breast cancer research and awareness. The raised funds support the Donna Foundation, which funds breast cancer research at the Mayo Clinic and provides financial assistance to individuals living with breast cancer.
The Donna Foundation gets its name from Donna Deegan, a Jacksonville television anchor who is a three-time cancer survivor. She formed the foundation in 2003 after her second diagnosis and the inaugural marathon took place in 2008. Since its inception, they have helped over 10,000 families nationwide and contributed $4.5 million towards its vision to finish breast cancer.
It’s important to note that these are two separate nonprofits operating together. The 26.2 With Donna is dedicated to breast cancer research and care while the Donna Foundation funding assists breast cancer patients with financial needs.
More information on the 26.2 With Donna can be found here:
https://breastcancermarathon.com/
More information on the Donna Foundation can be found here:
http://thedonnafoundation.org/
26.2 With Donna Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/26.2withDonna/
Our Analysis
Financial information comes from the latest public Form 990 filing.
Financial Overview
According to their most recent public filing (dated 3/31/16), 26.2 With Donna brought in $2.1 million in revenue. This results in a slight deficit for the current year and follows substantial deficits in previous years (-$202,000 in 2015, -$136,000 in 2014, and -$264,000 in 2013).The Donna Foundation receives most of its funding from the 26.2 With Donna nonprofit. According to its latest filing (dated 12/31/15), they had $158,000 in contributions over that year. This also results in a deficit for the current year, following additional deficits in the previous years (-$125,000 in 2014 and -$74,000 in 2013).
Income Sources
Revenue for the 26.2 With Donna came exclusively from their race events.
Revenue for the Donna Foundation came from a contribution by 26.2 With Donna.
Expenses and Philanthropic Spending
The expense data for the 26.2 With Donna shows 83% of their spending goes to their mission (1,739,017 ÷ 2,095,705 = 83.0%).
Totals may include items not listed above
However, the 83% philanthropic spending is misleading.
Of the $2.1 million they received in revenue, only $400,000 truly went to philanthropic purposes. A donation of $240,000 was made to the Mayo Clinic for research while $160,000 was transferred to the Donna Foundation which will go to breast cancer patients with financial needs.
| Donation | % of Spending | |
|---|---|---|
| Mayo Clinic | 240,000 | 11.5% |
| Donna Foundation | 160,000 | 7.6% |
| TOTAL PHILANTHROPIC IMPACT | 400,000 | 19.1% |
______________________
The $160,000 contributed to the Donna Foundation is further misleading. The Donna Foundation makes grants to breast cancer patients with financial needs, but only $86,000 actually went to those patients. Nearly half of that $160,000 went to salaries.
Totals may include items not listed above
The screenshot below shows the amount and number of grants made to breast cancer patients and survivors by the Donna Foundation in 2014. (Note: the 2015 Form 990 is missing the Grants to Domestic Individuals section, so the data below comes from the previous year)
Our Conclusion
This is a difficult conclusion to make since the Donna organization receives so much publicity and has the potential to do so much good. Thousands of runners dressed in pink fill the streets believing they are making a difference, but their philanthropic impact is probably much lower than they are lead to believe. Roughly 15 cents of every dollar donated actually goes to philanthropic purposes.
Only about 11 cents of every dollar goes to breast cancer research and about four cents goes to helping cancer survivors.
Yes, any donation to charity is better than nothing. And a $240,000 donation to the Mayo Clinic is better than no donation at all. However, the Mayo organization saw $3,900,000,000 in annual revenue according to their latest report, which makes a $240,000 donation little more than a rounding error.
Another concern is the employee compensation. It’s understandable that putting on a race of this size requires a competent staff and the five employees listed have salaries and compensation totaling $398,881. Unfortunately this is nearly identical to that $400,000 in philanthropic spending. We’d be more comfortable if the philanthropic spending was more in excess of salaries.
Also, other organizations in the area make similar, if not larger, contributions to the Mayo Clinic and receive a fraction of the recognition. For example, the Funk-Zitiello Foundation made a $250,000 contribution to Mayo in 2017. Though larger than the contribution from the Donna organization, it received a four-line write-up in the paper, which stands in stark contrast to the wall-to-wall coverage for the Donna race.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-09-08/good-news-local-boy-appear-times-square-video
In conclusion, the costs involved with running this organization are just too large for them to make a real philanthropic impact. It’s not a bad race to run, but we’d suggest looking elsewhere if you want to make a difference. We give them an AVOID rating.
Contact:
The Donna Foundation
11762 Marco Beach Drive, Suite 6
Jacksonville, FL 32224
(904) 551-0732
26.2 With Donna Form 990 – Financial Information: LINK
The Donna Foundation Form 990 – Financial Information: LINK
Financial information comes from the latest Form 990 filing. This review is the opinion of Local Philanthropic and is provided for general information purposes only. Please conduct your own due diligence before donating to any nonprofit.