Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Pioneering Cause-Related Marketing and Merchandising

Since its inception in 1982, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, the first cause-related marketing effort in the country, has raised nearly $1.5 billion for breast cancer research.  That number, however, is a fraction of the organization’s impact on the U.S. economy.   So, Tripp Umbach was asked to quantify the economic, employment, government revenue and social impact of Race for the Cure events and activities on the United States and each of ten states.  The team analyzed everything from spending by event organizers, participants and spectators and the value of volunteerism to corporate sponsorship.  Tripp Umbach also evaluated the economic impact to the U.S. economy as a result of Susan G. Komen’s cause-related marketing and merchandising, including  economic, employment, and tax revenue data over the past 25 years.  Among the findings by Tripp Umbach, which invented the metric to assess cause-related economic impact, is that people will spend 20 percent more on products when they know it goes to support a cause.

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