Colorectal Cancer Alliance
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Undy Run/Walk
The National Undy RunWalk is not just an opportunity to run or walk in your underwear. It is a family-friendly undy-themed RunWalk created by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, with the goal to provide support for patients and families, caregivers, and survivors; to raise awareness of preventive measures; and inspire efforts to fund critical research.
Participants in the Undy Run/Walk will be drawing attention to their bottoms--and colorectal cancer--by running or walking in their underwear. Yes, underwear. Instead of a boring old race T-shirt, our participants will even get boxer shorts!
Why underwear? Because people don't like to talk about colorectal cancer. And talking about it will save their lives. We need people to talk about colorectal cancer at their doctor's office, around the dinner table, at the grocery store … everywhere.
Tollfree Helpline
This tollfree helpline (877-422-2030) is answered by our dedicated patient support team to provide support and information for those facing colon cancer.
Blue Note Fund
Colorectal Cancer Alliance's Blue Hope Financial Assistance is committed to helping you overcome the barriers to screening and face your treatment head on. Whether you’re struggling to pay your rent, fill your prescriptions, or put food on the table, Blue Hope Financial Assistance helps with your bills so you can take care of yourself.
For qualifying individuals, Blue Hope Financial Assistance will cover:
The cost of a screening test, or a $300 one-time financial stipend to help cover screening-related expenses, or
a one-time $200 stipend to cover treatment-related expenses for those currently in treatment for colon or rectal cancer.
Through the legacy donation of Carol Green and her family, Blue Hope Financial Assistance helps families receive a potentially life-saving screening test or lessen the financial burden of treatment. Ms. Green passed in 2010, but her vision for a world free of colorectal cancer is realized through the program she helped launch. We salute you for helping us end colorectal cancer within our lifetime.
Buddy Program
Our certified Patient & Family Support Navigators are here to connect you with a vetted Buddy who has been through a similar diagnosis to offer meaningful and useful advice that helped them get through colorectal cancer.
As a survivor or caregiver, you know better than anyone else what it is like to go through treatment, how to deal with side effects, and how to manage all the emotions—highs and lows—that come with a cancer diagnosis. Share your experience and expertise by volunteering as a peer-to-peer Buddy to another patient, survivor, or family member.
Patient & Family Support Navigator Program
Our certified patient and family support navigators guide you through your screening, treatment, or survivorship journey, all to make life just a little easier. They not only understand the system, many have been in your shoes. Our patient and family support navigator program is the first of its kind in the colorectal cancer space. We’re here to help.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of Buddies matched with a Mentor
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Health
Related Program
Buddy Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
A survivor or caregiver, who has dealt with a cancer diagnosis, shares their experience and expertise by volunteering as a peer-to-peer Buddy to another patient, survivor or family member.
Number of Helpline phone calls/inquiries
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Tollfree Helpline
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our team of experts include colon cancer survivors and caregivers of patients. If you’re in need of resources, guidance, or a listening ear during your journey, we are here to help - call us.
Total dollar amount of financial awards distributed to patients
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Blue Note Fund
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
For qualifying individuals, our financial assistance will cover: the cost of a screening test or a stipend to help cover screening-related expenses; or a stipend to cover treatment related expenses.
Number of patients receiving financial assistance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Blue Note Fund
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total dollar amount awarded research in three primary areas: young onset colorectal cancer, immunotherapy and biomarkers, and patient-centered research
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Alliance funds organizations in Undy Run/Walk cities that are making strides to knock out colon cancer by promoting access to screening, conducting research and connecting patients to treatment.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Prevention: March Forth to save 100,000 lives through awareness and prevention by 2029. Screening is the number one way you can reduce your risk for this unique cancer. While screening is the most important step you can take – it's not the only one. You can take charge of your health by knowing your family history and possible risk factors, eating a balanced diet, exercising, limiting alcohol use and not smoking. Together, this is a cancer we can do something about.
Patient Support: Increase the number of patients and families served annually to 750,000 by 2024. You're not alone – our patient support team is here to provide hope and support to you and your family, while connecting you to the latest information, expert resources and cutting-edge tools that you need to get through a cancer diagnosis.
Research: Commit $30 million to innovative and life-saving research by 2024. Our research agenda includes the following: advancing biomarker research, understanding why those under 50 are increasingly diagnosed with colon cancer, decreasing late-state diagnosis of high-risk populations, closing the referral gap for screening and diagnostic testing, and advancing long-term survivorship psychosocial concerns. We view patients, researchers, medical institutions and industry as pivotal allies for pursuing this mission.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Colon Cancer Alliance hosts annual strategy sessions to plan the following year's goals and the plan for reaching these goals. Our strategy sessions include gathering data via surveys to constituents, focus groups.
Current strategies for our pillars are as follows:
Prevention – Our Screen Pillar, which includes our prevention and early detection efforts, are focused on raising awareness and navigating patients to the screening(s) that fits their risk level. We also support patients through screening completion, including removing barriers to access through digital and live patient navigation.
Whether it's providing financial assistance to support those in need of screening (co-pay, transportation, child care fees) to covering the cost of colonoscopies, we are saving lives via this program.
Patient and Family Support – Whether it’s a new diagnosis, a continuation of the treatment or survivorship journey, or a caregiver experience, the Alliance is here with trained experts, a national network of survivors and advocates, and a wealth of information to help. Through our vast network of peers or direct connection to a certified Patient and Family Support Navigator, the Alliance's Care Pillar provides everything from emotional support to financial assistance to medical journey support and a nation of allies.
Research – Accelerating science to save lives. The Alliance's Cure Pillar is making progress towards ending this disease in our lifetime through our own patient-focused research efforts, funding critical studies through the Chris4Life Research Program, advancing opportunities for patient input along the research continuum, and offering innovative tools to help patients navigate clinical trials and targeted treatment options. We fund research with both significant funding to established institutions and researchers, as well as smaller grants to young investigators on niche topics (biomarkers, young onset colorectal cancer, immunotherapy).
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Prevention – We utilize our Run/Walk series that takes place in 26 locations across the United States to raise awareness of screening as well as providing direct funding to local screening program. Additionally, colorectal cancer awareness month (March) is where we amplify our message and taking action for getting screened.
Patient and Family Support – Our team of Patient and Family Support staff provide these services directly and as the demand for services increase, we will expand our team to meet the need of the patient and caregiver community.
Research – Through partnership with our Medical Scientific Advisory Board as well as other institutions throughout the country help us identify these gaps and most critical areas in need of funding.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2020, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance accomplished the following:
Prevention – The Alliance launched a comprehensive marketing campaign targeted communities at highest risk for CRC in cities including the District of Columbia, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix. The campaign alerted the public to the continued risk of CRC and the necessity of screening. The Alliance also expanded its patient navigation programs, including developing a digital patient navigation platform that guides individuals to personalized screening recommendations and provides access to additional support via its live patient and family support navigators. The combined effort reached hundreds of thousands of people across the United States.
Patient and Family Support – The Alliance provided
Research – The Alliance awarded two innovative research projects totaling $500,000; received 61 applications for Chris4Life Research Program funding; partnered with 75 physicians and scientists; spent 1K+ gaining insights from our patient community; and presented 10 Alliance research abstracts at conferences.
Areas still to be addressed:
Prevention – Reaching more underserved populations through local partnerships and targeted awareness campaigns addressing the underserved populations.
Patient and Family Support – With more than one million colon cancer patients and survivors living in the United States, we have a far way to go to reach the majority of patients and caregivers impacted by the disease.
Research – Identifying the most effective funding mechanism (fewer larger grants vs. more smaller grants) to determine the biggest impact with available funds.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Colorectal Cancer Alliance
Board of directorsas of 07/30/2021
Lee Dranikoff
no affiliation
Avi Benaim
no affiliation
Julie Clowes
Small Business Administration
Patrick Jackson
Medstar Georgetown University Hospital
Kevin Lewis
PwC
Frank Sapienza
The Drug and Chemical Advisory Group, LLC
Michael O'Neil
no affiliation
Clay Scheetz
Sterling Group
Melissa Lynch
Apple, Inc
David Schoeman
McKinsey & Company
Michael Aquilino
no affiliation
John Backus
no affiliation
Brooks Bell
no affiliation
Charlie Guevara
Albert Technologies
Craig Melvin
MSNBC
Edith Mitchell, MD, FACP, FCPP
no affiliation
Sharon Seto
no affiliation
Carmen Marc Valvo
no affiliation
Joe Whalen
no affiliation
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data