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The American Cancer SocietyBy Dr. James T. Bennett Editors note: The American Cancer Society (ACS) is the nation's largest and best-known health charity. Its stated mission is to diminish suffering caused by cancer and to eventually eliminate this fatal disease. In 1994, Americans gave over $370 million to the ACS' 57 regional affiliates and 3,300 local groups. What are donors getting for their money? In the past issues of Alternatives in Philanthropy, Dr. James T. Bennett, a professor of economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has criticized the ACS for spending too little on direct services for cancer victims while conducting unnecessary public education programs, funding seminars for well-to-do medical professionals, and amassing real estate. In the two articles in this issue, Bennett dicusses how some ACS affiliates have been less than forthcoming in providing information about their spending practices and how the ACS is increasingly embroiled in politics. Donors must look beyond the ACS's fund-raising rhetoric and insist on information about its actual activities. What are the State
Divisions Hiding?
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