Today the Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance published an open letter to the Boards of Directors of the two largest Diabetes-related fundraising organizations in the United States, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA). One letter was written to each organization. The letters ask for commitment from the Boards of Directors for a significant increase in funding for research related to Type-1 diabetes.

Achieving a cure for diabetes is a central mission for each organization and the majority of fundraising activity strongly suggest that donations will be used to bring about a cure. In actual fact, however, based upon each organizations financial statements, only a minority of annual income is actually used for research grants.

According to a recent survey of the Type 1 Diabetes community, the main reason 92% of respondents make donations is to fund research that will find a cure for type 1 diabetes and 96% state unequivocally that cure research is their number one priority. 67% of T1D donors said they would be ‘disappointed’ if they found out their gifts were not being used for cure research.

To address this lack of alignment between donors and major fundraisers, in September of 2015 the JDCA launched a petition calling on JDRF and the ADA to significantly increase Type 1 Diabetes research funding. “Over 20,000 have signed the petition” said Phil Shaw, Executive Director of the JDCA, “roughly the same number of people who participate in the 10 largest fundraising walks for diabetes combined.”

The open letters to the boards of each organization transform the petition wish into a formal request. Theopen letter to the JDRF ask the Board to make a formal commitment to restore research funding, over the next three years, from 44% of annual income in 2014 to its historic average of 65%. The open letter to the ADA asks that T1D research funding exceed at least 25%, up from roughly 5% today. The letters were send care of the organization CEOs – Derek Rapp of the JDRF and Kevin Hagen of the ADA.

About the JDCA

The JDCA is a privately funded T1D-focused nonprofit that aims to empower donors and prompt transparency in the major diabetes charities. The JDCA's mission is to accurately represent donors who want a Practical Cure.

Sign the Petition: http://petitionforacure.thejdca.org/

Become an Alliance member: http://eepurl.com/bcc7Zb

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If you’d like more information about the petition or to schedule an interview with the JDCA General Manager Phil Shaw, please call 212-308-7433 or email js@thejdca.org.