St. Jude ’s Fundraising Chief on Space Missions, ‘Pushing Boundaries’ and a Record-Setting Year

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which looks after children with cancer while also researching how to eliminate the pediatric form of the disease, raised $2 billion in donations in its last fiscal year. It’s a record for an independent charity, and an impressive feat in a year when donors had more causes than ever vying for their attention and money. Richard Shadyac, the CEO of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (St. Jude’s fundraising organization), attributes that success to a nimble pivot to different fundraising strategies—one of which was a collaboration with Inspiration4, the first orbital space mission crewed entirely by civilian astronauts. That partnership brought in not only $100 million promised by Jared Issacman, the billionaire commander of the flight, but a further $16 million through such initiatives as a sweepstakes to win a chance at joining Issacman as part of his crew. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] TIME recently spoke with Shadyac about the stratospheric challenges of the mission to raise money. The following is lightly edited for length and clarity. Are there some ways in which solving the puzzle of childhood cancer is a little bit like sending a civilian astronaut to space? St. Jude has always been about pushing boundaries and taking what seems like impossible and making it possible. Our founder [comedian Danny Thomas] determined that he was going to tackle an incurable disease called leukemia...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Magazine Space Special Project Source Type: news