Business organization selection and relationship analysis

American Cancer Society (ACS) is one of the nation's best-known non-profit organizations. Like most Americans, I have had some contact with the American Cancer Society throughout my lifetime. I have given money to the ACS in various different charity drives. Furthermore, I have participated in the ACS's premier money-raising event, Relay for Life, as part of a relay team. When I have had questions about cancer, I have used ACS's information hotline to find out information, and used that information and the links provided by them for research papers and other school projects. Finally, I have had family members with cancer who have used various programs offered by the ACS. These programs have included wig closets for cancer patients and programs aimed at assisting cancer patients with transportation to and from treatments. Therefore, I think it is fair to conclude that I have an enduring relationship with the ACS.

However, I think it is also fair to characterize my relationship with the ACS as one fraught with misunderstanding and no small amount of tension. The ACS raises a huge amount of money each year. With those earnings, it is able to provide quality services for cancer patients. For example, when my aunt had breast cancer, she was able to participate in a program called Look Good…Feel Better. The goal of Look Good… Feel Better is to educate cancer patients, usually women, about the unique beauty challenges that they face while undergoing cancer treatment (ACS, Look, 2011). Not only do many cancer patients experience hair loss, but they may also undergo skin changes that can make their normal beauty routines no longer applicable. Given that so much of a woman's self-esteem is linked to her appearance, these programs can give female cancer patients a much-needed self-esteem boost, which can actually have a positive impact on their treatment outcomes. Services like these make the ACS a great organization for cancer patients.

However, when my uncle was diagnosed with cancer after my aunt, my family turned to the ACS for assistance. My uncle had no insurance and paying for cancer treatment was prohibitive. At that time, I was dismayed to discover that the ACS actually does not provide any direct financial benefits to indigent or otherwise needy cancer patients. This fact surprised me, as it would probably surprise a number of individuals. When raising funds for or donating to the ACS in the past, I did so with the belief that the money would be used to assist cancer patients. While programs like Look Good...Feel Better may provide invaluable assistance for cancer patients, the reality is that needy cancer patients need treatment more than anything else. To have the nation's largest cancer-related charity not provide any treatment assistance for patients seems unusual. Furthermore, that discovery made me look into how the ACS otherwise allocates its financial resources. . It does seem to provide financial resources for cancer research, and is actually the "nation's largest private, not-for-profit source of funds for scientists studying cancer," and it does conduct some of its research in-house (ACS, Explore, 2011). These are factors that make me question how the ACS uses its financial resources.