Corporate partnerships can be a tricky thing for a science-based, non-profit organization like us.
On the one hand, working with like-minded, responsible corporations can bring a tremendous wealth of
resources and consumer reach that we wouldn't ordinarily have to advance our mission of saving lives.
On the other hand, we understand Americans have nearly one hundred years of trust in us and there's nothing
we value more. When we speak about cancer issues, they listen and sometimes the questions are matters of life
and death. It's a huge responsibility we take very, very seriously. We cannot align with companies, products
or brands that would compromise the integrity of our information about cancer or cause you to question our
credibility. So how can we choose corporate partners and save more lives without sacrificing our scientific integrity?
We've given it a great deal of thought. Here's what we've come up with: 1) science-based, common-sense corporate partnership guidelines and 2) an editorial "firewall" policy.
Our Science-Based, Common-Sense Corporate Partnership Guidelines
Although very carefully-considered, the guidelines we've developed to determine who would be appropriate partners turned out to be fairly simple. Science always rules and common-sense prevails:
- If a product or brand causes cancer, it's out. Our guidepost comes from the
International Agency on Cancer
Research, a part of the World Health Organization and the internationally-recognized leader in research on
the causes of human cancer.
- If a company manufactures tobacco, the single greatest contributor to cancer death, it's out.
- If a product contributes to obesity, a major contributor of cancer, it's out. For food products, we measure
this using energy density measures, or calorie content.
- While we will carefully partner with pharmaceutical companies and certain over-the-counter health and
medicinal products, we will not partner with individual prescription drug brand names.
- Companies or brands that have inappropriate or unethical business practices that may reflect badly on our
organization and its lifesaving mission are out.
Even with these guidelines, we continuously review the latest science and scrutinize every opportunity. We weigh the pros and cons of each business relationship. Then we apply our very best judgment to make an informed decision that we feel is in the best interests of our mission.
Our Firewall Policy
We realized these guidelines were only the first step. There was still more to do to ensure that we maintain our scientific credibility. How can we make sure our internationally recognized scientific experts can speak freely about cancer issues without fear of their considered opinion being compromised by special interests? What if new science or a particular policy discussion arises that may not be particularly favorable to one of our partners? How can we make sure what our experts say is always first and foremost unbiased and in the best interest of the public? We established an editorial "firewall" policy similar to those found in newsrooms of news organizations across the country.
Our firewall policy is even more straightforward than our corporate guidelines. Our medical experts are empowered to speak their medical and scientific opinions freely and publicly, regardless of how that may reflect on a particular corporate business partner. Period. If we ask our medical experts to speak in the context of a program we are doing with a partner, they will not speak to the business relationship -- only to what we know to be true about the science of that particular subject.
We are very clear and transparent with each and every partner about our firewall policy. It is part of the parameters of working with the American Cancer Society. And so far, each of our partners have understood and respected this policy.
We hope you agree that we have arrived at a very carefully considered and responsible
approach to make informed decisions about corporate partnerships that protects our
ability to be a trusted source of the very latest cancer information. If you have any
questions about these guidelines or our firewall policy, we invite you to reach out to us
at 1-800-ACS-2345 or email us at cancer.org.