Sophisticated Giving Spotlight: Pedal the Cause
Sophisticated Details: Pedal the Cause is St. Louis' premier cycling event, where 100% of participant-raised donations fund groundbreaking cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Since 2010, Pedal the Cause has donated more than $36 million, funding 175 cancer research projects. With the bold model of 100% of participant-raised donations going to world-class cancer research here in St. Louis, Pedal the Cause has quickly become the gateway to curing cancer – all cancers, for everyone.
Sophisticated Goals: Cancer continues to have a significant impact on our community and it is more important than ever to support our community through this critical research. In this period of diminished federal funding where support typically gets funneled to already proven concepts, many potentially new ideas are not deemed eligible. Pedal the Cause funding follows the “venture capital” model seeding best-in-breed ideas at our beneficiaries allowing for proof of concept and cultivation of critical data. These nascent projects often lead to incremental successes that produce groundbreaking treatments, clinical trials, preventions, and early detection diagnostics. For every $1 donated to Pedal the Cause, researchers have been able to leverage those funds to obtain an additional $7 in federal funding to advance their cancer research projects. Not only has this led to accelerated developments in cancer treatments, but it is a robust tool for Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Washington University School of Medicine as they seek to recruit and retain the brightest minds in the scientific world.
Sophisticated Connections: Pedal the Cause has engaged the St. Louis community and created lasting economic impact, while helping recruit and retain the brightest scientific minds to the region. Additionally, patients are being provided new therapies, clinical trials, cures, preventions, and diagnostics as a result of Pedal-funded research. Pedal the Cause is much more than just a first class event and bike ride, it has become a community celebration. The event has become a meaningful way for those who are fighting cancer and those who have lost loved ones to this disease to come together to support, revere, remember and celebrate as one.