Tidewater Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Guidelines for Special Events, Benefits, or Promotions

Thank you for your interest in benefiting the Tidewater Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (the Affiliate). Donations to the Komen Tidewater Affiliate are an important vehicle in advancing our mission of eradicating breast cancer as a life-threatening disease through research, education, screening, and treatment. Below are some guidelines we hope will help you with some of the details of event planning and introduce you to some useful ideas for managing your fundraising event.

While we are able to provide some guidance for your event and some promotional support (i.e., through our Web site and newsletter), we do not have the personnel to handle administrative tasks of third-party events.

Some thoughts before you get started…

As responsible stewards of public funds, our mandate is to keep expenses to 25% of gross revenue as we work on our mission to eradicate breast cancer. The expectation of any third party that organizes an event to benefit the Affiliate is that expenses, whenever possible, will be kept to 25% of gross revenue. Exceptions may be made for first-year events and on a case-by-case basis.

We also want to ensure that your event runs as smoothly and safely as possible. You must obtain all the necessary permits and insurance for your event and for the specific event location. The following entities must be added as additional insureds on the liability policy for the event:

Susan G Komen for the Cure
5005 LBJ Freeway Suite 250
Dallas TX 75244

Susan G Komen for the Cure
Tidewater Affiliate
119 S Witchduck Road Suite 85
Virginia Beach VA 23462

  • If you are planning a sporting event, you must require all participants to sign a waiver/release.
  • Any item(s) you are planning to sell as a fundraiser for the Affiliate must be noncontroversial in nature.
  • As part of good fundraising practices, we require that the public be informed of the specific dollar amount or the percentage of the proceeds that will be donated to the Affiliate.
  • As an organizer of this event, you should be prepared to initiate publicity for this event and commit the necessary funds.

Some other ideas to keep in mind…

  • A third party must request written permission to use the Komen for the Cure name and/or logo, and completion of the Application for Special Events, Benefits, or Promotions constitutes such a request.
  • All references to Komen in publicity and promotional materials, on tickets, invitations, etc. should say:
    • Tidewater Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (for the first reference)
    • Komen Tidewater Affiliate (for the second reference)
    • The Affiliate (third and subsequent references).
  • All promotional material related to an event benefiting the Affiliate must be reviewed and approved by the Affiliate prior to its production and distribution. This includes, but is not limited to, invitations, press releases, newspaper or newsletter articles, merchandise, etc.
  • The Affiliate negotiates with many different financial underwriters and sponsors for our own events. We ask that you inform us of any sponsors you have or any efforts made to recruit financial underwriters/sponsors. This will ensure that there is no duplication of efforts when it comes to working on financial underwriting and sponsorships.
  • As an organizer of this event, you are responsible for complying with IRS regulations regarding the event. IRS regulations governing charitable deductions are quite specific.

When it comes time to make your donation …

  • Please have participants make checks payable to the organization that is holding the event. Organizers of third-party events specifically may not offer underwriters or donors the option of writing checks to the Affiliate for tax purposes.
  • In order to fulfill our own accounting requirements, we request that you provide us the event proceeds and details of the accounting within 60 days after the conclusion of the special event.
  • In order to properly account for all donations, we ask that you send us only one check made out to the Affiliate. If the donation is coming from several donors, please provide us with an electronic spreadsheet that includes the donor names, addresses, amount of donation, and check number.

Thank you for helping to fund a cure for breast cancer.