Breast cancer touches us all

Did you know that 1 out of 9 Belgian women gets diagnosed with breast cancer? This equals 9.596 women per year. It’s even considered the most common form of cancer among women.

The Foundation against Cancer is determined to make a change in these people’s lives and to give them back that spark of hope, by investing in scientific research. With great results so far – thanks to these investments, researchers have succeeded in increasing the chance of survival to 75%. Great news, but it also means that still one out of 4 patients doens’t survive certain types of cancer. More research is needed, meaning more money.

Question left is – How do you convince consumers of the importance and relevance of scientific research in this battle against this lingering illness? And above all, how can you convert them in donating money when you know they’re practically bombarded with donation requests on a daily basis?

Our insight?
Breast cancer touches us all. Whether you’re a patient, a family member, a friend, a partner or even a researcher… We’re all in together. But this also implies we can fight it together as well. It was time to give these researchers a face, but most of all a story, to proof that the solution to this illness lies in scientific research.

On the website www.ikbengeraakt.be, we offered these researchers a platform to share their story, just as we did for the patients, family members, friends and everyone moved by this campaign. They could add their story, express their compassion and/or make a donation. We also offered the option of setting up a savings/support team, enabling people to drum up family, friends and colleagues in joining forces in order to collect as much money as possible as a team.

Given the limited media budget, we did succeed in getting the message out there. Lots of blogs and newspapers talked about the campaign and urged people to make a donation and to spread the word. Many of them shared their story or expressed their support and compassion on the website, creating a support system that brought researchers, patients, family and friends together. A massive total of 281.360 euro was raised which will be fully invested in further scientific research.