American Institute for Cancer Research

World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) appears to be a very clever scam. They produce a report every 10 years that basically just takes other people study data and then words it in a way that could make many think that they were somehow involved in the original research. They use their own slightly different criteria to then review the data, but this effort offers nothing to the original research conclusions. All it does is try to make this organisation appear to be legitimate in its analysis. People would be better served going directly to the original research and not reading this groups re-hashing of their data. WCRF/AICR, two organisations? Or maybe the one organisation trying to sound more broad and comprehensive. Alarm bells are ringing over their tactics

This is a scam and has been since the 1980s when I was approached by them to raise money. I pushed for some financial data and they refused to answer much any normal question. There appears to be a little clique of people (related) who get most of the money.

Very little of the fundraising goes to anything useful for those of us concerned about cancer.

Most of it seems to end up in the pockets of the clique. Who keep the scam going.

My wife received a letter today thanking her for volunteering to knock on our neighbors doors to solicit donations. When I read the letter I immediately told her AICR is probably a scam operation. While this may not technically be so, after reading all of the reviews here, AICR is obviously using their existence of a number of loopholes to make themselves look legitimate. I do not answer our land line phone unless the caller information shows someone we know - relative, friend, medical office, etc. Unfortunately, my wife sometimes does when I'm not in earshot of the phone or I'm out. Due to a disability, she sometimes forgets my instructions on not answering the phone. Oh, I note from the reviews above that all of them get a "Thumbs Up" despite giving a on "Star" rating.

Irritating phone calls. I have been donating for many years and have asked in writing that my phone number be removed and it hasn’t happened. I tried their online form to remove it and and always get unable to process, technical issues. I never gave them my number yet a message from a Marilyn Gentry seems to be on my answering machine every several weeks. Enough AICR! The American Cancer Society will benefit from your insensitivity. Signed Louis Flores

Shakedown artists. Call repeatedly for donations. Not much goes to actual research that I can see. Most of what they put is already common knowledge.

Wish they would stop calling! THEY ARE VERY ANNOYING!

I receive calls on my business telephone line several times a day from AICR. It is incredibly annoying. I don't give a damn what kind of wonderful things AICR is doing. I would never donate to them due to their heavy handed telemarketing approach.

How does one get this one star charity to stop calling? I guess they don't understand N O No!

They call me at east once a day, including weekends. I block them and they change the number by one didgit. I curse at them...I scream at them...and they call an hour later.
I never called them. I've never requested anything from them...except to stop calling!!!!!!!!

They must be running a campaign in the Minneapolis area. Check this out:
3/5/16 call from AICR from 866-315-9726 at around 2:30 PM
3/6/16 call from AICR from 866-300-9698 at around 11:00 AM
3/7/16 call from AICR from 866-323-5290 at around 8:00 AM
3/8/16 call from AICR from 866-314-4207 at around 1 PM
When you call any of these numbers they say that the calls may be monitored ... thanks you for calling ... will try to reach you in the next few days. This stems on harassment. They call you every day. I am on the no call list but that apparently doesn't help. How long is this going to last. They leave no number as an alternate for your to call and get your name off of their books. You think I am going to donate anything to them after this harassment?

Donate to a charity that keeps 70% for admin and marketing costs? - I DON"T THINK SO !
Check out their mission statement - very vague - no specifics mentioned. They mention research at leading universities, hospitals and research centers but Don't name any !??*

After my research I found that they only give about 30% or money raised to the research establishments - see http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3264#.VjTVemssAYo . I admit I did send out envelopes once to my neighbours when I first moved to this country, however, no more.

I got a phone call last Saturday morning at my Cape Cod vacation home from their telemarketing firm InfoCision. This was an auto-dialed call, and as best as I could tell -- from an off-the-call conversation that I could overhear the caller having with her supervisor, who I asked to speak to -- the caller was using a computer to disguise her voice as a man's. This was a total cold call -- I had no knowledge of this organization, no previous encounters with them, and no reason to do for them, apart from the caller's very one-sided explanation of what AICR does. At first, based on the name of the telemarketing firm and the caller's assurance that this was not a fundraising call, I thought it might be a survey research call about cancer or cancer research. But then came the pitch -- would I simply agree to receive in the mail 5 cards and pre-stamped envelopes and write notes to my neighbors, telling them about AICR's good work and asking THEM (my neighbors) to support the organization? Huh??? So then I started asking questions.

It turns out the organization is headquartered just a few blocks from my permanent residence in Washington, DC. I did some research about them. Although they take in tens of millions of dollars, they do not have a single medical doctor on their very small board of directors -- their long-time board chairman is an employment lawyer in South Carolina, and they also have other attorneys, as well as real estate and finance professionals, etc., on their board, but no doctor. As best as I can tell, their paid staff has no doctors either. Kind of odd for a cancer research "charity." I paid them a personal visit this morning. They're located in a lovely mansion in the heart of one of Washington's loveliest neighborhoods -- high ceilings, nice furnishings, a big wooden spiral staircase leading from the entry foyer to the second floor, etc. Their director of development told me they rent, not own. We had a discussion about their telemarketing strategy -- which I described to her as "cheesy," i.e. preying on total strangers with landline phones, who nowadays are often senior citizens vulnerable to this type of solicitation, by offering up what sounds like a very appealing description of the organization's work and then -- rather than asking for money outright -- asking them instead to write little notes to their neighbors.

BTW, when I mentioned that Charity Navigator gives them 1 out of 4 stars, she responded that they get a Gold Star from GuideStar. Now that I look more closely at the GuideStar site, that simply seems to mean that they get a Gold Star for "transparency," not for the quality of their work or for how much of their money actually goes into their asserted mission. I was also given a copy of their 2013/2014 annual report. I told them on my way out that based on what I could discern (which included an article I found in Bloomberg from a couple of years ago about Infocision's methods and fees in which AICR and other charities are mentioned), they are Exhibit A for why the loophole in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act exempting tax-exempt non-profits should be closed. I also suggested that their Executive Director send me a letter promising to terminate this kind of "cheesy" telemarketing -- in other words, if they want to fundraise by phone, they should just call people and ask for money. If people want to hang up on them, at least then it's all straightforward and honest, as opposed to trying to fool unsuspecting and sometimes downright stupid people into "volunteering" -- their word -- to send out solicitations to neighbors. In a nutshell, I wouldn't even give these folks one star -- but the GuideStar website makes us select at least one.

I received a nice pink envelope on my door from my neighbor asking me to donate. I did what many do these days and looked them up on GuideStar. Their low star rating led me to question their practices so I took a look at their IRS Form 990. I'm sorry, but executives making in excess of $300,000 and key staff making well over $100,000 has soured my outlook on this charity. Too much of their money is going to "fundraising" for me to feel comfortable donating to them.

This organization called me repeatedly and were very aggressive in demanding money. They called my 93 year old mother who agreed to send a check. When the check did not arrive in a timely manner, they called her and demanded that she keep her promise. Fortunately I answered the phone that day and blasted them for calling with such an attitude. My neighbor tries to collect for this organization and I will give her these reviews. Do not give to this organization.

Got direct mail from them...checked them out....agree with the earlier post...not sure they make a big difference....good goals...I like the mission, but....results are what we need!

So much money raised and so little goes to research. Where does it all go? This organization is one of many that make people think they are collecting money for research. Of the $25 million collected in donations last year only 10% goes to cancer research!! The educational information on cancer prevention they provide is the same information you can find anywhere for free and don't have to pay to read it. My next stop is to review their 990 form and see how much the executives are making.

The reviews are on the money, Badly timed phone calls and dunning letters.
They knew I was a cancer patient ---HOW.
It just makes this scam more reprehensible.
Do Not Donate.

Like many other reviewers, I received an unsolicited volunteer packet with my name and several neighbors' names. After doing a little research on the Internet it became clear that this is scam. They spend a lot of money on fundraising and little on actual programs. They report to the IRS but the IRS is not in the business of investigating non-profits so that is essentialy meaningless and merely makes them look legitimate. Giver beware!

We started receiving phone calls from AICR several months ago. Three or four calls per day, including weekends and holidays. Ignoring calls didn't stop them...telling them we are not interested did not stop them...telling them that we were unable to participate in collecting funds did not stop the phone calls. Some of the calls come very early in the morning and late at night. People suffering from CA do not need to be distrubed over and over. There are legitimate organizations that conduct research and provide services to CA patients. This does not appear to be one of them.

I received a volunteer packet, and considered handing out as vitally concerned about link of diet to cancer. I looked at their 2011 Form 990 and decided to pass. This is entirely a self-perpetuating marketing scheme. Look at the revenues from sales of their reports, etc - nothing. $5 mill to marketing firm (25% of donations), $5 mil to mailing costs, obviously for volunteer kits (25% of donations). Couldn't spot any costs for research (one of their 501c purposes). Lots better places to donate. Rating scale didn't have a zero or negative, which it needs for this group.

September 2012 article in Bloomberg & NPR found much of the donations going to a telemarketer, InfoCision. This charity will not get my money.

These people are scam artists who call from different numbers in the 202 area code. Do not donate.

We used to collect money from our neighbors for AICR, before we knew better. AICR is very persistent in calling and mailing to make sure you send them their donations in a punctual manner. Having relatives who passed away from cancer, we wanted to help - at first. The BBB listing shows they are now an accredited charity, but they have a very low point score, meaning they keep the donations for their telemarketers and CEO. DO NOT GIVE TO THIS "Charity" AICR.

The AICR earned a rating of zero as a charity. However, based on the fact that I get at least one robo call per day from their "boiler shop" they certainly are a 5 star telephone spammer.

Reading the comments made me really sad. There is a reason why AICR spent a lot of money on administrative costs. Most of their educational materials are free upon request and their expert report (it took years of volunteer efforts from researchers all around the world) is being used every day by health professionals. Major progress in the understanding how nutrients and nutritional resources are affecting cancer risks such as fiber and colon cancer came from AICR. The New American plate (which is now being followed by MyPlate) was also presented by AICR. ACS also works together with AICR. The dietary and physical activity guidelines related to reducing cancer risks are usually developed together by the 2 organizations. I would recommend that everyone take a look at the resources for cancer survivors and the cancer-free population before making a judgement.

My husband recently received the "Thanks for volunteering" postcard followed by the "Volunteer Packet," which led to my research. He is not going to solicit neighbors (especially since he doesn't remember signing up for it). Plan to notify them by mail that he will not be doing it. Will post more if we hear from them again.

A friend who's son has cancer received a soliciting package in the mail from AICR requesting that he solicit donations from several of his neighbors. The package contained a short list of several of his neighbors and their addresses. The package was not requested and contained the name of a neighbor that he did not get along with. We decided to do some research and found this site. We are glad we did.

Two days ago I received a packet from this organization with the following on the front address page:

HERE'S THE OFFICIAL VOLUNTEER KIT YOU REQUESTED!

I did not request a volunteer kit nor have I talked to them about one, ever, as far as I know. I think there is a similar charity in Wash DC I had contact with some time ago, but it called itself Breast Cancer Research or the like and I opted out in writing.

In any case this type of mailing, unsolicited and across state lines must constitute some sort of violation - or many.

Can't say it's fraud, but it comes close.

These people conned my elderly mother on a fixed income into giving a donation regularly because my wife died of lung cancer. My mother thought she was donating to research on cures for cancer and AICR is not that.
My mother has not contributed anymore for more than a year and does not want to.
They will not stop harassing her on the phone. Every single day they call, I put their number on the blocked calls list with my phone company and the next day they call from a different number.
This is a scumbag, disrespectful tactic.

This organization uses the telephone for soliciting donations in an unscrupulous manner. My mother-in-law receives daily calls from theam (different numbers, but registered to AICR). When she answers, there is no one on the line. I did some research on the Internet to find out who was calling her, as she is elderly, and it really spooks her to get these calls. It was easy to find the answer on the Internet, because, it seems, the experience is widespread. My mother-in-law is on the "do not call list," by the way. That is a really bad use of money for a charitable organization- repeatedly calling people on the "do not call list" to get money from them.