You can support cancer research in more ways than writing a check. Donating money matters, but so does volunteering your time, your data, your biological samples, and even your voice with lawmakers. Each of these channels feeds a research ecosystem that currently operates on about $7.35 billion per year through the National Cancer Institute alone, with advocacy groups pushing Congress to raise that to nearly $8 billion. Here are the most effective ways to contribute.
Donate Strategically and Double Your Impact
The most straightforward way to support cancer research is a financial gift to a reputable organization. Major cancer research centers, the American Cancer Society, and disease-specific foundations all fund laboratory work, clinical trials, and patient support programs. What many donors overlook is that their employer may match the gift, effectively doubling the contribution at no extra cost.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the largest cancer research hospitals in the country, walks donors through a simple four-step matching process: search for your employer in their online tool, submit a matching request through your company’s HR or philanthropy department, send the paperwork to the institution, and wait for confirmation. Many large and mid-size companies offer these programs, so it’s worth checking even if you haven’t heard your employer advertise it. The match has to come from an original gift made directly to the organization, not through a third-party fundraising platform.
If you itemize your taxes, cash donations to qualified cancer research nonprofits are generally deductible up to 60% of your adjusted gross income. Donating appreciated property, like stock that has gained value, can also be deducted at fair market value, though the rules get more complex. Gifts to certain private foundations follow a lower cap of 30%. If you’re planning a large donation, knowing which type of organization you’re giving to affects how much of the gift reduces your tax bill.
Join a Clinical Trial
Clinical trials are the bottleneck of cancer research. A promising drug can sit in a lab for years waiting for enough participants to test it. Both cancer patients and healthy volunteers are needed, and enrollment is more accessible than most people realize.
If you’re healthy, the NIH Clinical Center runs a Clinical Research Volunteer Program that has been matching volunteers to studies since 1995. You provide basic health information, give permission for research teams to review it, and if you fit a study’s requirements, the team contacts you directly. You can also browse open studies on the NIH clinical studies website and filter for those seeking healthy participants. If you find up to three studies that interest you, a single phone call can get you enrollment details.
If you have cancer, clinical trials test new treatments, combinations of existing therapies, or better ways to manage side effects. The cost question stops many people from considering this option, but it shouldn’t. The trial sponsor typically covers research-specific costs: the experimental drug, extra lab tests, additional imaging, and visits beyond your normal care schedule. Your regular insurance handles the patient care costs you’d incur anyway, like doctor visits, hospital stays, standard treatments, and routine lab work. Medicaid covers all routine patient care costs in a clinical trial. Medicare reimburses some costs related to trials for new cancer diagnostics or treatments, and TRICARE covers medical costs for NCI-sponsored prevention and treatment trials.
Contribute Your Data or Biological Samples
Not every study involves taking an experimental drug. Observational studies track large groups of people over time to identify patterns in who develops cancer and why. These long-term projects need participants who are willing to share lifestyle data, family medical history, and sometimes biological samples like blood or saliva. Depending on the study, your commitment might be a single questionnaire and a blood draw, or it might involve periodic check-ins over years or even decades. The data you provide feeds into the large statistical models that reveal links between diet, environment, genetics, and cancer risk.
Cancer patients can also donate tissue and blood samples to research biobanks. The Cancer Moonshot Biobank, run by the National Cancer Institute, collects samples during the course of a patient’s routine treatment. When you go in for a scheduled blood draw, the hospital staff draws a few extra tubes. During a routine biopsy, your doctor collects additional tissue. In some cases, a separate biopsy may be scheduled specifically for the biobank. The program also gathers information from your medical record, including your diagnosis and treatment history. You provide written consent before anything is collected, and the samples help researchers study how tumors behave across diverse patient populations.
These contributions are particularly valuable because cancer research has historically drawn samples from a narrow demographic. Biobanks actively seek donors from underrepresented communities to make sure new treatments work for everyone.
Advocate for Federal Research Funding
The NCI’s $7.35 billion annual budget funds thousands of research projects, but the demand far exceeds the supply. Many promising grant applications go unfunded each year simply because the money runs out. Advocacy organizations push Congress to increase that number, and they rely on ordinary people to make the case.
The American Association for Cancer Research and the Association of American Cancer Institutes hold an annual Hill Day that brings researchers, cancer survivors, and advocates to Washington, D.C. to meet directly with legislators. The current ask from the advocacy community is at least $7.99 billion for the NCI in the next fiscal year, part of a broader push for $51.3 billion across all of the National Institutes of Health. You don’t have to travel to D.C. to participate. Organizations like the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network provide tools to call, email, or write your representatives from home, often with pre-drafted messages you can personalize.
Contacting your members of Congress during budget negotiations carries real weight. Legislators track constituent communications, and a spike in messages about cancer research funding influences how they vote on appropriations bills. Even a two-minute phone call to a congressional office gets logged and counted.
Volunteer Your Time and Skills
Cancer research organizations need more than scientists. Patient navigators help trial participants understand what to expect. Nonprofit fundraising events need organizers, drivers, and logistics support. Advocacy groups need people who can write, design, manage social media, or simply show up at community events.
If you have professional skills in data analysis, grant writing, web development, or communications, many smaller cancer research nonprofits operate on lean budgets and welcome pro bono help. Larger organizations like the American Cancer Society have structured volunteer programs with specific roles you can sign up for based on your availability and interests.
Fundraising events like charity runs, cycling events, and galas channel money directly into research grants. Participating in or organizing these events does more than raise dollars. It builds visibility for the cause, which feeds back into political support and donor engagement. A well-run local fundraiser can generate both immediate funding and long-term community investment in the research pipeline.
Choose Where Your Money Goes
Not all cancer charities spend their money the same way. Some dedicate the majority of donations to direct research funding, while others focus on patient services, prevention education, or administrative overhead. Before giving, check how an organization allocates its budget. Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance all publish financial breakdowns for major nonprofits.
You can also direct your giving toward specific types of research. Some organizations fund basic laboratory science, the foundational work that identifies new targets for treatment. Others fund translational research, which moves lab discoveries into clinical trials. Still others focus on rare or underfunded cancer types that receive less attention from larger institutions. If a particular cancer type matters to you, disease-specific foundations often channel a higher percentage of donations into research for that single disease.