Lifetime Achievement Award
Billy Starr
Founder and Govt Director
Pan-Mass Problem
All through our lives, we expertise issues that inform our choices. Sure occasions may even form the trajectory of the remainder of our lives. For Billy Starr, the winner of this yr’s NonProfit PRO Lifetime Achievement Award, the choice to make his life’s mission to battle most cancers was spurred by the lack of his mom to melanoma when he was 23.
At the moment, Starr is founder and government director of the Pan-Mass Problem (PMC), a Needham, Massachusetts-based bike-a-thon that donates 100% of rider-raised {dollars} to the Dana-Farber Most cancers Institute. Based in 1980, the group surpassed $1 billion raised for most cancers analysis and therapy in July.
“For reference, in 2014, the PMC raised $41 million with 5,500 cyclists, bringing its lifetime contributions to $455 million,” Starr’s nominator instructed NonProfit PRO. “In 2023, 6,000 cyclists raised $72 million, bringing the group’s lifetime contributions to $972 million.”
For this yr’s occasion, 6,800 cyclists raised a file $75 million.
When it started 45 years in the past, Starr and his pals have been the occasion’s major individuals. Whereas Starr continues to trip and fundraise for the occasion yearly, the Pan-Mass Problem has now grown right into a premier occasion, in keeping with his nominator.
“Billy has fostered a fierce neighborhood of decided riders, volunteers and company sponsors who return yr after yr and elevate the fundraising bar greater,” his nominator mentioned.
Starr has led the Pan-Mass Problem to turn out to be Dana-Farber’s largest single contributor, per his nominator, with many of the donated funds being unrestricted to allow medical doctors and researchers to place the cash towards work that will in any other case not be funded. This has enabled Dana-Farber researchers to analyze a drug for pediatric mind most cancers — tovorafenib, often known as Ojemda — which the Meals and Drug Administration accepted in April.
Not solely has he made an indelible mark on most cancers fundraising, however he has pushed the Pan-Mass Problem to be a frontrunner within the peer-to-peer fundraising house. By means of Starr’s dedication, his nominator mentioned that the group:
- Turned the primary occasion to require a bank card assure for its fundraising minimal in 1995. This reduce rider delinquency from 17% to three%.
- Was one of many first nonprofits to undertake on-line fundraising in 2000.
- Secured a presenting partnership with The Crimson Sox Basis in 2003. This made the Pan-Mass Problem the primary athletic fundraiser to have knowledgeable sports activities group sponsor it.
- Carried out 100% pass-through of donations to its beneficiary in 2007. The Pan-Mass Problem has now maintained this for 18 years.
In 2023, the PMC was named the No. 3 peer-to-peer fundraiser in the USA on Peer-to-Peer Skilled Discussion board’s High 30 record. In keeping with his nominator, Starr’s management was vital in serving to the nonprofit compete in opposition to a lot bigger organizations with extra individuals and extra fundraising occasions all year long.
“When Billy based the PMC, there have been fewer than 5 million most cancers survivors within the U.S.,” his nominator instructed NonProfit PRO. “At the moment, that quantity is eighteen million-plus and rising. Yr after yr, Billy and the PMC neighborhood rally collectively to do their half in rising these survival charges by elevating as a lot cash as potential. Practically everybody is aware of somebody who has both been impacted by most cancers, misplaced their battle or skilled it firsthand. Because of Billy, individuals have a option to make a tangible impression on this battle, with their efforts having a worldwide impression.”
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