Financing Better Cancer Treatments

With several members of their company having struggled with cancer, as well as many close to them, employees of Inlanta Mortgage, a multi-state mortgage banking company in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, knew they wanted to support the fight against cancer. Cancer Research Institute’s mission of finding a cure, opportunities for better treatment, and the sensible way donations are spent made CRI the clear choice. Below, Inlanta’s marketing coordinator Caitlin Clark answered a few of our questions.

What inspired your organization to choose CRI as its beneficiary? How did you hear about CRI?

Several members of our Inlanta family have been affected by cancer or have had loved ones who have battled cancer. Witnessing the struggles they go through, the heavy burden cancer puts on their lives and the lives of their families and friends inspired us to do more to battle this disease. We researched different cancer-related organizations on sites like Charity Navigator and CharityWatch. We wanted a trustworthy organization where a majority of spending goes directly into program funding, rather than fundraising or other overhead. We also wanted a charity that focuses on actively finding better cancer treatments so that those who are diagnosed have a better chance of defeating the disease. Through our research, we ultimately learned of CRI and quickly realized they best matched our criteria. We are very proud to support their mission!

Can you tell us a little bit about your event and how many people participated?

Every year at our company’s sales conference, we hold a charity raffle for our attendees. We collect donations of prizes from our sponsors and supplement the rest of the raffle with items we have purchased. We create a schedule prior to the start of the event and we select 3-4 prizes at a time to raffle off during our breaks and lunch. We typically start with the smaller prizes first and work our way up to the big, grand prize. We then sell tickets to our attendees (1 ticket for $5 or 5 tickets for $20) and select winners at each time slot throughout the day and it was a huge success! This was the second year we raised money for CRI, and we had such a strong connection to the organization and its mission that we have decided to make CRI our charity for next year’s event as well.

What would you tell someone who’s considering becoming a fundraiser for CRI?

CRI is a great organization to work with. Everyone I have talked to is extremely nice and incredibly helpful. They are also passionate about their mission. As for your fundraisers, make sure the event or campaign is something fun that really draws people in. Also, be sure to promote and spread the word! The more you push it and get people excited for it, the better results you will have.

Is there anything else you would like us to know about your company, or story, or experience as a supporter of the Cancer Research Institute?

Sadly our good friend and colleague Joe Ramis recently lost his courageous battle against cancer. At Inlanta, we truly feel like a family and Joe has been a major part of that family for over nine years. The loss is incredibly difficult for us, but we know he would want us to keep fighting. We are dedicated to supporting causes, like CRI, that seek out better treatment options (and hopefully one day a cure) so that we no longer have to say goodbye to our loved ones too soon.

Fundraise for cancer research