Susan G. Komen for the Cure – Tough Road Back To “Gold Standard,” Study Says

by Michael Matheron · April 29, 2012

So unrestrained has the Rerpublican right wing attack on women’s health and disease prevention become that last February’s dust-up over the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood seems almost quaint today, three months later. [For background, go here and here.]

Since February many have wondered whether Komen for the Cure would recover or wither, including me. Friday’s New York Times reported:

“Registered attendance or donations have declined by more than 25 percent at some of the group’s recent Race for the Cure events, according to interviews with officials at 10 of the national nonprofit’s local affiliates.”

Tough times.

The March 27th Harris Poll EquiTrend Study report below provides assessment about the difficulty of Komen’s road back. The so-called “brand equity tracking study” conducted by Harris Interactive measured Komen’s “brand health.”

Here’s the introduction to the report:

Since it was first surveyed in EquiTrend, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has in many ways represented the ‘gold standard’ among non-profits measured in our study, consistently reporting high scores for quality, the willingness to recommend and, most importantly, trust. Now, Komen finds itself near the bottom of the pack on all of these items,” says Robert Fronk, Executive Vice President and Corporate Reputation Practice Head at Harris Interactive.