Top Breast Cancer Charities to Support This Breast Cancer Awareness Month (Oct)🩷
- Pledger
- Aug 26
- 8 min read
Updated: Sep 4
October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a global campaign to raise awareness, fund research, and support those affected by the disease. This article highlights top charities you can support and why their work matters.
Noteworthy Brands Fueling Awareness Through Campaigns
Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony Collection: Since 2000, dedicates 25% of purchase price to improving access to early and equitable breast cancer treatment.
Estée Lauder Companies: Pioneered the Pink Ribbon in 1992 and has invested over $131 million in lifesaving research, education, and services.
Jo Malone: After her own diagnosis, the brand pledged £20 per bottle of a special-edition Peony & Blush Suede Cologne to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in 2023.
Want some examples of how other brands have set up BCAM campaigns? Check out this article
Breast Cancer Awareness Month FAQs
Q: When is Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
A: Breast Cancer Awareness Month takes place every October. It’s a global campaign dedicated to raising awareness, funding research, and supporting those affected by breast cancer.
Q: What is Wear It Pink Day?
A: Wear It Pink Day is one of the UK’s biggest fundraising events, organised by Breast Cancer Now. It happens each October (in 2024 it falls on October 18) and encourages people to wear pink while raising money for breast cancer research and support.
Q: How do I choose a breast cancer charity to support?
A: Consider what matters most to you. Some charities focus on research, others on patient care, emotional support, or prevention. Reviewing a charity’s impact reports and programs can help you decide.
Q: Do small donations really make a difference?
A: Yes! Even small contributions add up. For example, a £10 donation to Little Lifts helps provide essentials for multiple comfort boxes to people undergoing treatment.
Q: Can businesses get involved in Breast Cancer Awareness Month?A: Definitely. Many brands run campaigns like pink product launches, fundraising days, or donation programs at checkout. Partnering with charities not only raises funds but also shows customers your commitment to social impact. Take a look at Virtue if you are running giving from sales.
Q: Where does my donation go?
A: Donations typically support a mix of research, patient programs, community outreach, and awareness campaigns. Each charity outlines how contributions are used — so you can see the real impact of your support.
What are Top 5 UK Breast Cancer Charities to Donate to?
Breast Cancer Now – Why support Breast Cancer Now? They are UK’s largest breast cancer research and support charity. They fund over 300 researchers across the UK. dedicated to prevention and compassionate care and has invested £243 million in breast cancer research since 1970. You can support them by donating directly or taking part in their annual Wear It Pink campaign.
Little Lifts – How Little Lifts brings comfort during treatment? Little lifts supports patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy by providing “Little Lifts Boxes,” with £10 covering essentials for three boxes. Little Lifts has delivered over 30,000 comfort boxes since 2016
Breast Cancer Haven – Offers personalised emotional, physical, and practical support to those navigating the treatment process.
Breast Friends – Community-based support group in the UK, run by survivors for survivors, offering local meet-ups and support.
Prevent Breast Cancer – Focuses on research, education, and awareness to identify risk factors and drive prevention.
💕Wear it Pink Day is held on the 18th of October! 💕
Breast Cancer Now’s Wear It Pink Day is one of the biggest fundraising events in the UK. Taking place during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, thousands of amazing people wear pink in their communities, schools or workplaces for the UK’s largest breast cancer charity, Breast Cancer Now.
What are to Top 5 Canadian Breast Cancer Charities to Donate?
1. Breast Cancer Canada
A national charity singularly dedicated to breast cancer research in Canada. Since 1991, they've been fueling breakthroughs in precision oncology, early detection, treatments, and patient-informed education.
2. Canadian Cancer Society (via the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute)
Canada’s largest cancer charity and charitable funder of cancer research. Although its scope is broader than just breast cancer, it funds impactful research, offers peer support, patient navigation programs, and strong advocacy initiatives.
3. Canadian Breast Cancer Network (CBCN)
A patient-led national organization that focuses on education, advocacy, and ensuring the voices of Canadian breast cancer patients shape support systems and
4. Cancer Research Society (CRS)
A long-standing philanthropic organization funding cancer research across all types since 1945. CRS has invested over $423 million, supporting both emerging and established researchers across Canada.
5. Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation (QBCF)
The only province-focused breast cancer charity in Québec, investing in research and patient-support programs specifically tailored to the province’s needs.
Check out some other causes to donate to
10 Best Sports Charities
Setting you a giving campaign on Virtue
Shopify & WooCommerce brands can kick off a Breast Cancer Awareness Month Campaign in minutes
Select your Charities
From Breast Cancer Now, Pink Ribbon Foundation, Little Lifts to Cancer Research - there are 1000s of UK and Canadian Charities on Virtue already. Or add your own Charity partners.
Choose how you give
Give from sales of all or select products
Offer Customer Donations
Roundups
Donation matching
Give with coupon codes
and more
Offer Donations in your Loyalty Program
Allow customers to spend their loyalty points on donations. Virtue seamlessly integrates with Smile.io, Yotpo Rewards & other popular Shopify Loyalty Apps.
Brands Supporting Breast Cancer Charities
Ralph Lauren
Since 2000, Ralph Lauren's Pink Pony Collection has donated 25% of each item’s purchase price to reduce disparities in breast cancer care. Funds go to ensure access to quality treatment is available to everyone at an earlier, more curable stage.
Estee Lauder
Founded in 1992, The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign launched the iconic Pink Ribbon and funded more than $131m for lifesaving global research, education and medical services.
Jo Malone
After Jo Malone herself was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38, she beat the disease despite being given only 9 months to live. In 2023, her company ran a Special-Edition Peony & Blush Suede Cologne, donating £20 from the purchase price of every bottle to the BCRF.
Inspired to set up your own campaign supporting a Charity? Check out this article on how you can do so today.
About Breast Cancer
Every year 670,000 women die from Breast Cancer. It is the most widely identified cancer, with 2.3 million women are diagnosed globally per year and represents around 30% of all female cancer diagnosis.
Early diagnosis is the critical in the fight. More so than most cancers, the chances of survival are much higher if caught earlier. Raising awareness, encouraging testing and reminding others to do their own checks makes all the difference.
If caught early, the chances of surviving a breast cancer diagnosis improve drastically. This had led to many organisations focusing on education as an effective tool for saving lives.
What Breast Cancer Charities Do
Breast Cancer Charities complete a number of roles with some specializing in research and treatment of the disease, while others focus on sharing information and supporting patients and their families.
Across the UK, there are multiple organisations focused on separate facets of disease and the patient journey.
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What else can businesses and Shopify Merchants do to show support?
1) Provide Information to Employees
There are many signs and symptoms of breast cancer, and if detected early there is a much better chance of surviving the disease.
One of the easiest ways that a business can support is to take the time and share this information with employees. Basic information on self-assessments has been proven to save lives and has a knock-on effect as many employees will share this information with their friends and families.
Here is a quick reference for breast self-examination:
2) Run a fundraiser
There are a lot of great ways for a company to run a fundraiser with its employees, and there is no limit to how you can do it. Some charities like Breast Cancer Now have fundraising packages that you can request.
One of the most common ways is when a member of the team will run a race and collect donations from coworkers. However, if running is not your thing, there are many other social events that you can look into.
Running a quiz night has become a very popular fundraising tool in recent years. To make the most of your quiz night, consider including quiz ideas that align with your organization's values and interests, such as personality tests, trivia games, or opinion polls. These quizzes not only engage your audience but also offer opportunities to educate and raise awareness about your cause.
3) Customer Donations at Checkout
For October, many stores will fundraise for a Breast Cancer charity via customer donations. This is a great way to help raise funds for a worthy cause.
If you are an online retailer, there are other tools available. With Virtue, we make it easy to add customer donations as part of your shop's online experience. Simply install our integration, and give your shoppers the option to support a breast cancer charity.
4) Give a percentage of Sales
Many businesses will support charities directly with a percentage of sales from each item going towards a preferred UK charity. Whether you are working with a Magento Charity Donation Extension or a Shopify Charity App, there are some great tools available to be used.
5) Pink takeover
Show your support and share a bold message by changing your brand colours to pink during the Wear it Pink campaign, or ever throughout the awareness month.
Excited to see all the great and creative ways Shopify retailers show Breast Cancer Awareness Month support this October!
And if you are giving from sales - Virtue makes teaming up with great Charities and supporting from sales super simple. With all your store-front assets provided. Instal Virtue via your eCommerce App Store.
Check out some other causes to donate to
