When Tech Meets the Mission: How Ike Anand Is Reimagining St. Jude for the Digital Age

“ALSAC is a phenomenal institution. It’s the dream of Danny Thomas, but there are very few people, Denver, who have the ability not just to dream a crazy, audacious dream, right? Like something that is just so much bigger and so much more powerful, but not just dream it, but to make it reality.”

Denver: That is great to hear. You are the seventh CEO in ALSAC’s 68-year history following giants who have carried Danny Thomas’s mission that no child should die in the dawn of life. How do you honor that legacy while also bringing your own leadership DNA to ALSAC’s future?

Ike: Yes. This has dawned on me many, many times. In fact, there are times when I have not slept the night, just thinking about the weight of the responsibility. ALSAC is a phenomenal institution. It’s the dream of Danny Thomas, but there are very few people, Denver, who have the ability not just to dream a crazy, audacious dream, right?

Like something that is just so much bigger and so much more powerful, but not just dream it, but to make it reality.

Denver: Yeah.

Ike: So Danny was one of those people who made it a reality. And then thereafter, we’ve had very big names, people who’ve taught me a lot, but taught this industry a lot that have led this institution. And to follow in their footsteps, it’s just an honor for me.

Also to note is: we are in the midst of a $12.9 billion strategic plan at St. Jude, a plan that requires for us to scale up a lot of our research, our global mission, our patient care, and that mission requires a lot of fundraising as well. So it’s not just that I have to carry the legacy of these giants and step in their shoes, but also to be able to support this mission that is growing. It’s been a very big responsibility.

I am blessed with a team here at ALSAC that is second to none in business, and I don’t say nonprofits, I say second to none in business. We have a team of passionate, driven, mission-focused individuals who know what they’re doing. And my leadership team has thrown their arms around me, my board, my partners at St. Jude, my family as well. I feel like I’m not alone.

So I was chosen for this job. I’m lucky to be chosen for this job, and I have the support of the whole community around me. And in fact, I have no doubt that I will be successful.

Denver: Yeah. And I love, Ike, what you said about Danny Thomas because I’ve always believed that the nonprofit sector is a little long on ideas and quite short on execution. And to have someone who can come in with both and really be able to operate and make this thing a reality the way he did is breathtaking.

What’s also breathtaking is $12.9 billion. That takes my breath away, and I’ve been doing this for 50 years. What’s one priority you’re driving right now that might even surprise people, but actually could reshape ALSAC by 2030?

Ike: You mentioned Seattle. For 15 years, before Memphis, I was in Seattle. I was in the tech industry. And even before that, for five years, I was in Dallas in the tech industry as well. So I come really from the world of technology.

And so if you ask me really what is the single biggest priority that is sort of driving us right now, it is the sort of merger between how technology is changing from technical development perspective, and how consumers are using technology to change their behavior.

So when you think about consumer behavior changes and the technology that is enabling those changes, that is the single biggest sort of priority or development that’s happening in our industry. And consumer behavior… consumer expectations are evolving so fast.

And I know many of my peers in other nonprofit institutions across the country… I’ve spoken to many of them… They think of it almost as a challenge. But I think that for ALSAC and also for many of my other nonprofit, sister charities, this is not a challenge. This is really an opportunity when you think about it.

And so for us, developing our infrastructure, our core data, getting ready for AI. If you think about AI, it’s nothing but finding patterns in data, so you need to have data arranged in a certain manner such that we can offer customized, personalized experiences that inspire our consumers at a point of time when they want to be inspired… allows them to keep in touch with us and our mission to hear the stories that inspire them in the manner, in the channels where they’re seeking those stories… Whether you’re looking at a reel for 30 seconds, or you’re watching an infomercial for 20 minutes, you should be able to see the things that you want to see at the right time, at the right place, in the right manner.

And so that is the biggest change that we are making. And I believe ALSAC is ahead on the curve on it. And if you look at all the emerging technology companies, you look at social media companies, entertainment companies, we work with all of them. We are very close partners with companies like Google and Meta and all of the others, and we innovate, co-innovate with them and to good success.

So I think that’s the single biggest change that we are making across ALSAC, is that really investing into technology, investing into consumer expectations and behaviors, and delivering on those expectations, and then taking our mission forward.

Denver: Yeah, and it truly changes the organization. I think still too many people think of technology over here, but really the whole core and face of the organization is completely different– the way you think, the way you operate, the way you hire, everything you do. And I think most people would agree, Ike, that St. Jude is the most tech-advanced charity in America.

One thing that I followed was that Ryan Trahan, 50 States in 50 Days campaign, I think you’re going to raise a million bucks. Next thing I look up, it’s $6 million. Next thing I look up, it’s $12 million. What did your data team see in real time that helped you ride that viral wave?

Ike: Oh, that’s a great question, Denver. That was such a learning for all of us. I mean, I would not be honest if I tell you that we had planned it all. No, we had not. You’re 100% right. We were thinking about a $1 million event. But here’s what we did right. We supported Ryan, right? And we provided him with people, with ideas, with brand messaging, with guidance. We connected him to patients. So we supported Ryan.

And what we learned is that Ryan needed speed. This is a person, Ryan and Haley, Ryan Trahan, who came up with “50 States in 50 Days.” And for some of our audiences who probably have not heard about it, this was a YouTube show. Ryan is an influencer, is a creator on YouTube. And Ryan went along with his wife, Haley, in 50 states, stayed in Airbnbs in each state, and he did an…

Denver: Had a stay overnight in each state. I remember that.

Ike: …overnight in each state, and he did it in 50 days. And every day, he recorded a video, sometimes two videos for St. Jude.

And it was meant to inspire people to donate to St. Jude. And our goal was to get $1 million, and I think we ended up with 12 million plus dollars.

Denver: Wow.

Ike: But one of the things we learned was speed, that decisions need to be made fast, need to be made on the ground. They need to be made at 7:00 a.m., and then they need to be made at 11:00 p.m.

And so the whole process, the age-old way of us doing things where we come up with a brand message or a few lines, and then we go through approval processes and “Is this the right fit?” et cetera, that takes a few days and then we say, Okay, yes or no, all of that doesn’t work. It needs to be instantaneous in the social media world.

And that requires that we have confidence in our team on the ground; that requires that we should be able to delegate effectively. And so those were really good lessons for us. And then Ryan did such a fantastic job of bringing in not just supporters, not just people here in the U.S., but globally.

He brought in corporations and small business owners. Every city or every state he traveled in, the nearby local business owners came in and joined the cause. And it was such a fantastic community-building effort. And so we learned a lot out of it, and I’m awed and just full of gratitude for both Ryan and Haley.

Denver: Yeah. It was so cool, I got to tell you. I’d be curious, Ike, when you have an activity like that and you do speed decision making, along the lines you said, does that carry over to other parts of the organization into the future, or does it become sort of an isolated activity or event?

Ike: It absolutely carries over. And you’d be surprised, Denver, you asked me the question first about what’s the biggest change we’re making at ALSAC, and I talked about technology. But one I didn’t talk about was really culture, and I was thinking about it, so I want to talk about that, which is…

Denver: I love that.

Ike: …this is part of a big cultural change here.

The speed to market is a major sort of factor that we all need to change, all nonprofits, as we need to succeed in this new world of instant virality. And the thing about viral videos and social media and influencers, the thing is that you can’t just create a video and say: This is going to go viral. It doesn’t work like that, right?

Denver: No.

Ike: It’s organic, it’s authentic, most importantly. And it is built to a segment of audience that have a very different set of expectations. So you have to take multiple shots at the goal, and you have to be ready to ride the wave when that wave happens, which requires that your whole organization has to be doing things in the right, same manner. It can’t be just one or two people doing it.

And so absolutely, this has led to cultural change here at ALSAC. It is continuing to lead to this cultural change in every part of our organization, not just sort of the social media or influencer team, but our product team, our technology team. We are all on Agile methodology on product and technology, which is very rapid development. Test and learn, we call it.

Denver: Yeah.

Ike: And we are doing a lot of that in our marketing and our development work as well.

Denver: As a leader, how do you change that culture? Look, this is my could-be number one gripe about nonprofits, and they don’t have the urgency that Bloomingdale’s does in the fourth quarter to sell blue jeans. You look at the work that they’re doing sometimes, and they’re so deliberate. And meetings end, and they take it up at the next meeting.

And if you had any insight or advice you could give to other nonprofit leaders, how do you increase the speed of a culture? Because it can be a really difficult thing to do, or at least I found with a lot of nonprofits that I speak to.

Ike: You’re right. Before ALSAC, I was doing strategy, and I did my MBA also specializing in strategy, just doing strategic planning, corporate development, M&A. And after doing strategy for more than a decade, the one thing I learned is that when a company has to be successful, culture eats strategy for lunch.

Denver: Yep.

Ike: It’s the most important thing. And so after doing strategy for 10 years, that’s the conclusion I came to, and it is by far the most important thing. I think culture is… it’s never a knife’s edge switch. It’s a slow evolution in every organization.

And leaders in any organization have to identify the positive of the existing culture. So for me, ALSAC has a lot of positives in the culture. We have a strong, high performing team that is very closely knit, almost like a family of people. We are all mission-focused, mission-devoted. Mission comes first more than anything.

So these are good parts of the culture, where you think we can do better speed, delegation, authority, et cetera. You start imbibing those traits, and you do it really by example. For me, I set up a few principles in the organization when I started as the CEO. Just four principles I set up, and I cascaded my principles down.

But more importantly, it’s not just communication and telling people what you believe in, and I’ll tell you my principles too. But it is actually acting on them and showing examples of them on a daily basis. And when you do it all the time, others start to follow it, and it becomes part of the culture.

And so we’ve had, I won’t call it a dramatic change, it’s just a slow evolution, but we’ve had a transformation of culture here. And I’m extremely proud of the culture that we are building here at ALSAC.

“So I believe that life is a long race. It’s a marathon and ultimately, you’re running against yourself. You have to get better than what you were yesterday. And if you think about it that way, just one small thing, just do it… one small thing a little bit better than what you did yesterday, that makes you better and better and better. And ultimately, you’re the best in the game. And I want that not just for ALSAC, I want that for every individual within ALSAC.”

Denver: And what are your four principles?

Ike: Great. So my first principle, I call it, “Get better every day.” So I believe that life is a long race. It’s a marathon and ultimately, you’re running against yourself. You have to get better than what you were yesterday.

And if you think about it that way, just one small thing, just do it… one small thing a little bit better than what you did yesterday, that makes you better and better and better. And ultimately, you’re the best in the game. And I want that not just for ALSAC, I want that for every individual within ALSAC.

Denver: The power of compounding.

Ike: The power of compounding– small, incremental changes. And the way you get better is using “test and learn.” So every day you do something… you do it as a test.

Denver: Yeah.

Ike: Personal life… and when I talk to my kids, I try something different every day and see their reaction, and I learn as I become a better parent.

And I think a lot of us do that subconsciously, any which way, but you make it a conscious effort. And our teams love that. They do “test and learn,” whether they’re looking at marketing, product, technology, finance. We all look at different ways of doing things and learning through that. That’s my principle number one.

My principle number two is, “Always use data in your decision making.” Now this is never perfect. I mean, you can get decisions wrong even if you use data, but you have to be able to use the best information and always feel like you’ve made the best decision based on the information that you had.

In the halls of ALSAC, we now talk the language of data. We make decisions with data. We don’t make decisions based on gut. And that’s really, really important. Number three for me is… this is a principle I borrowed from Reed Hastings from Netflix. He says, “Lead with context, not control.”

What that means is that you give people all the information that they need, and you give them the transparency with all the information, such that they can actually understand what the objectives are and then tailor their work around it. What happens in a lot of organizations is that some people who have the information, withhold the information, almost use it as a source of power.

Denver: Yes.

Ike: And so they think that if they hold, they only give enough information to others that: This is your job; you do this X, Y, Z, but I won’t tell you why, right?

Denver: Yeah.

Ike: And that gives them more power. That’s not right. That’s not true. And those people will never be able to do their best job because they don’t have the context of why they’re doing what they’re doing. So transparency and sharing of information enables everybody to do the best job. And so that’s my principle. I follow Reed’s “lead by context, not control.”

And the last one is what I call “freedom within framework.” What that means is that within a certain framework, within let’s say a job description of a particular job, you give the individual full freedom to make decisions. You do not micromanage them, you let them make those decisions.

And even if they get it wrong, you let them make the mistake. Not forever, but the idea is that people will learn from their mistakes. And if they don’t learn from their mistake, then you fire them. But you don’t fire them for making the mistake, you fire them for not learning from making the mistakes.

Denver: Exactly.

Ike: So those are my four principles. Get better every day; data-driven decision making; lead with context, not control; and then freedom within framework.

Denver: You cover a lot of ground in just four principles. I got to hand it to you, Ike. And two of them that connect, at least in my mind, is the data and the context of the transparency because a byproduct of those two is fairness.

Because when people feel that they can see what’s happening, and it’s based on some numbers or some reliable data, the whole idea of favoritism goes out the window, and they know that there’s objectivity in making these decisions.

And I hear so many complaints from the nonprofits we talk to and work with: fairness is they have this… that goes away. If they know you’re being fair, it really changes the culture of an organization dramatically.

Ike: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I mean, this goes across for-profit, not-for-profit, across industries is:  People perform their best when they know that the management is objective, it’s fair, and is driven by results and data, not by personal affiliations.

Denver: Yeah.

Ike: And we’ve seen this here at ALSAC, but I’ve seen this in other places as well. You have a lot less, call it, backbiting, a lot less…

Denver: I think a lot less closed doors, where people being outside closed doors… filling in the blanks of what they think might be happening. And those conversations are never good. And I had…

Ike: We recently developed, at least for this year we have, our team call it a motto, but internally we call it One Team, One Mission.

Denver: Cool.

Ike: And so we are building this organization as one team that is in support of just one mission, and that’s all that matters. And so it’s been really good.

Denver: It really is. I had somebody on the program the other day talking about, let’s say the equivalent of their four principles. And she was saying to the staff… she repeated them and repeated them, and she said the staff must be sick of hearing them.

But she continued to repeat them, and then she realized that they’re not sick of hearing them, I’m sick of saying them. But I need to keep on saying them because they’re forgotten as soon as you stop. So you just have to keep on going back over and over again before they become ingrained in each individual.

Ike: Well, I mean, I think it depends on the kind of organization you lead, and it depends on how you demonstrate them.

So I’ll give you an example for us here at ALSAC. We have these large meetings… We call them product reviews and marketing reviews, and we lead them sort of openly, where whoever is interested, who’s going to learn something out of it, is welcome to attend.

And in these large meetings, we discuss all the initiatives that we have going on, and we bring to the table all the data. So it’s real transparency in action, and everybody can see what others are doing and why they’re doing it, and how they can contribute to those initiatives.

So it’s transparency in action, data- driven decision making in action, lots of test and learning over there, so getting better every day. So I think from my perspective, it’s the demonstration of those principles in action that leads to adoption, not the repetition of the principles themselves.

“Like globally, for example, four out of five kids who will be diagnosed with cancer will not survive. Four out of five. And St. Jude, with its Global Alliance now, has the opportunity to change those odds. In fact, our goal is that within five years to, right now is 2025, but by the end of 2030, for the six most common forms of pediatric cancer, we will grow the survival rates from 20% to 60%.”

Denver: Yeah, yeah. You have to make them tangible so they understand.

Ike, families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, or housing, and it’s a promise that really defines St. Jude in so many people’s minds. For someone making a $20 gift, how does that contribution tangibly ripple through the system to help save a child’s life?

Ike: Yeah, so the mission of St. Jude is highly scalable, and the impact that even $20 makes on the mission can be felt. And we often talk about a small gift for a child at St. Jude, or the cost of a dose of chemotherapy, for example, et cetera, that those things can be funded, but it’s much more than that.

And when you think about sort of different perspectives that you think about, you think about the moments that you’re giving to that child and the family. You think about the happiness that happens as a result of the survival of that child. You think about many of these children who grew up to become firefighters and community service organizers, even scientists, even Wall Street bankers, and what they add to the general, sort of, growth of humanity.

You think about the dollars that go into research, and what research does is  multiplicative and even, I would say, exponential impact. When we discover a cure, and we’ve discovered so many cures, we share them freely, not just here in the U.S. but across the globe. We now have 400 plus institutions as part of  St. Jude Global Alliance.

And so they pick up those new protocols, new cures, and then our impact in saving those children multiplies many x. And so the impact of St. Jude, I’d say this mission… and I don’t mean to sound different than other not-for-profits in any way or better… but this mission, the impact is just exponential, and there are so many opportunities.

Like globally, for example, four out of five kids who will be diagnosed with cancer will not survive. Four out of five. And St. Jude, with its Global Alliance now, has the opportunity to change those odds. In fact, our goal is that within five years to, right now is 2025, but by the end of 2030, for the six most common forms of pediatric cancer, we will grow the survival rates from 20% to 60%.

Denver: Wow.

Ike: So that’s  miraculous… it’s an audacious goal. Like it’s…

Denver: It is. Wow.

Ike: It is really major, like 3x improvement in survival rates across the globe for the six most common forms of pediatric cancer. But we can do it, right? And that $20, that $20, that nurse, that firefighter, that school teacher that is giving us every month, is making that happen. And so it’s just amazing, the impact that our mission has.

“And so almost every issue these days is looked at from two different angles, and many are looked at from 17 different angles, but saving children is still unifying; it’s still one angle… like there are no two angles to it. And so that’s one thing that whether you are a person with limited means, or whether you are a billionaire, you all agree that saving children is worth the effort, is worth the money.”

Denver: Yeah. I love the way you framed that, too. You’re not talking about the $20 so much as what it does, it’s the people who it serves. And…

Ike: Absolutely.

Denver: …People are at the center of it, and that is brilliant.

As wealth concentration grows, you’ve made a point of cultivating ultra high net worth donors. What common insight or human truth have you found that truly connects them to this mission, beyond tax strategy and naming rights?

Ike: I mean, I want to go back to the impact. Everybody’s looking for impact.

Denver: Yeah.

Ike: And our impact is so real, Denver. When I bring in some ultra-high wealth, you call them, but ultra-high wealth individuals into our campus and take them into either the patient care facilities or into the scientific research facilities, they’re able to see the impact. They’re able to talk to the doctors, the nurses, the patients, the researchers, the scientists doing this work.

And they’re able to see what their dollars are able to achieve. And there’s so much innovation happening in our campus here from new ways of studying imaging, AI-driven new ways of studying CT scans and 3D images, to developing new drugs, new cocktails of drugs, to genomics and personalized medicine.

Like there is so much innovation happening here that when they come, they see the impact of their dollars. I think that’s the number one most important thing. Number two, what has happened of late is that our society and, in general, our population has become more polarized, more divided.

Denver: Oh, yeah.

Ike: And so almost every issue these days is looked at from two different angles, and many are looked at from 17 different angles, but saving children is still unifying; it’s still one angle… like there are no two angles to it. And so that’s one thing that whether you are a person with limited means or whether you are a billionaire, you all agree that saving children is worth the effort, is worth the money.

And I think we benefit from the fact that we have a brand that has a lot of trust, that has been earned over 70 years and a mission that is unifying.

Denver: Yeah. St. Jude is synonymous with common ground, and as you said, there’s not much of that remaining anywhere you look.

Ike, after 15 years of scaling Expedia’s global network, what was the most surprising parallel you found between orchestrating a travel empire and building a worldwide donor community?

Ike: Well, let me start by talking about motivations.

Denver: Okay.

Ike: Consumer motivations. And one of the learnings I had at Expedia is that people value things and what they buy at a store only to a certain extent. They think they value it a lot more, but they don’t. After they meet their… call it, needs, after you buy your fifth pair of shoes or whatever your needs are, experiences become a lot more important.

Denver: Sure do.

Ike: And so they want to go out for experiences, and then missions and supporting purposes become very important.

And so one of the things that I learned of a commonality for me was: it’s not about things that people buy, or it’s more about the feeling. What travel gives you is this feeling of exploration, of adventure, of learning. It’s the feelings, it’s the emotional connection. And what St. Jude gives you, or other nonprofit causes also give you, is a feeling of emotional connection.

It’s a feeling of satisfaction of doing good. It’s the feeling of helping others. And if there is one thing that leads to lasting happiness, and I use the word lasting happiness, is the feeling of helping others and doing good for others. And so I want to start with that. That was sort of one of my biggest learnings, is that it’s about the feelings, it’s not about things.

The second thing I’d say is that the world is changing with technology, and I believe that technology is a force for good. And if you look at the travel industry, the travel industry was the first industry, I would say, first major industry impacted by technology. When the Internet came out, online travel was the first thing that was sold, even before music was sold online.

It was travel that was the one that was picked up as the product that was sold. And travel was the industry that adopted technology really, really fast. And it changed the way that people live their lives. And I feel like the charitable not-for-profit sort of landscape is a little bit late in adopting technology.

But another similarity, or at least something that I learned here that I can apply, is that technology is a force of good, that adopting technology and adopting it early, it makes you stronger and better. So I’d start with those two learnings from my career.

Denver: No, I love those two learnings and that thing about feelings was so well said.

Your alignment with Dr. James Downing is critical. How does that relationship work, and how do you keep fundraising priorities synced with the most urgent scientific and political needs emerging from St. Jude’s labs?

Ike: Yeah. I mean, you used the word critical. I say that my alignment with Dr. Downing is the absolute most important thing for me in my job, is to make sure that I stay on the same lockstep as Dr. Downing. We are two individuals walking the same exact line.

And Dr. Downing is a mentor to me. He’s like my elder brother. He’s taken me under his wings, and he and I talk very often. We stay aligned. The most important thing is to have  trust in each other, to know that we are working on the same mission, and that we have the right intent and we are in this together.

My success will make him successful. His success will make me successful. In fact, I say this for ALSAC and St. Jude, is that ALSAC cannot be successful without St. Jude because without St. Jude, we don’t have a story to tell. St. Jude cannot be successful without ALSAC.

Denver: There you go.

Ike: Without ALSAC, they don’t have the funding to do the things that they need to do. So our success is interdependent. We realize it, I realize it, Dr. Downing realizes it. And more than anything, we enjoy each other. We have a lot of fun together. And so Dr. Downing and I have been traveling together of late, and so it’s been a great ride.

Denver: Yeah, yeah. That’s great. And I think the most underappreciated thing in organizations is having fun together. People don’t realize it… it just changes so much. And when people laugh together, that is a sign of trust.

Ike: Absolutely.

Denver: And you tend not to laugh with people you don’t have a good relationship with, or trust.

I want to ask you just a little bit about the expansion that’s going to add, I think, 2,300 jobs and transform the Pinch District. Talk a little bit about how you’re ensuring these growth benefits to the Memphis community that’s embraced St. Jude for decades.

Ike: Yeah. So St. Jude has a plan of growing significantly, and most of that growth is happening here in Memphis, Tennessee. ALSAC too is growing and some of that growth is happening also in Memphis. So I think I don’t have the exact numbers, Denver, but I think the majority of those jobs are here in Memphis, Tennessee.

And so Memphis has a fantastic community that has not just supported this mission. Saying that they’ve supported this mission would be an understatement. Memphis has one of the most generous, most philanthropic communities of all cities here in the U.S., and they have not just supported this mission, they have adopted this mission.

And so whenever we’ve needed people, when we have our marathon every year here in Memphis, the residents of Memphis, this is just one example, they come out and they put up stalls, and they offer free drinks and food to the people who are walking and running at the marathon.

And every time we’ve needed it, we bring in a family from a different part of the world that really needs help. There’ll be some residents who will cook the food of that culture and offer it to that family. So there’s a lot of closeness here of a close-knit community that is all in support of the mission of St. Jude.

And we want to bring in new people. Of course, we want to hire from this community as much as possible, but then we want to bring in new people. We want to bring the best talent here in Memphis, for St. Jude, and we have incredible success in attracting such talent.

We have a great mission. We have a great team. People want to come join this mission, join this team. People like myself, I’m an example of that. And then they add to the culture and to the community of Memphis. So overall, it’s been all positive for us here in Memphis.

Denver: Fantastic. Finally, Ike, if Danny Thomas walked into your office and asked for a, I don’t know, a five-minute update on his dream, what single milestone would you most want to show him?

Ike: When Danny opened this institution in the year 1962, when he first opened the doors of St. Jude, the survival rate for pediatric cancer was 20%. The most common form of pediatric cancer is called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ALL. The survival rate for ALL was 4%. Just 4%.

Denver: Wow.

Ike: A kid getting ALL, which was the most common form of pediatric cancer, was almost a death sentence. Today, the survival rate of ALL is 96%.

Denver: My goodness.

Ike: Today, the overall survival rate of pediatric cancer is above 80%, thanks in large part to discoveries and treatments here at St. Jude. And I feel like Danny Thomas would be proud of this team, including his own children who’ve contributed years and years of voluntary service on our boards and much more than that. He’d be really proud of all of us.

Denver: And he’d be happy too. You’ve already told us how a $20 gift can make a big, big difference and ripple through the organization, of the collective power of all those gifts. For listeners who want to make one of those gifts or a larger one, where do they need to go to do it? And also, what’s one meaningful action anyone can take today to advance St. Jude’s mission?

Ike: Well, let me start with the second one first.

Denver: Okay.

Ike: Look, we want involvement of all community into the mission of St. Jude, whether it’s volunteering, whether it’s passing along the good word, whether it is peer-to-peer fundraising, whether it’s just standing there and clapping for somebody who’s running or doing a gala for St. Jude. So we want community support and engagement across… it’s not just about fundraising.

And then talking about it, creating awareness, letting parents know that they should take care of small changes in the child’s body and get things checked regularly, for example, would be another way of growing this mission. Early detection is better than late detection in case of many of these pediatric catastrophic diseases.

And as far as supporting the mission through giving is concerned, there are many ways to give. We welcome all ways. We have the ability to accept donations in complex gifts like real estate, DAFs, or in simple gifts. And for simple gifts, I recommend our website. It’s the easiest way to connect with us… is to go to our website and become Partners In Hope.

Partners In Hope is our monthly giving program. Just for $20 a month, you can join, support this mission, become our Partner In Hope, in raising hope across the world. And as a compliment, you get a nice T-shirt to wear as well. We give you a T-shirt, so…

Denver: Well, nobody can turn down a T-shirt, that’s for sure. That’s one of the, “Oh, that’d be principle number five.” I want to thank you so much for being here today, Ike. It was an honor and a delight to have you on the program.

Ike: Denver, it was my pleasure, and it was my honor as well. Thank you so very much.

Denver: Thank you.