I sit down to review the goals for Walking with Jane and draft new ones every January as part of the planning process. Doing so requires me to look not only at Walking with Jane as an organization but also requires I look at what the other groups involved in the fight against NET cancer are doing.

The reason for that is I see no reason to keep doing something others are doing better. We have limited resources. I try to work on the things that seem to me to have too few resources aimed at them.

This year, I decided to zero everything out and start from scratch. I asked myself, “What do we do well—especially better than anyone else? What do we do poorly—or that some other group is doing so well and so broadly that we can step back from it? What are the holes that need to be filled regionally, nationally and internationally? What would I do if I were coming to this work today?”

Truth be told, while NET cancer has come a great distance since Jane’s death in 2010, a great deal remains to be done. Yes, patient awareness and support has come a great distance. The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation links patients to doctors and information about the disease at a very high level. Several groups sponsor both regional and national conferences aimed at patients and caregivers that are invaluable resources.

Research funding has also improved markedly over that period as well. Thanks to generous donations, the NET Research Foundation has begun to establish a broad base of researchers around the world. Globally, there is more research going on than ever before—research we can hope will one day result in cures for NET cancer patients everywhere. In the meantime, that research is turning up ways to improve patient quality of life—as well as lengthening their lives.

But too many primary care physicians remain ignorant about the disease. Even those who have heard of it often rely on vague memories of the past and know almost nothing about the latest research. It’s not that the resources to educate them don’t exist—it’s that they don’t know where to look.

Nor does the general public have any name recognition for the most part, despite NET cancer being the second most common form of gastrointestinal cancer in the US.

We rely heavily on big donors for both awareness and research funding. Sometimes that money comes with strings attached, pushing researchers in particular directions. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Drug companies only step up when they see science that is working—and we need to fund translational research that brings the results of basic science to patients who need treatments.

But basic research rarely attracts those kinds of donors. We need to develop ways to consistently reach the $25-$1000 donors who together can make an important difference. Walking with Jane has helped spearhead efforts at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in that direction. Last year, those efforts created about $700,000—the lion’s share through Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk and Pan Mass Challenge teams.

That was all part of a larger campaign to attract both large and small donors to the NET cancer program at DFCI. Over three years, 3-in-3: The Campaign to Cure NET Cancer, raised a total of over $3.6 million.

We need to spread the knowledge of how to do that to NET cancer centers everywhere. Part of our goals this year is a major push to do just that.

Our 2019 goals are broken down into three areas: Fundraising, Awareness, and Infrastructure. Some of the goals appear in all three areas.

1. Raise $900,000 in small donations for the Program in NET Cancer at DFCI
   1. Retain and Expand the #curenetcancernow Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk group
      1. Set a group goal of $200,000 and 300 walkers
      2. Set a NETwalkers Alliance team goal of $75,000 and 30 walkers
      3. Set a personal Walk goal of $18,000
   2. Expand the number of riders for NET Cancer of the Pan Mass Challenge
      1. Set a total Ride goal of $700,000
      2. Help the Heidi’s Heroes team reach $250,000
      3. Set a personal ride goal of $12,000
   3. Help NET Walk and PMC teams develop effective fundraising activities
2. Support efforts by the development office at DFCI to attract and retain large donors
3. Raise an additional $20,000 to support the Primary Care Physicians NET Cancer Awareness Initiative (Laura Maguire Hoke Fund for NET Cancer Awareness)
4. Raise $4000 for the Jane Dybowski Scholarship Fund
5. Help other NET cancer centers develop effective small fundraising events for Walks, Rides, etc.
6. Write and recruit fundraising articles for the fundraising section of the website and for the Walking with Jane Fundraising group

1. Redesign website in support of the new vision and purposes
2. Create both and materials for primary care physician conferences
3. Book and attend primary care physician conferences
4. Create press releases and pamphlets as needed
5. Create PSAs as needed
6. Do 2018 form 990 and post—with past years—to new website
7.  Create a team for Relay for Life

1. Complete Walking with Jane office
2. Update computer system and printer as needed
3. Design banners for craft fairs and PCP conference booth
4. Redesign and rewrite website
5. Maintain and expand social media connections
   1. SnapChat
   2. Others
6. Create detailed monthly plans for all of the above
7. Implement plans on a daily basis