Mission Milestones: Highlights from the Foundation's Strategic 2021-2024 Plan

2021-2024: Unprecedented Progress

Our 2021-2024 strategic plan guided us to unprecedented progress in driving next-generation treatments and establishing the Foundation as the trusted source for IBD patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. The Foundation fully embraced our patient-centric approach, integrating the patient voice into all we do. Our patient advisory committees shaped our research priorities, grant decisions, and program development across all our mission initiatives.

 

We expanded healthcare access for underserved communities by developing community-focused programs, creating inclusive research opportunities, and successfully advocating for quality, affordable care.


By bringing together the best minds in IBD research, we have accelerated advancements in IBD treatment and understanding of the disease. The growth of IBD Ventures, our venture philanthropy program, led to the development of new medications and devices currently in clinical trials. Expansion of IBD Plexus®, our integrated network of patient experiences, data, and biosamples, has significantly reduced the time needed for research discoveries. New collaborations have enabled us to leverage AI and other technologies to accelerate our research progress. We are recruiting for pioneering longitudinal studies on surgery (IBD SIRQC) and pediatric IBD (CAPTURE IBD), further enriching our IBD Plexus repository.

 

Working closely with a national network of healthcare professionals focused on improving the standard of care through IBD Qorus®, we developed tools that have demonstrably improved the quality of care for IBD patients.

 

We also introduced critical tools and resources to guide patients every step of the way in their IBD journey. Following the COVID pandemic, we re-opened Camp Oasis, our residential summer camp for kids with IBD with our popular new virtual option launched during COVID remaining available. Children who attend Camp Oasis have shown measurable improvements in their confidence, independence, and disease management. Millions of people have been reached through our public awareness campaign focused on early diagnosis.

 

These advancements would not have been possible without the critical funding raised through our innovative revenue-driving initiatives. Patients have more treatment options and better quality of life than ever before. We won’t stop until we find cures and we’re closer than ever.

 

Meeting Our Goals: Four-Year Achievements

 

Strategic Plan Objective

  Achievement

Expanding patient and caregiver engagement

  • Established a dedicated Patient Advisory Committee for each research initiative to provide the patient perspective and input, including one focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Significantly increased the number of people with IBD and their caregivers who are engaged across our education, support, and advocacy programs.

Improving access to care

  • Developed an IBD Consult care pathway to aid gastroenterologists in determining when a consult with an IBD specialist is advised.
  • Successfully advocated the U.S. Congress to double its IBD research funding to $2 million per year to advance research and increase awareness of IBD among patients and providers in underserved communities.

Improving remission rates

  • Developed an Urgent Care Toolkit through IBD Qorus, which reduces ER admission rates by 22%, hospitalizations by 21%, and opioid use by 50% in high-risk patients.

Advancing new therapies and innovative products

  • Launched IBD Incubator program to help academic discoveries advance toward new treatments - two drug discovery projects underway.
  • Supported the development of new products including a wearable sensor that detects gut inflammation in sweat and a “smart pill” that delivers medication directly to the colon through IBD Ventures, our venture philanthropy program.

Supporting a pipeline of committed clinicians and researchers

  • 90% of visiting IBD Fellowship and APP preceptorship program participants reported they gained valuable knowledge and confidence in diagnosing and managing the care of patients with IBD.
  • Engaged Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase access to grants for researchers from diverse backgrounds.

Expanding our reach

  • Reached millions of people across the country through our Spill Your Guts public service announcements campaign, launched in 2021.

Increasing engagement with principal supporters

  • Expanded volunteer leadership impact in key campaigns growing special events gross revenue by over $8 million and Take Steps by over $2.3 million from 2020 to 2024.

Pursuing high-margin opportunities

  • Launched organization-wide major giving initiative to expand donors giving at $10,000+ with over 46% growth from 2020 to 2024. 

Capitalizing on new trends

  • Launched new technology platforms, such as an enterprise migration to Salesforce, to enhance the participant experience and ensure every touchpoint is more dynamic and meaningful--enabling us to drive more fundraising dollars.

Exploring novel business concepts

  • Launched a public restroom finder app – We Can’t Wait – with 57,000 restrooms and 37,000 downloads.

Our Impact: 2021-2024

Increased our annual fundraising by more than $13 million
to enhance and expand our mission initiatives.

RESEARCH

  • 289 new research projects awarded
  • 34% increase in IBD patients participating in our IBD Qorus® quality-of-care initiative
  • Nearly 350% growth in biotech and technology partners uniting to transform research through our IBD Plexus® research accelerator, which has grown to be the most comprehensive collection of IBD patient data and biosamples in the world.

EDUCATION, SUPPORT, AND ADVOCACY

More than 6 million connections with patients and caregivers
through our education, support, and advocacy programs

 

  • 2,500 campers with IBD served by Camp Oasis
  • More than 332,000 connections with healthcare professionals through our professional education and resources
  • Nearly 100,000 visitors explore nutritious, gut-friendly meals on Gut Friendly Recipes, our new online recipe finder launched in 2023.
  • 12 states passed Step Therapy laws supported by the Foundation. In total, 38 states have enacted Step Therapy legislation to ensure that treatment decisions remain between patients and their clinicians.
  • Our Spanish language website, launched in 2022, consistently ranks among the top 10 pages visited on our site each month. 

 

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