How You Can Help

Planned Giving

Monroe Dunaway Anderson Society

Creating a legacy of giving beyond your lifetime requires wisdom, vision, and a plan tailored to your unique circumstances. Therefore, a planned gift can take the form of a bequest, charitable remainder trust, gift annuity, charitable lead trust, life insurance policy, family limited partnership, or select gifts of real estate. If you desire, the experienced professionals in our Development Office will help you and your financial or legal advisors achieve a giving plan that is in your best interests and that fulfills your desire to help eliminate cancer.

Regardless of the size of your gift or the type of gift you choose, you can improve the outlook for cancer patients. Over the years, society members have provided the seed money for basic science and clinical research, enhanced our patient care programs, strengthened and broadened our professional education programs, and contributed to capital project goals, such as new hospitals, clinics, and research facilities.

In addition, planned gifts allow the leadership of M. D. Anderson to engage in long-term financial planning with confidence, knowing that resources will be available in the future. Unrestricted gifts also give M. D. Anderson vital flexibility in responding to new directions in cancer research. This ability to act quickly is especially valuable in the 21st century as rapid advances in research give rise to unprecedented opportunities for progress against cancer. Today's planned gift can make possible tomorrow's research breakthrough.

Planned giving is truly philanthropic. Donors may never experience the joy of seeing the results of their gifts. Such generosity springs from the heart with no expectation of reciprocity. Nevertheless, we would like to acknowledge your support as a member of the Monroe Dunaway Anderson Society by including you in special mailings, and with invitations to programs and events. In addition, if you wish, we will be happy to recognize you appropriately in select institutional publications.

When M. D. Anderson established his foundation in 1936, the survival rate for cancer patients was 25 percent. Today, the American Cancer Society reports that the five-year survival rate for all cancers combined is 60 percent. This tremendous progress is due to the outstanding advances made in cancer research and treatment, many of which were pioneered by the faculty and staff of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and to those friends of the institution who share the vision and generosity of spirit that motivated Monroe Dunaway Anderson.

Your decision to become a member of the Monroe Dunaway Anderson Society echoes that motivation, reflects your commitment, and validates the confidence of others who made similar choices before you. Thank you for helping us maintain the standard of excellence that has distinguished M. D. Anderson Cancer Center from its inception.

If you are already a Monroe Dunaway Anderson Society member, please let us know.

Who was Monroe Dunaway Anderson?

Perhaps it was his banking background, but Monroe Dunaway Anderson of Jackson, Tennessee, recognized a good investment when he saw it, be it a commodity, a business or the future. In 1904, M. D. Anderson parlayed his banking expertise into a business partnership that engaged in buying and selling cotton, the world's most popular product at that time. A few years later, in order to build the business, he moved to Houston, Texas, to give Anderson, Clayton & Co. access to larger banks and, eventually, to deepwater shipping on completion of the Houston Ship Channel. Through hard work and good management, the company prospered, and M. D. Anderson became wealthy.

Always a good businessman, in 1936, M. D. Anderson decided to make a long-term investment in the future of Houston, the city that had given him such opportunity. He created the charitable M. D. Anderson Foundation that today has paid greater dividends in terms of improved human lives than the founder ever could have imagined. In 1941, two years after Anderson's death, the foundation trustees approved a $500,000 matching grant that enabled the funding of what is now The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Thousands of people, both in Houston and beyond, have benefitted from world-class patient care, research, and education because M. D. Anderson transformed his vision into a long-range, well-managed plan of action.

Today, the Monroe Dunaway Anderson Society honors both the Cancer Center's namesake and other forward-thinking individuals who choose to invest in the future with a planned gift benefitting M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and our mission areas of patient care, research, education, and prevention. It would be our pleasure to welcome you into this special circle of recognition.