MARC has assigned a “Gold” Nonprofit Impact Assessment to Majlis Kanser Nasional (MAKNA). This assessment considers MAKNA’s mission coherence, social and economic impact, its governance and ethics practices, as well as its commitment to accountability and transparency. MARC’s assessment also includes an evaluation of the nonprofit’s fiscal responsibility and its ability to build its financial strength through surpluses, savings and income stream diversification.
Founded in 1994, MAKNA is a not-for-profit social enterprise that was launched with a vision to mobilise resources to provide curative, preventive, research and support services to cancer patients and families, high-risk groups and the general public. Through its programmes which augment public health cancer prevention and control efforts, MAKNA promotes equitable access to screening, diagnosis, multimodal treatment and palliative care.
The role MAKNA plays in advancing social protection for underprivileged cancer patients, as well as reducing cancer incidence and the impact of cancer is particularly impactful from the standpoint of cancer’s social and economic burden. Beyond the direct beneficiaries of its programmes, MAKNA’s social impact extends to building social capital and encouraging giving among its employees, volunteers, and charitable donors who support the nonprofit’s mission to serve the public good. As a significant employer with a workforce of just over 200 individuals above, MAKNA also spurs economic activity by consuming goods and services that create more employment in delivering its mission.
MAKNA’s governance and organisational structures meet the needs for nonprofit transparency, accountability and mission alignment. MAKNA has clearly defined terms of references for its board of trustees and executive committee. Adequate policies, procedures, conduct codes and compliance structures are in place to promote self-governance, ethical behaviour and accountability. MAKNA adopts stakeholder inclusive reporting that is characterised by transparent communication of its social performance and impact.
MARC believes that the supportive public policy environment in which MAKNA pursues its mission continues to be critical to securing its continued financial sustainability, particularly the tax exemptions it enjoys. MAKNA has demonstrated considerable success in building a sizeable, loyal donor base which MARC considers to be vital to the nonprofit’s financial sustainability, along with its longstanding commitment to fiscal responsibility.
This is the first time MARC has provided such an impact assessment for a nonprofit. MARC’s independent third-party impact assessments for nonprofits aim to provide charitable givers a more detailed picture of the nonprofit they are supporting and the impact of their philanthropic giving. MAKNA’s report can be accessed here.
Contact:
Milly Leong, +603-2717 2938/ milly@marc.com.my.