Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis Review

Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis

• Established in 2005, when the Boston Cure Project began more formal national expansion under the umbrella name Accelerated Cure Project for MS
• Founded by Art Mellor and Dr. Timothy Vartanian
• Headquarters are located in Boston
• National nonprofit organization dedicated to curing MS by determining the cause of MS.

Multiple Sclerosis affects over 400,000 people in the US. Did you know that? I didn’t.

I was blown away by some of the statistics I read as I poked around the Accelerate Cure Project for MS website.  The numbers are truly staggering.  Over 2 million people have the disease worldwide! Think about that.  Over 2 million people suffer from a disorder that affects their central nervous system, often resulting in severe disabilities such as the inability to walk and blindness.  A disorder of which there are no known causes. No known cures. And very modest treatments. It’s a bit staggering.  And exactly why organizations like this one are so important.

When I searched for Accelerated Cure Project for MS at Google, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to find.  A search for “cure for MS” resulted in the organization turning up at the #3 spot in the list.  The header the organization uses is “National nonprofit dedicated to curing MS by determining its causes.” Short, sweet, but clearly the repetition of “cure” and “MS” helps keep the organization visible online.

I had some trouble when I looked for partnerships that the organization might keep-- I did not find any until the end of my research when I was reading through “People” pages that feature the leadership of Accelerated Cure Project for MS.  Here, you can read through a list of partners, who include Clockwork Design Group, Core Connections, John Hancock Long Term Care, Mail Perfect Inc and more.

Although there are no social networking links at the Accelerated Cure Project for MS website, I was able to find the organization on Facebook (although, I was unsuccessful when searching Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube).  The Facebook fan page has 297 fans (“likes” these days), lots of updates, but is relatively quiet otherwise (there are no photos, discussions, etc.)

At the top tab bar there is a link to “sign up”, which offers site visitors the option to register for newsletters that the organization publishes.  Clicking on this “sign up” tab takes you to a page that asks for basic contact information, and allows individuals to choose whether they’d like to sign up for general announcements, monthly status updates, or volunteer opportunities. Here, you can also sign up for a quarterly newsletter that is mailed by post.  These are the basic options offered to those who wish to become “joiners” with the organization by taking the first step towards making themselves known to the Accelerated Cure Project for MS staff members.

Without any blogs or forums at the website, Accelerated Cure Project for MS does not offer its supporters any options for knowledge sharing between each other or among staff members with Web 2.0 tools.  They do, however, encourage knowledge sharing at a less interactive level with certain site initiatives such as the “Let Us Know What You Think” page, which offers supporters a contact to whom they can “share” stories, thoughts, and more.  These comments are then posted by site officials at this page.

Volunteering seems to be an activity that is highly supported by the staff at the organization- there is a side tab titled “Volunteer” at the homepage that features pages with information regarding volunteer opportunities, volunteer agreements and young professionals.  When I clicked on the opportunities tab, the page I surfed to offered up a bunch of really interesting information.  In 2009, 150 people volunteered 5,250 hours to Accelerated Cure Project for MS (very nice!).  The jobs these volunteers signed up for ranged greatly; from volunteering for the letter writing campaign, to joining an event committee, to hosting a fundraiser, to office help- there are opportunities for all skill sets and commitment levels.  Beyond the information given about each job, there are no interactive tools offered at this section of the site, only contact information for those interested (no online sign ups, or ways for volunteers to connect online).  Volunteers also must sign an agreement, which is featured at a separate page.  Information on the YPAC (Young Professionals Accelerating the Cure), a Boston-based board that focuses on event planning, is also found at this section. 

For those who wish to donate to the organization, click on “contribute” at the top tab bar to surf to a page that offers a number of options for giving financially to Accelerated Cure Project for MS.  The organization accepts cash, stock, vehicle or in-kind gifts (you can donate directly through Network for Good), and also supports a matching gift program.  This page also mentions a campaign called “Opening doors to the Cure”, but says it is coming soon.

An events tab at the side bar on the homepage allows site visitors to look through upcoming and past events as well as flip through photographs that supporters have submitted called “t-shirt photos.”  These are photos of supporters in their Accelerated Cute Project for MS t-shirts around the globe (an interesting way of supporting advocacy).  Otherwise, the “upcoming events” links offer supporters information (of the who, what, when, where, why sort) and a contact for questions but no online sign ups or tools for hosting your own events.

When I searched the site for advocacy and recruitment tools, I was unable to find any Web 2.0 tools or toolkits (such as banners, share buttons, email templates, etc.) specifically directed towards advocating for or recruiting new members for Accelerated Cure Project for MS.  The organization does offer site visitors downloads such as documents with FAQ, press fact sheets, educational paper, movies and audio, that could be used as advocacy or recruitment tools, but they are not specific.

While boosterism seems to be encouraged through certain initiatives (such as allowing volunteers to host fundraisers), there are no obvious or explicit avenues available for supporters to engage in different types of booster activities (actions an individual can take to energize groups of supporters). 

There is very little at the Accelerated Cure Project for MS site that speaks to the type of active-boosterism that we encourage at CoreWeb--no web tools to encourage supporters to blog, start volunteer groups, or advocate within a local community, for example. 

There is, however, information available at the “Volunteer” tab that speaks to boosterism (encouraging supporters to host their own fundraisers for the organization, as mentioned above), but no Web 2.0 tools or toolkits that would empower supporters to take these steps on their own.

You can learn about Accelerated Cure Project for MS leadership by mousing over the “About” tab and clicking on “People”.   Here, information is available regarding the Board of Directors, Staff, Scientific Advisory Board, Pharmaceutical Advisory Board, Board of Advisors and Partners. Kudos to the organization for providing site visitors with comprehensive information about their leadership- photos and biographies are available for each staff and board member.