Patient Empowerment Network Corporate Giving Policy
Patient Empowerment Network (PEN) is a nonprofit organization (EIN 27-1295230) dedicated to improving treatment outcomes and health literacy for cancer patients and care partners at every step of their journey.
Through collaborations with corporations from various industries and peer nonprofits, PEN develops and provides free online health literacy and empowerment resources covering diagnosis and testing, treatment, clinical trials, financing, recovery, to survivorship. These resources connect those in need to programs, experts, peers, and tailored resources that catalyze improved cancer outcomes.
Through such collaborations, PEN receives financial support in the form of restricted and unrestricted grants, sponsorships, and in-kind support. It has consistently been demonstrated that through PEN’s collaborations with corporations, far more cancer patients, their families, care partners, and health care professionals are connected to free resources which educate, then ACTIVATE them toward improved treatment outcomes for themselves and others.
PEN adheres to the following guidelines in working with corporate partners:
- All activities at PEN are independent, non-promotional, and free from commercial influences or bias. No company will control, influence or dictate the content or design of any activity of PEN.
- PEN does not endorse any particular treatment, medical product, or healthcare goods or services. PEN’s educational programs are not meant to provide medical advice.
- All financial support received from corporate partners imposes no obligation, expressed or implied, on any of the employees or affiliates of PEN to purchase (or recommend or arrange for the purchasing or prescribing) of any commercial product.
- All information in PEN’s educational programs and related initiatives will be presented in fair balance.
- PEN has full and final authority over the selection of presenters and contributors for its webinars, blog articles, PEN-Powered Activity Guides, workshops, and related educational programs, as well as editors of all print and online media.
- All presenters and editors of PEN’s educational programs are required to disclose their relationships with any corporate supporters.
- Although PEN may, at times, develop the content from its activities with information and data provided by external sources, PEN remains the owner of this content and retains the right to plan, execute and edit such content at its full discretion.
- PEN’s webinars, blogs, and other educational programs cannot be altered, revised, or duplicated without PEN’s prior written consent.
- Any corporate partner seeking to cite PEN (including its images, logo, registered marks, mission, and related language) in its own programs and/or materials must first obtain prior review and prior written consent from PEN.
- PEN regularly discloses the names of all of its corporate partners, as well as the specific activities supported by each partner in its materials including (but not limited to) its website and annual report.
PEN values its reputation as a trusted source of unbiased, quality support and information about successfully living with and achieving the best possible outcomes from cancer. This policy was developed to reinforce our commitment to this reputation and to the high-quality programs for which we are known and respected.
Updated August 2021
