CLEAR began its journey to determine the cause, prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative dementias in 2006 with a $15 million grant from the BC Provincial Government.

It was a good start, but the Board came to realize that Alzheimer's research had to be dramatically increased if we wanted to accomplish similar successes as cancer and heart diseases. Unfortunately, governments seemed unable to step up with much funding. Consequently, CLEAR made the decision to actively seek public donations.

This was easier said than done, as few outside the research community were aware of the excellent work we funded.

CLEAR's strategy to increase funding is working. We began with a major gift strategy in 2018 and, to become better known to the public, we rebranded to Canadians for Leading Edge Research Foundation (CLEAR) in 2022 with an advertising campaign. With exception of the advent of COVID in 2020, we have grown donations every year since 2018.

This new strategy has meant new costs for fundraising, marketing and staff. However, the board has focused on keeping the organization lean and efficient (the Foundation has never had a physical office and we are helped by a cadre of capable volunteers).

Consequently, Board donations and investment income have been able to meet and exceed all administration and fundraising expenses. This means that 100% of non-board donations have funded growing critical research, which annually is now over four times higher than the average in 2016-2020.

Looking forward, we need more research and research funding. New and growing donations and government contributions will be necessary. At the end of 2024, CLEAR had $1.3 million of research commitments pending and we plan on making over $800,000 of new grants in 2025.

We expect research funding will significantly increase beyond 2025, as the public becomes more aware of our excellent work.

Robert J. Hastings

Board Chair