lets take a look at Armstrong's expenditure in Livestrong, and the effectiveness and efficiency, and who benefits?
Charity Navigator has Livestrong in the worst category for expenditure to cost ratio.
Armstrong's charity is about raising awareness, and funneling revenue to his charity, about raising awareness, and survivor support and advocacy. Such nebulous goals, it is not as cancer awareness was lacking before. Armstrong's Livestrong programs and aid are a chopshop and have copied advice and programs offered previously, he is not novel, it is just supplanting the other space, and taking market share.
So how does he work out on expenditure efficiency? Is his space adequately covered at the moment by other programs, and his spendthrift expenditure and promotion of the Livestrong brand, hurts the % of funds going towards effective research for a cure for cancer.
There have been some studies where they find there is a set pool of funds for charity, and people will give what they have budgeted and find select causes. When the Tsunami hit in the pacific, other charities suffered because their take was less, because people donated to the Tsunami support. Charities have hurt a little in the economic downturn, but, that is a different variable. Salient point, charity donations are fungible, so what counts is the efficiency and effectiveness on the use of the money.
See Mahmood Mamdani a professor academic of African and Asian studies at Columbia University and his findings on SaveDafur.org. They are a propaganda charity and no money reaches refugees in Sudan. My thesis would be Armstrong's charity does more to elevate him onto the political landscape and MSM media discourse, than his sporting accomplishments ever could. He would never speak to the late Tim Russert on Meet the Press and get traction in DC and the beltway via cycling.
Armstrong is about Armstrong, twitting, and w@nking.