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Small Donations on Paper: How the Breast Cancer Research Semipostal Funds Research
The Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp raises money for research through a sale price above its postage value. Issued on July 29, 1998, it became the first U.S. semipostal fundraising stamp.
In this article, BCRS means the Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp. “Semipostal” identifies a postage stamp sold at a price that includes both postal value and an additional fundraising amount authorized for a stated cause.
The design carries the phrases “Fund the Fight” and “Find a Cure” beside Whitney Sherman’s illustration of a mythic huntress. Ethel Kessler designed the stamp layout. The image and wording make the research purpose visible on the postal object itself; neither phrase is a claim that a single purchase cures a disease.
Postage and the contribution amount
The sale price combines postage with an authorized fundraising differential. The table below follows that amount through permitted program-cost accounting to the transferable net proceeds and their 70/30 research allocation.
| Stage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Customer sale price | Includes the stamp’s postage value plus an authorized fundraising differential |
| Postal accounting | Separates postage and permits reasonable program costs allowed by law to be accounted for |
| Net proceeds | The remaining fundraising amount available for transfer |
| Research allocation | 70 percent to NIH and 30 percent to the Department of Defense |
Program-cost deductions affect the later net-proceeds calculation; the customer pays the posted sale price at checkout.
Reporting totals and design credits
USPS figures available through August 2026 reported more than 1.2 billion stamps sold and more than $99.9 million raised. Those totals are cumulative through that reporting point, not annual sales or a prediction of future proceeds. Whitney Sherman created the artwork and Ethel Kessler served as art director; those are distinct roles.
What a purchase can support
The National Cancer Institute identifies the BREAST Stamp Project as one effort funded through a competitive award from the Stamp Act Fund. Its researchers studied breast density, tissue characteristics, and factors associated with breast cancer risk among women undergoing image-guided biopsy. NCI also lists other programs supported by stamp funds in its funding history.
Those records show a research use for transferred funds. They do not make an individual stamp purchase the cause of a named cure, trial result, or laboratory discovery.
Sources
Key facts were checked against USPS semipostal information and reported totals; National Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Research Stamp funding and design information; the NCI fiscal 2025 stamp-fund table; the NCI BREAST Stamp Project record; and the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Act record.