The results are in from our 2019 supporter survey and we are excited to share what we learned about our community.

CERA’s Donor Relations Advisor, Elaine Levine, says CERA is extremely fortunate to have such a generous and loyal community of supporters.

“We were delighted to receive almost 500 responses and thank everyone who took the time to fill out the survey,’’ she says.

“Many of our supporters told us they have been personally touched by the hardships associated with eye disease, either directly or within your families and friendship circle.

“That knowledge motivates our researchers to keep striving to find new treatments to prevent and treat vision loss, and hopefully one day cures which will restore vision. It also helps us make sure we are keeping you up to date about the issues that are important to you.’’

What we found out

We learned that 50 per cent of our community are aged 74 and over, and the vast majority (81 per cent) have either been personally affected by eye disease or know someone who has.

Age-related macular degeneration is the eye disease our supporters are most concerned about (45 per cent), closely followed by glaucoma (43 per cent). Cataracts and diabetic eye disease are also significant concerns.

We also wanted to know why our community chooses to support CERA’s work. It was great to see 66 per cent of respondents agree with the statement “I believe CERA is making progress in the fight against eye disease” and 62 per cent respond, “I care about medical research in general.”

Being personally affected by eye disease or having a loved one who is affected by eye disease was another big motivator for supporting CERA.

More than two thirds (68 per cent) told us they wanted to learn about the latest in eye research. Information on keeping your eyes healthy (44 per cent), learning how to manage vision loss (26 per cent), and meet and greets with researchers (25 per cent) were also areas of great interest. We will strive to deliver this through our program of community events this year and beyond.

Gifts in wills

CERA would like to thank those supporters who indicated their intention to leave a gift to CERA in their will. This generous act will ensure continued support for our researchers to find cures for eye disease for future generations.

Thank you

“We would like to thank everyone for their generosity in sharing their answers. The feedback we received will truly guide our organisational strategies over the coming years.’’