Her Majesty Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands at that time, celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 1948 and received a 'National Gift', an amount of almost two million Dutch guilders (currently this would be worth over eight million euros), which she decided to dedicate to the fight against cancer.
A group of Amsterdam dignitaries established the Society for Support of the Queen Wilhelmina Fund ( 'Vereniging tot Steun aan het Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds' ) in that same month, to raise funds so the Foundation would be able to continue its work after having spent the National Gift.
While its annual door-to-door fundraising is an important source of revenues, the Society also receives donations from over 800,000 regular donors and lottery participants (almost 5% of the total Dutch population, being around 17 million) and from approx.
Hundreds of individuals each year organize fundraising actions for DCS, for example Alpe d'HuZes, Ride for the Roses and local events derived from the US Relay for Life concept.
The Society spent 17 million euros (20% of its budget) to education and patient support in 2008.