Find out how much of donation goes to charities

In my childhood, orange was the color of October — pumpkins, fall leaves and the Orange Crush defense of the Denver Broncos.

Now, the world is awash in pink for breast cancer awareness each October. My mother-in-law, Mary, has twice overcome breast cancer, so I'm all for people learning as much as they can about a cancer that kills about 40,000 American women each year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. A woman has a one in eight chance of having invasive breast cancer during her life, so it is imperative that women of all ages perform self-exams and have regular mammograms as recommended by their health-care providers.

The heightened awareness about breast cancer has, unquestionably, contributed to lower breast cancer death rates. The American Cancer Society says there are more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States, due in large part to earlier detection, improved treatments and a far greater commitment to medical research, thanks in part to aggressive fundraising on the part of nonprofit organizations. They're a driving force behind all the pink we see this time of year in stores.

This year, even the air traffic tower at New York's JFK International Airport was bathed in pink light as part of an observance recognizing Delta Air Lines employees who are breast cancer survivors and the airline's support of breast cancer research.

As much as the pink phenomenon has elevated breast cancer to the forefront of the public consciousness, it's big business for participating companies, too. Some companies that adorn their products with pink packaging and ribbons this time of year aren't exactly forthcoming about how much money goes to charity, let alone how much they profit from it.

It's easy to get swept up in cause marketing. This past weekend, while shoe shopping with my husband, I was momentarily tempted to buy a pair of pink sneakers because some of the proceeds would benefit breast cancer research. As it turned out, they weren't the type of shoe I needed. Even so, the tug to buy them was pretty powerful.

I'm sure it's more profound for people who have lost loved ones to breast cancer. There is something appealing — even satisfying — about supporting businesses that team up with charities. I don't particularly have a problem with that, so long as purchasers of these products have a full understanding of how much money the charities actually receive.