You might think that giving small amounts to medical research is pretty much a waste of time. What difference can $100 make? To make any sort of headway researchers need millions not hundreds.

That is one way of looking at it.

Here is another.

If you’ve read Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell you’ll be familiar with the concept of ‘How Little Things Make a Difference.’ The book puts forward a theory of how social epidemics spread. Gladwell gives many examples of how these trends grow steadily until a magic point is reached – the Tipping Point – where one small thing tips the steady growth into epidemic proportions. So suddenly everyone is wearing Hush Puppies.

Imagine if you could go back in time and support the discovery of penicillin, or the revelation that a simple dietary supplement (folic acid) dramatically decreases the likelihood of a child being born with neural tube defect (spina bifoda.)

We don’t have a time machine but what we do have is researchers dedicated to finding the answers to illnesses and conditions that drastically affect millions today.

What if your donation was the tipping point for a prevention for cerebral palsy, a new early intervention therapy for depression or schizophrenia, or a brand new treatment for multiple sclerosis?

I know from my work with the researchers at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance that they believe a breakthrough in the prevention or cure of cerebral palsy is achievable in our lifetimes. This, the most common physical disability in childhood, affects tens of thousands in Australia and millions around the world. Prevention, cure and treatment will save so much pain for children and adults but also they will save millions in cold hard cash in care costs for individuals, families and tax payers.

What if the organisation you wanted to support had $999,900 from existing fund-raising efforts and just needed $100 more to give support to a scientist who ends up making a breakthrough.

What if that $100 came from you?