Abcd Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391967028
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Phone
8009774121
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cancer

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,318,188
Expenses
$1,127,192
Assets
$1,288,978
Liabilities
$34,509

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BILLIE JEAN SMITH (PRESIDENT)
  • LINDA EB HANSEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ELLEN FRIEBERT SCHUPPER (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELLEN FRIEBERT SCHUPPER (CEO): $160,895 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Abcd: after breast cancer diagnosis nurtures hope and restores confidence in anyone impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis. Our vision, as articulated by our founder, the late melodie wilson oldenburg, is: "no one should go through breast cancer alone."

What it reported doing in 2025

Breast cancer support - since 1999, abcd has been singularly-focused on providing free, one-to-one emotional support to thousands of people around the united states and the world who are impacted by breast cancer - patients, survivors, previvors / people at high-risk of developing breast cancer, people living with metastatic disease/stage iv, families, and friends. Our signature service is creating a unique match between someone who needs support (abcd participant) and an abcd mentor who not only share a similar diagnosis and treatment plan, but also have similar ages, common interests, personal characteristics, career paths, and family dynamics. Abcd mentors are volunteers who are at least one year past completing their breast cancer treatment (except for hormone replacement therapy), are living with metastatic disease (mbc), are a previvor, or are a care partner. Every mentor is vetted and interviewed by abcd staff and then participates in live virtual meet-ups and modular education sessions to learn how to provide emotional support. We currently have 300+ racially and ethnically diverse mentors located across the united states, ranging in age from 31 to 85, and representing a wide range of breast cancer diagnoses, treatments, surgeries, and outcomes. In 26 years, we have served 113,000+ people in all 50 states and 10 countries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.3%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.14; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.3% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $906K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 18 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.