Americans for Cures Foundation Formerly Alliance for Stem Cell Research

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201824931
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
6508330100
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Health Program (Includes General Health and Wellness Promotion Services)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,264
Expenses
$132,543
Assets
$103,461
Liabilities
$13,160

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA KING (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ROBERT N KLEIN III (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DON REED (SECRETARY/TREASURER): $43,200 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide advocacy dedicated to promoting life-saving stem cell research and support implementation and awareness of the California stem cell program.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided advocacy dedicated to promoting life-saving stem cell research and therapy development. Staff made available technically correct scientific and policy-related information and materials to the public, individuals and their staffs via our websiteand outreach. Materials included information about key stem cell and therapy developments, as well as the potential implications of "personhood" legislation for in-vitro fertilization (ivf), stem cell research, and other areas. Continued to help communicating to thecalifornia public about the successes of cirm and its grantees around California.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 10
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5,754.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.6%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.9% per year; rating input score 0; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 13 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $110K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.