Cancer Commons

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453266802
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
6502894044
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health Support Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,842,982
Expenses
$1,726,483
Assets
$668,478
Liabilities
$125,129

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL BILLINGS (VICE CHAIR AND ACTING CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ADRIENNE NUGENT (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $170,180 total reported compensation
  • SUNEETA MANDAVA (SENIOR CLINICAL ONCOLOGY SCIENTIST): $166,819 total reported compensation
  • MASAKO YOKOTA (DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN): $114,194 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cancer commons is a nonprofit that provides patients, caregivers, and treating physicians with actionable information to support informed treatment decisions, along with direct-to-patient navigation services for individuals with cancer and their caregivers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Patient navigation and support: cancer commons provided personalized navigation and expert guidance to approximately 1,200 new and returning clients during the year ended june 30, 2025. Many of these individuals faced advanced or hard-to-treat cancers, including brain and pancreatic cancers, where treatment decisions are complex and time-sensitive.the organization's services help patients and caregivers understand their diagnosis, clarify treatment goals, and evaluate testing, therapies, and clinical trials. Each patient is paired with a scientist who reviews medical history, researches additional testing, and identifies potential treatment paths and trial opportunities. This individualized support empowers patients to make informed decisions at critical moments in their care and helps families navigate an overwhelming and rapidly evolving medical landscape. Donor support enables cancer commons to provide these services at no cost to patients.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.8% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $133K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.