Cancer Research Fund of the Damon Runyon-walter Winchell Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131933825
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124550532
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$54,683,607
Expenses
$25,059,618
Assets
$170,380,475
Liabilities
$35,526,498

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • YUNG S LIE PHD (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • YUNG S LIE PHD (PRESIDENT & CEO): $652,293 total reported compensation
  • CLARE CAHILL (CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER): $290,140 total reported compensation
  • KIMBERLY KUBERT (DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS): $247,342 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 accelerate breakthroughs by providing today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative cancer research. The foundation's goals are to identify and fund the best and brightest early-career scientists in cancer research; enable them to take risks on bold new ideas; and accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into new ways to prevent or cure all forms of cancer. Its internationally recognized and highly competitive grant programs are designed to achieve these goals.

What it reported doing in 2024

Quantitative biology fellowship awards: this award program is designed to encourage quantitative scientists (trained in fields such as mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering, and others) to pursue research careers in computational biology under the joint mentorship of leaders in both computational science ("dry lab") and cancer biology ("wet lab"). By investing in this area, damon runyon will bring additional attention to the importance of these specially trained scientists for making meaningful progress in cancer biology.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 90% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 54.2%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.8; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 36 of 36 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $22.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $652K · 47 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $471K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.