Caring Cross Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
815088460
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Phone
2409126874
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Medical Research N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,365,843
Expenses
$10,310,690
Assets
$16,467,907
Liabilities
$5,991,534

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BORO DROPULIC PHD MBA (EXEC DIR., FOUNDER, PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RIMAS ORENTAS PHD END 92024 (SCIENTIFIC DIR., FOUNDER, SEC, PRES): $250,112 total reported compensation
  • ZHONGYU ZHU (CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER): $226,058 total reported compensation
  • MEGAN FORREST (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $222,292 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Caring cross is focused upon accelerating the development and implementation of advanced medicines like car-t cell and stem cell gene therapies. In partnership with like-minded stakeholders, caring cross develops and deploys technologies, systems and therapeutic candidates that improve the affordability and accessibility of these potentially life-saving therapies for all patients in need, everywhere.

What it reported doing in 2024

The regents of the university of California on behalf of its san francisco campus "ucsf": complete the phase i iia clinical trial develop a commercial manufacturing process and develop a regulatory pathway plan for decentralized fda approval of the anti-HIV duocar-t cell product.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -62%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.6; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 60.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 39.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 58% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $250K · 23 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $856K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.