Children's Cancer Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931181662
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032443141
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,810,519
Expenses
$4,410,395
Assets
$3,147,849
Liabilities
$2,139,236

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jack Pipkin (Chief Executive Officer)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jack Pipkin (Chief Executive Officer): $180,136 total reported compensation
  • Nicole McDonald (Senior Director of Finance & Ops.): $146,963 total reported compensation
  • Andrea Tichy (Sr. Director of Brand Marketing & Communications): $119,488 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At Children's Cancer Association (CCA), our mission is to deliver Joy-centric programs that create immediate and measurable improvement to the mental and emotional wellness of young patients.

What it reported doing in 2024

JoyRx Mentorship: JoyRx Mentorship fosters trusted companionship to inspire friendship and distraction during an isolating time. Trained adult volunteer JoyRx Mentors provide emotional support to children in treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses, and they offer critical support to parents who endure the hardships of hospital stays with their child.In the hospital, JoyRx mentors arrive with bags full of toys, games, and activities to help their young friends laugh and smile. Their friendship helps kids just be who they are - appealing to their interests and personal preferences. Continued on schedule O.With their mentor, they can play games, watch movies, do arts and crafts, or whatever activity they want to help pass the time in the hospital. For parents, these visits offer a brief respite, allowing a moment for themselves - they can take a walk, grab some coffee, spend time with their other children, or take an opportunity to step away and breathe. Mentorship matches can last multiple years, and often the bonds of friendship are still strong long after the final treatment.Since 1999, the program has matched more than 1,600 kids undergoing lengthy treatment regimens with a trained and trusted adult mentor volunteer.In April 2025, the organization reached a major milestone since returning in hospital post COVID: supporting over 100 active mentorship matches for the second year in a row.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • 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: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 26th 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: -15.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 67.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $180K · 33 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.