UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals

Legal name: Children's Hospital & Research Cntr Fndn

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941657474
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
4155148060
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,185,170
Expenses
$26,044,086
Assets
$400,002,256
Liabilities
$21,740,580

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIN HICKEY (FOUNDATION PRESIDENT (THRU 9/24))
  • SURESH GUNASEKARAN (CEO/PRESIDENT UCSF)
  • NICHOLAS HOLMES (DIRECTOR/HOSPITAL PRESIDENT)
  • JASMINE C PAYNE (FOUNDATION PRESIDENT (START 9/24))
  • PAUL VELASKI (CFO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SURESH GUNASEKARAN (CEO/PRESIDENT UCSF): $2,402,677 total reported compensation
  • NICHOLAS HOLMES (DIRECTOR/HOSPITAL PRESIDENT): $1,167,112 total reported compensation
  • ERIN HICKEY (FOUNDATION PRESIDENT (THRU 9/24)): $597,677 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Everything we do is for kids. To further our mission of serving kids, we invest heavily in research to discover better ways to treat and prevent childhood diseases. Many of our providers conduct research or work closely with others who are making groundbreaking medical discoveries. Through such endeavors as our sickle cell disease research program, we're able to quickly translate research into better health outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in our communities. In addition to our world-class medical care, the compassion of our doctors, nurses and other staff members is key to our mission. We receive countless letters of gratitude from patients and their families, a true measure of the valuable and caring s.

What it reported doing in 2024

The funds are a part of ucsf benioff oakland's comprehensive campaign, which supports the new hospital building modernization project, as well as reimagining 12,000 square feet of space at the former children's hospital oakland research institute located at 5700 martin luther king jr. Way and a building providing mental health services at 770 53rd street. Children's hospital & research center foundation, dba ucsf benioff children's hospitals foundation, has a 25-member board of directors comprised of community leaders and key hospital leadership. The board provides direction and oversight for planning and implementing a comprehensive fund development program that includes: major and annual gifts; planned giving; foundation and corporate gifts and grants; children's miracle network hospitals and cause related marketing; special events. The generosity of our donors is a source of great strength for ucsf benioff children's hospitals. Other funding priorities include annual fund and unrestricted support, capital equipment and facility renovations, research, community programs and advocacy, and education for a wide variety of clinical areas. For more than 100 years, ucsf benioff children's hospital oakland has been a fixture in oakland and the surrounding bay area. The hospital is one of only five acs pediatric level i trauma centers in the state, and has one of the largest pediatric intensive care units in northern California. For the period july 2024 through june 2025, children's had 7,500 inpatient stays, 41,300 emergency department visits, 8,600 surgical cases and 301,600 outpatient clinic visits.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 84%; rating input score 84; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.36; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 87.3% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 25 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $21.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.4M · 32 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $754K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 10 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.