Forge Survivorship Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842441327
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2059905374
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cancer

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,719,726
Expenses
$1,328,946
Assets
$3,500,464
Liabilities
$1,080,164

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAUREN ROBERTS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JAVACIA HARRIS BOWSER (PRESIDENT)
  • KERRY SCHRADER (FORMER PRESIDENT)
  • RUBY FENTON (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAUREN ROBERTS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $116,568 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Forge supports, empowers, and improves medical access, health outcomes, and quality of life for Alabama breast cancer patients, survivors, and those who love them from the date of diagnosis through the balance of life.

What it reported doing in 2025

Survivorship program: organized to provide education, logistical and emotional support to breast cancer survivors through a patient-centered, community-based partnership with local health systems and other strategic partners. We assist patients, survivors and co-survivors in taking an active role in their fight against breast cancer by offering support, knowledge, strength, direction, and financial assistance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.5%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.7%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.63; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.5% of revenue deployed · 77.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.